Psychological Consequences And Coping Mechanisms Of Unemployment; The Case Of University Graduate Students In Dire Enchin Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the psychological consequences and coping mechanisms of unemployment among university graduate students in Dire Enchin town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. The study adopted a mixed research design, with the researcher employing focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, and questionnaires as data collection instruments. For the quantitative section of the investigation, stratified and basic random sampling procedures were used. The convenience sampling approach was used as a sampling methodology for the qualitative part. The quantitative study has a sample size of 138, but two of the respondents did not return the questionnaries136 people. To collect qualitative data, 10 unemployed university graduates participated in a focus group discussion and an in depth interview. In addition, four key informants provided qualitative information. The SPSS 24 version was used to evaluate quantitative data. To assess quantitative data, descriptive statistics were utilized. The Chi-square test was also done to see whether there was any correlation between some of the variables. The qualitative data was analyzed using both narration and topic analysis methodologies. According to the conclusions of this study, the most commonly utilized job search methods are social media and newspapers or job boards. The majority of unemployed university graduates rely on the help of their family, relatives, or acquaintances to make ends meet. Self-employment is the preferred career and future aim of the majority of unemployed university graduates. Unemployed university graduates use a range of job-search techniques, each of which has its own set of financial and time costs. The social network is the least expensive of the three in terms of money. Furthermore, all job search tools can spread incorrect job market information, according to this study. The government should strengthen laws and policies that allow graduate youth to obtain a high-quality education, reduce the amount of work experience required for various job openings, develop systems for disseminating job-related information, and provide career advice to graduate youth who are unemployed, according to the findings. In general, measures to aid unemployed university graduate students in coping with unemployment and improving their application behavior should be introduced