Examining the Gap Between Engineering Education and Employability in Nigeria

Is Nigeria Producing Engineers or Engineering Graduates?

Examining the Gap Between Engineering Education and Employability in Nigeria

Abstract

Engineering education is expected to provide graduates with the technical knowledge, practical competence, professional skills and problem-solving capacity required to contribute to national development. In Nigeria, however, the transition from engineering education to meaningful professional employment remains an important question. Recent evidence from 2024 to 2026 suggests that the challenge is not simply whether Nigeria produces engineering graduates, but whether educational experiences consistently develop the competencies graduates need to apply their knowledge effectively in professional environments.

Research involving Nigerian engineering students has identified relationships between work-integrated learning and employability competencies, while another 2024 study found that subject understanding, basic job-performance skills and self-efficacy significantly predicted employability among engineering students in Nigerian polytechnics. Labour-market data also demonstrate that employment status alone does not reveal whether graduates are working in occupations related to their qualifications or whether their skills are being fully utilised.

This article examines the relationship between engineering education and employability in Nigeria. It considers work-integrated learning, university-industry collaboration, curriculum relevance, accreditation, emerging technologies, career development and graduate outcomes. It argues that the central challenge is not simply producing more engineering graduates, but developing a stronger system for converting engineering education into demonstrable professional capability.

Keywords: engineering education, graduate employability, engineering graduates, skills gap, work-integrated learning, Nigeria, university-industry collaboration

Engineering has traditionally been regarded as one of the professions most closely connected to national development. Engineers contribute to infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, transportation, construction, environmental management, digital systems and technological innovation. For a country such as Nigeria, where significant infrastructure and industrial challenges remain, the development of a capable engineering workforce is particularly important.

Nigeria has consequently continued to expand and regulate engineering education through universities, polytechnics, professional bodies and accreditation mechanisms. However, obtaining an engineering qualification does not automatically mean that a graduate has developed every competency required for effective professional practice.

This distinction raises an important question:

Is Nigeria producing engineers, or is it producing engineering graduates who still require substantial additional preparation before they can function effectively as professionals?

The question should not be interpreted as an attack on Nigerian universities or engineering students. Nigerian institutions produce highly capable graduates and Nigerian engineers have made significant contributions both nationally and internationally. The more useful question is whether the education system consistently connects academic learning, practical experience, professional competence and labour-market requirements.

Recent research provides evidence that this connection deserves greater attention.

Adegbite and Hoole (2024), for example, studied 375 final-year engineering students from two Nigerian universities who had participated in work-integrated learning. Their structural equation modelling found that work-integrated learning had positive relationships with the employability competencies examined in the study, including analytical, adaptability, communication, fundamental, ICT, interpersonal and Fourth Industrial Revolution skillsets.

Similarly, Ojonugwa (2024) examined 580 engineering students across five Nigerian polytechnics and found that subject understanding, basic job-performance skills and self-efficacy significantly predicted employability. Subject understanding was the strongest of the three predictors in the study.

Together, these findings suggest that the challenge extends beyond whether students understand engineering theory. It also concerns whether they can translate that knowledge into professional capability.

Employability is broader than employment.

A graduate may obtain a job without necessarily possessing the full range of capabilities required for sustained professional performance. Conversely, a person may possess strong technical and professional competencies but experience difficulty obtaining suitable employment because of limited vacancies, economic conditions, industry structure, or other labour-market constraints.

This distinction is particularly important in Nigeria.

The National Bureau of Statistics' Nigeria Labour Force Survey for Q1 2024 reported an employment-to-population ratio of 73.2%. Among people with post-secondary education, the employment-to-population ratio was 79.8%. At the same time, unemployment among people with post-secondary education was 9.0% (National Bureau of Statistics [NBS], 2024).

These figures should be interpreted carefully. An employment-to-population ratio measures whether people are employed; it does not establish whether their employment is related to their field of study, whether they are working in professional occupations, or whether their skills are being fully utilised.

The structure of employment also matters. In Q1 2024, 84.0% of employed Nigerians were self-employed, while 92.7% of employment was classified as informal. Only 16.0% were classified as employees (NBS, 2024).

These statistics demonstrate why headline employment figures alone cannot answer the engineering employability question.

Consequently, the question for engineering education should not simply be:

How many engineering graduates are employed?

It should also be:

How many engineering graduates are adequately prepared for and able to access, productive engineering work that makes meaningful use of their training?

That is a much more demanding question.

Evidence from Nigerian engineering research points to a possible mismatch between educational preparation and workplace expectations.

Ejilah et al. (2023) examined the engineering skills gap among young engineering graduates in Nigeria. The study identified deficiencies in areas including technical competence, problem-solving, research and development and management skills. It recommended greater practical training, exposure to emerging technologies, outcome-based education and stronger opportunities for industrial experience.

The employer-related findings from the study require careful interpretation. Only 32% of respondents reported employment vacancies in their organisations, while 68% reported no current vacancies. Among organisations reporting reasons for unfilled positions, 37.2% attributed the vacancies to a shortage of suitably skilled individuals (Ejilah et al., 2023).

These figures should not be interpreted as saying that 37.2% of all engineering vacancies in Nigeria are caused by skills shortages. The survey was not a national census of engineering employers. Rather, it provides evidence from the surveyed organisations that skills availability can be one factor affecting recruitment.

This distinction matters.

It is possible to have graduates who possess engineering degrees while employers continue to report difficulty finding candidates with the particular technical, practical, digital, problem-solving, or professional capabilities they require.

Ojonugwa's (2024) research provides another perspective. Among the 580 engineering students studied in Nigerian polytechnics, subject understanding, basic job-performance skills and self-efficacy each had significant effects on employability.

The implication is important:

Technical knowledge matters, but technical knowledge alone is not sufficient.

One of the clearest themes emerging from recent research is the importance of work-integrated learning (WIL).

Work-integrated learning connects academic learning with professional or workplace environments. It can include industrial placements, internships, cooperative education, supervised projects, industry-based assignments and other structured experiences.

Adegbite and Hoole (2024) examined 375 final-year engineering students from two Nigerian universities who had participated in a WIL programme. Their study found positive relationships between WIL and seven employability competencies: analytical skills, adaptability, communication, fundamental skills, ICT skills, interpersonal skills and Fourth Industrial Revolution skillsets.

The significance of this finding lies in a simple principle: professional competence is developed not only through receiving information but also through applying, testing, adapting and reflecting on knowledge.

This is particularly important in engineering.

An engineering student may understand the theoretical principles behind a structural design, electrical system, manufacturing process, or mechanical component. Professional practice, however, requires engineers to work within conditions that textbooks cannot fully reproduce.

These include:

These are not merely technical problems. They are professional problems.

Engineering education therefore becomes stronger when students encounter elements of these realities before graduation.

The gap between education and employment cannot be attributed entirely to students or universities.

Industry also has an important role.

Universities are responsible for providing sound academic foundations, while employers understand the practical competencies required in particular professional environments. When these systems operate independently, graduates may leave university with academically valid knowledge that is not sufficiently aligned with changing workplace requirements.

Evidence from engineering employment research supports the importance of this connection.

Fleming et al. (2024) analysed 26,103 engineering job advertisements across several engineering disciplines and educational levels. The study found that problem-solving was the most frequently sought professional skill, while Microsoft Office and computer-aided design software were among the most frequently requested technical skills.

This study should not be treated as a direct survey of the Nigerian engineering labour market. Its value for Nigeria lies in illustrating the broader movement toward combinations of technical and professional competencies.

Nigeria's own energy sector provides a useful contemporary example of the importance of practical workforce preparation. In 2025, the Rural Electrification Agency, in partnership with the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria and other organisations, launched the NEXTGEN RESCO programme. The programme inducted 130 young graduates into a 12-month programme designed to provide industry knowledge, expert learning and practical exposure within the renewable-energy sector (Rural Electrification Agency [REA], 2025).

The existence of such programmes illustrates a broader point: academic qualifications may need to be complemented by structured opportunities for graduates to acquire industry-specific experience and skills.

Another important distinction is the difference between programme quality assurance and graduate employability.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) uses accreditation to evaluate academic programmes against established standards. Accreditation is important because it provides a formal mechanism for assessing academic matters, staffing, facilities, library resources, funding, research, collaboration and other programme characteristics.

Recent NUC reports, however, demonstrate why accreditation should not be interpreted as proof that a programme has no remaining challenges.

For example, the NUC's 2024 accreditation report for Civil Engineering at the University of Jos awarded the programme full accreditation with a score of 90.40%. Nevertheless, the report identified issues involving staff mix, the need for more current books and journals and inadequate funding (National Universities Commission [NUC], 2024a).

Similarly, the NUC's 2024 accreditation report for Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ilorin awarded full accreditation while identifying inadequate equipment in classrooms and laboratories and inadequate funding (NUC, 2024b).

At the University of Lagos, the NUC awarded Civil Engineering full accreditation following a 2024 visitation, while noting that some laboratory equipment was obsolete (NUC, 2024c).

These examples are important because they show that full accreditation and continuous improvement are not mutually exclusive.

A programme can satisfy formal accreditation requirements while still needing investment in laboratories, equipment, staffing, funding, digital infrastructure, curriculum development, or professional development.

The University of Benin provides a more recent institutional example. In April 2026, the university announced that all of its degree programmes had received full NUC accreditation following an accreditation exercise conducted across its faculties, schools and centres in late 2025 (University of Benin, 2026).

This is a significant institutional achievement. However, it should not be interpreted as evidence that accreditation alone guarantees graduate employability.

Accreditation is necessary.

It is not the final measure of professional readiness.

The question should also include what happens after graduation.

Engineering is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary.

A contemporary engineer may need to combine traditional engineering knowledge with digital technologies, data analysis, project management, communication, sustainability principles, entrepreneurship and continuous professional learning.

Ejilah et al. (2023) specifically recommended greater exposure to emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing, virtual reality, computer programming, computer-aided manufacturing and computer-aided design.

This does not mean that every engineering student must become a software developer.

It means engineering education must recognise that technological competence is increasingly connected to professional engineering practice.

At the same time, technical competence cannot replace human capabilities.

The Nigerian studies by Adegbite and Hoole (2024) and Ojonugwa (2024) reinforce the importance of competencies beyond technical knowledge, including communication, adaptability, interpersonal skills, basic job-performance skills and self-efficacy.

In other words, the engineer of the future needs both:

technical depth and professional breadth.

It would be unfair to place the entire responsibility on universities, government, or employers.

Students also have agency.

An engineering student who waits until graduation to think about employability may be entering the labour market too late.

Career development can begin during university through:

This does not mean that students should simply accumulate certificates.

Certificate accumulation without demonstrable competence can reproduce the same problem.

The objective should be demonstrable capability.

A graduate should ideally be able to say:

Here is what I learned.

Here is where I applied it.

Here is the problem I solved.

Here is what I produced.

Here is what I learned from the experience.

That is stronger evidence of professional readiness than a list of certificates alone.

If Nigeria wants engineering graduates who are better prepared for professional practice, several changes deserve attention.

9.1 Strengthen Work-Integrated Learning

Industrial training should not be treated as a formality.

Students need meaningful placements with clear learning objectives, supervision, assessment and feedback.

The evidence from Nigerian engineering students suggests that work-integrated learning can contribute to the development of employability competencies (Adegbite & Hoole, 2024).

9.2 Build Stronger University-Industry Partnerships

Engineering departments should maintain continuous communication with employers.

Industry professionals can contribute through:

Such partnerships can help universities respond more effectively to changes in technology and professional practice.

9.3 Move Beyond Examination-Centred Learning

Engineering competence cannot be adequately measured through written examinations alone.

Assessment should increasingly include:

The aim should be to assess not only what students know, but what they can do with what they know.

9.4 Integrate Emerging Technologies

Engineering curricula should evolve alongside industry.

Depending on discipline, students should have opportunities to develop relevant capabilities in areas such as:

The objective is not to replace engineering fundamentals with technology. It is to ensure that engineering fundamentals remain useful in a changing technological environment.

9.5 Strengthen Career Development Before Graduation

Career guidance should not begin after graduation.

Universities and professional organisations should help students understand:

Career development should become part of the student's journey rather than an emergency intervention after graduation.

9.6 Measure Graduate Outcomes

One of the most important changes would be to ask universities not only how many students graduate, but also what happens to them afterward.

Graduate-tracking systems could examine:

Such evidence would allow institutions to evaluate whether their programmes are producing the outcomes they intend.

The central issue is therefore not whether Nigeria's universities are producing engineering graduates.

They clearly are.

The more important question is whether the system consistently provides graduates with the capability to practise, adapt, solve problems and continue developing as engineers.

The evidence points to several important conclusions.

First, Nigerian research shows that work-integrated learning is associated with the development of important employability competencies among engineering students (Adegbite & Hoole, 2024).

Second, research among engineering students in Nigerian polytechnics indicates that subject understanding, basic job-performance skills and self-efficacy are significant predictors of employability (Ojonugwa, 2024).

Third, research into Nigeria's engineering skills gap has identified concerns around technical, practical, problem-solving, research and development and management capabilities, while recommending stronger practical and technology-oriented preparation (Ejilah et al., 2023).

Fourth, NUC accreditation reports from 2024 demonstrate that programmes can achieve full accreditation while still receiving recommendations concerning funding, staffing, equipment, laboratories, library resources and other aspects of programme development (NUC, 2024a, 2024b, 2024c).

Taken together, these findings point toward a broader conclusion:

The challenge is not simply producing more engineering graduates. It is building a stronger system for developing engineering capability.

Nigeria does not lack intelligent and ambitious engineering students.

Nor does it lack engineers capable of achieving exceptional things.

The deeper challenge is creating an education-to-employment system that consistently transforms academic potential into professional capability.

An engineering degree should therefore be understood as a foundation, not a guarantee.

Universities must continue strengthening practical and industry-relevant learning. Employers must create meaningful opportunities for students and young professionals to acquire experience. Professional bodies must contribute to continuing development. Government must support quality education, infrastructure, industrial growth and effective skills policies. Students, meanwhile, must take responsibility for actively developing their own capabilities.

The goal should not simply be to increase the number of people graduating with engineering degrees.

The goal should be to produce engineers who can:

Design, build, analyse, innovate, communicate, collaborate, lead, adapt and solve real problems.

That distinction matters.

Because Nigeria's development challenges do not need certificates alone. They need capable engineers.

References

Adegbite, W. M., & Hoole, C. (2024). The nexus of work integrated learning and skills among engineering students in Nigerian universities: A structural equation model approach. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 15(1), 91–107. https://doi.org/10.21153/jtlge2024vol15no1art1824

Ejilah, R. I., Agboneni, O., Tochukwu, C. C., Adekunle, S. O., Adakole, S. O., & Johnson, O. K. (2023). Bridging the engineering skill gap in Nigeria: Preliminary findings and recommendations of the E4I survey. World Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology and Sciences, 10(2), 269–282. https://doi.org/10.30574/wjaets.2023.10.2.0303

Fleming, G. C., Klopfer, M., Katz, A., & Knight, D. (2024). What engineering employers want: An analysis of technical and professional skills in engineering job advertisements. Journal of Engineering Education, 113(2), 251–279. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20581

National Bureau of Statistics. (2024). Nigeria Labour Force Survey (NLFS), Q1 2024. https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/pdfuploads/NLFS_Q1_2024_Report.pdf

National Universities Commission. (2024a). Accreditation technical report: Civil Engineering, University of Jos. https://www.nuc.edu.ng/accreditation-tech-report-view/entry/8647/

National Universities Commission. (2024b). Accreditation technical report: Mechanical Engineering, University of Ilorin. https://www.nuc.edu.ng/accreditation-tech-report-view/entry/11453/

National Universities Commission. (2024c). Accreditation technical report: Civil Engineering, University of Lagos. https://www.nuc.edu.ng/accreditation-tech-report-view/entry/2738/

Ojonugwa, O. I. (2024). Predictors of employability among engineering students in Nigeria polytechnics. GPH-International Journal of Educational Research, 7(7), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13292686

Rural Electrification Agency. (2025). REA newsletter: May 2025. https://rea.gov.ng/may2025-newsletter.pdf

University of Benin. (2026). UNIBEN gets full NUC accreditation for all programmes.