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Within the umbrella of technology and vocational education (TVET), technology or technical education in higher institutions of learning is obligated to produce the required manpower needed in the industry. Thus, it is pertinent to explore the interaction between the industry and higher education students. Drawing on the tenets of theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study offers valuable insights into the nomological networks of work-integrated learning (WIL), perceived behavioral control (PBC), subjective norm (SBN), personal attitude (PAT) and job search intention (JSI).

The study applied a structurally hypothesized model that was drawn from the TPB to collect data for the constructs. Using a cross-sectional survey after the WIL experiences of the students, we collected data from technology education undergraduates (N = 214) in their final academic year from universities in Nigeria.

With structural equation modeling, the study found that WIL is directly associated with JSI, PBC, SBN and PAT. In line with the tenets of the TPB, simple mediation models were supported about the influence of WIL on JSI via PBC and PAT discretely but not via SBN. Further, the results support two paths of serial mediation models, indicating sequential indirect links between WIL and JSI via SBN and PBC, as well as via SBN and PAT.

Our findings have implications for higher education practitioners, industry experts and employers of labor.

Although extant literature has relatively shown that WIL impacts employability skills, this study has remarkably shown the WIL-JSI nexuses within the variables of TPB.

Studies show that apprenticeships can enhance skills development and economic growth. There is a paucity of academic literature concerning apprenticeship’s role in developing Nigerian construction artisans’ skills, especially regarding achieving Sustainable Development Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Thus, this study aims to appraise the role of apprenticeship in developing construction artisans’ skills and suggest measures to improve skills development for artisans’ on-the-job training mechanisms to achieve Goal 8.

Given the unexplored nature of the problem, the study utilised face-to-face data collection via a qualitative research approach. It covered two major cities in Nigeria and achieved saturation at the 29th chosen interviewee. Also, the study adopted a thematic method to analyse the data from selected construction artisans, construction firm management staffers and consultant experts in skills matters.

Enhancing skills development, replacing the ageing workforce through practical broad-based skills training, bridging skills gaps, enhancing work-integrated learning and economic upliftment emerged as apprenticeship’s role in developing artisans’ skills in the Nigerian built environment if well implemented. Apprenticeship to develop skills in the built environment is not without hindrances. The perceived 34 barriers were re-clustered into employee, employer and government-related. Findings show that achieving Goal 8 may be threatened if these hindrances are not mitigated. They suggest improving skills development for artisans’ on-the-job training mechanisms to achieve Goal 8.

This study demonstrates that apprenticeship’s role in developing construction artisans’ skills should be all-inclusive. Also, the three stakeholders must do more concerning training programmes to improve artisans’ skills development to achieve Goal 8.

This study examines the perceptions of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) teachers about the factors that influence the reputation of TVET in Ghana.

Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 680 TVET teachers in Ghana using a survey instrument that included an open-ended section that required participants to provide written comments. The quantitative data gathered were analysed by way of the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), while the written narratives of participants were evaluated using thematic analysis. The quantitative and qualitative data analysed were subsequently integrated using a four-stage pillar integration process (PIP), which included listing, matching, checking and pillar building.

The findings show that TVET teachers’ perceptions regarding the factors influencing the reputation of TVET in Ghana include investment in infrastructure and learning resources; collaboration between TVET institutions and industries; public perceptions of TVET prospects; occupational standards; testing and certification; pedagogical approaches; students’ academic coping abilities; gender and equity considerations and labour market information requirements. Furthermore, state policies regarding student access, funding models, curriculum reform, investment in TVET teacher education and professional development as well as the remuneration, motivation and working conditions of TVET teachers, significantly influence the reputation of TVET in Ghana.

This study contributes to the scholarly discourse on the reputation of TVET and how the sector could be improved to attract more learners who can contribute meaningfully to the development of Ghana. The findings illustrate how human capital theory and the concept of reputation in its expansive form, which includes social factors, culture, time and space, are jointly linked to skills development, employability, and public acceptance of TVET. To address the issues concerning the reputation of TVET, this study recommends, among others, that issues concerning student access, gender and equity and collaborations between TVET institutions and industry should be improved.