NMU plays pivotal role in tertiary career guidance through AI tools

In an effort to ensure all tertiary students, regardless of their background, are able to benefit from current technological advancements, a local academic has integrated tools to guide youngsters on determining their next step.

Research undertaken through Nelson Mandela University (NMU) has led to an artificial intelligence (AI) framework specifically designed for South Africa’s under-resourced universities, providing a path for students who often arrive having never received career guidance.

Dr Nosipho Mavuso conducted this research at Walter Sisulu University in Buffalo City, where she lectures in IT.

Mavuso’s focus group, 180 undergraduate IT students, revealed that generic online career tools failed them as the tools largely ignored South African realities, including affordability, regional inequality, and the digital divide.

“These tools are there, but they are not designed for our context,” Mavuso said. “The gap is there and quite visible.”

Her doctoral research, supervised by NMU’s distinguished Prof Darelle van Greunen and co-supervised by Prof Norbert Jere from the University of Fort Hare, identified stark barriers in certain areas:

students at rural universities rarely had career discussions at school;
universities do not effectively communicate available resources; and
existing AI career tools are static rather than adaptive.

Mavuso’s six-component framework addressed this by centring student backgrounds, institutional teaching capacity, AI-driven policies, curriculum design, and stakeholder engagement. Unlike one-size-fits-all systems, it is designed to adapt to diverse student circumstances.

Van Greunen said Mavuso’s research was particularly important in the African context to ensure tools were relevant, effective and responsive to local realities.

“With diverse education systems, evolving labour markets, and unequal access to resources across the continent, solutions designed elsewhere may not always reflect African needs.

“Without context-specific research, AI systems risk relying on data and assumptions from high-income countries, potentially resulting in biased or unsuitable guidance for African learners.

“Grounded, local research helps ensure that AI-driven career guidance is not only technologically sophisticated but also socially relevant, inclusive and genuinely empowering for Africa’s youth.”

The students surveyed for the research told Mavuso they needed career recommendations that showed realistic, achievable options and did not want American or European-designed systems suggesting careers.

“I’ve seen that students are really struggling, more especially at rural universities,” Mavuso said.

South Africa’s digital divide means a student in Gauteng has vastly different access than one in the Eastern Cape or Limpopo. Cultural values and institutional limitations add further complexity.

She also discovered students who had signed up for an IT qualification because it was the only course they could get into and that many did not really know what the career involved.

The research has practical applications for institutional policy, curriculum development and potentially scalable digital career guidance for similar institutions across developing economies.

She describes her research as moving from theory to practice, and she is exploring funding to develop a working prototype, possibly as a human resources research project with students.

The research reframes career guidance from a privilege of well-resourced schools into something all students can access regardless of which province or socio-economic background they come from.