Literature supports the fact, robustly, that a welleducated citizenry underpins state’s prosperity. Conversely, education suffers in states during economic crisis. Causal observation indicates a preponderance of disinterest in postgraduate studies in supposedly qualified Nigerian undergraduates. The study investigated the impact of focus group discussionn as motivational strategy among undergraduates who have expressed disinterest in postgraduate education due to financial hardship imposed by national economic crisis. The study adopted a mixed method research design. Participants were twenty-three penultimate and graduating students: 9 males/39.14% and 14
females/60.86%. A self-developed 13-item validated questionnaire with Cronbach Alpha = 0.89 was the instrument for data collection. Independent samples t-Test returned a t-obtained of 5.197, df = 21, which is significant at the 0.01 level (or P< 0.01). It was therefore concluded that the treatment elicited positive behavioural change with respect to the preparedness to pursue a postgraduate programme during economic recession. The study is significant in its potential to prevent a vacuum or constraints in skilled workforce in Nigeria during and/or immediately after the economic recession being experienced. Emotional intelligence training is hereby recommended for the nation’s undergraduates.

Published in: Canada International Conference on Education, 2017

• Date of Conference: 26-29 June, 2017
• DOI: 10.2053/CICE.2017.0262
• Electronic ISBN: 978-1-908320-83-4
• Conference Location: University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada