Skills Required Of Business Education Graduates For Entrepreneurship Development As Perceived By Business Educators

Abstract

This study investigated the skills required of business education graduates for entrepreneurship development as perceived by business educators. Three research questions guided this study. A descriptive survey design was adapted for the study. The population of the study comprised of fifty-seven (57) lecturers in school of Business Education in Federal College of Education (Technical) Asaba, Delta State. The sample for this study consisted of 40 accounting department lecturers and 17 office and technology management (OTM) department lecture. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire which was validated by two lecturers from the school of business education and a lecturer in measurement and evaluation. The method of data collection was mean statistics to answer the research questions. The findings revealed that, basic skills, level of innovative skill and level of organizational skill are the basic skill required of business education graduates for effective entrepreneurship development. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that both school authorities and government should provide the needed facilities/materials for effective entrepreneurship development and also business education graduates should try within their limit to acquire the basic skill required of them while they are in school for effective entrepreneurship development.     

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Entrepreneurship is now seen as an important component within contemporary economic development of a nation. Its critical role to the economy of nations is now widely acknowledged within the literature. Experts in the field were of the opinion that entrepreneurship is regarded as a catalyst for economic growth, employment and wealth creation, Acha (2013). Furthermore, the European Commission (2013) shared the same view and in addition suggests that entrepreneurship is a major driver of innovation, competitiveness and economic strength of a modern nation. They further emphasize the important role which business education has in the development of entrepreneurial mindsets and talents especially in enhancing entrepreneur competency.

Business education is a widely given high scores on the agenda of many governments. Such governments depend on the development of entrepreneurship through business education as the major source for their economic prosperity, growth and development. It is a kind of new concept which signifies not only quality education but also pay attention to the development of an individual practical ability and competency of students. It is also described as a new method of teaching that promotes students innovative spirit, skills and attitudes which consequently make them after graduation become professional business creator, European Commission, (2013).

According to Adebayo (2013) an entrepreneur is an innovative, risk-taking individual who identifies a need in a market and finds a way to fill it, whether by using his or her own expertise and passion, the knowledge of others, or a combination of the three. More simply stated, an entrepreneur is someone who sees an opportunity and invests in it in order to turn a profit or provide a solution to some larger issue in the world.

Adenike (2016), defined an entrepreneur as a person who makes money by starting or running business, especially when involves taking risk. Entrepreneur is characterized by the need to be independent, to create value, to contribute to family and society, to become rich or quite often, not to be unemployed. Entrepreneurs have emerged over the past decades as one of the most vital or powerful economic forces the nation has ever experienced. There is no much dissimilarity between entrepreneurship. What appear to be the difference between the two concepts is that while entrepreneur and is describing the person or the actor, entrepreneurship is talking about the actions, efforts, abilities, skill process or sometimes the business unit itself. The term entrepreneurship applied to the individual, or group who engages in business under the capitalistic system. The word entrepreneurship has been defined by many authors and researchers.

Entrepreneurship is the ability of someone to organize and put resources together, bearing in mind the risk involved, in order to provide value for some products or services in the society. For many decades, unemployment has been a recurrent problem, year-in-tear out- in Delta state and Nigeria in general however, it should be clearly noted that the government cannot single handedly eradicate unemployment because there are limited resources at the disposal of government. Thus entrepreneurship has become’ a topical issue in our state (Delta state), many skill acquisition programme has been introduced in the state by the state government to help the society. This is Nigerian and Deltans in particular; especially businessman and business education graduates cannot find employment. Therefore, the need has arisen for the training of entrepreneur with the required skills and abilities that will enable them become creators of jobs and also to be successful in their business rather than being job seekers. This shows that an entrepreneur is a risk taker, a man who braves uncertainty, strikes on his own, is devoted to duty, has singleness of purpose, can create a business and industries activities where none exist before.

Agharuwhe (2013), the development of entrepreneurial skills through business education refers primarily to the equipping of students through teaching and learning of and about entrepreneurship business educators in tertiary institution of learning. This is because the teaching and learning of entrepreneurship and requisite entrepreneurship skills knowledge and innovative pedagogy. Presently, skills possessed by graduates seem to be different from what they need to function effectively in employment. This is why the Secretary Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS in Akah 2013), developed ways of assisting educational institutions and schools to produce younger generations who will be willing to work and outlined both fundamental skills and workplace competencies to include basic thinking, personal qualities, resources, interpersonal information, and systems technology skills.

A detailed study carried out by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO in Angulu 2012) using data from the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration showed that the number of people seeking for jobs exceeded the number of job vacancies for higher education institution graduates with a high percentage of graduates looking for. Malaysia also faced high graduate unemployment rates. A survey conducted by the Malaysian government in 2008 reported that graduates of technical studies and ICT were more likely to be employed with 39.3 percent being unemployed at the time of the survey.

Nigeria and Delta State are not left out of the problem of graduate unemployment. This is because skills possessed by graduates seem to be different from what they need for employment. Nwokocha in Eze (2010), noted that the aim/goal of business education is the production of manpower that possesses the requisite knowledge, skill and attitude for harnessing other resources and bringing them together into a cooperative relationship to yield goods and services demanded by the society for the satisfaction of their wants and needs.

Thus, business education graduates should acquire the skills needed to integrate management, marketing, accounting, finance and  education concepts to function in employment as business teachers, office workers or entrepreneurs. It is with this background that it is imperative to conduct this study to determine the extent to which entrepreneurial skills are needed for self-employment by business education graduates in Delta State.

Statement of the Problem

Entrepreneurship deals with the process of recognizing a business opportunity, operating and maintaining business. Though people engage in business without acquiring much skills and competences that will enable them to effectively operate the business. Today many businesses have gone down not because the owner of the business does not have enough capital or resources to run the business but because they lack entrepreneurial skills to grow from one small position to a bigger one. The failure of a business today does not mean you should give up, but think of strategy to rise again. The above position is even made worse since business education which was introduced with the hope that it will provide graduate with appropriate skills that will enable them take paid employment in public and private offices or become self-reliant, leaves much to be desired but reverse is the case.

With regards to the above point, it was stated that the problem business graduates encounter are: lack of managerial skills, incompetent basic skill required of the employee, some of them do not have good customer relationship, and their lack innovative skill which can help to improve the organization.

Thus, this makes it imperative to assess the skills required of business education graduates for entrepreneurship development as perceived by business educators.

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study is to determine the skills required of business education graduates for entrepreneurship development as perceived by business educators. Specifically, the study sought to:

1. examine the basic skills required of business education graduates for effective entrepreneurship.
2. examine the innovative skill required of business education graduate for effective entrepreneurship.
3. determine the level of organizational skills that are required of business education graduate for effective entrepreneurship

Research Question

1. What are the basic skills required of business education graduates for effective entrepreneurship?
2. What is the level of innovative skill required of business education graduate for effective entrepreneurship?
3. What is the level of organizational skills that are required of business education graduate for effective entrepreneurship?

Significance of the Study

This study could be of immense benefit to business education students because it will enable them understand the basic skill required to learn entrepreneurship while in school that could make them function properly after graduation and become good entrepreneurs with a difference that will make them perform better than others in the society without entrepreneurial skill.

This study could be of importance also to entrepreneurs because the finding could provide data that would make them to become more productive and creating high value of knowledge on the areas of economy and equally ascertain those entrepreneurial skill sucked in a chosen enterprise.

Curriculum planners and developers could equally benefit as it will help them to know the necessary facilities needed to put in place in other to enhance the productive and entrepreneurial skills of business education students so that their can become self-employed immediately after graduate.

Educational institution of higher learning would also benefit in that, it would provoke the convening of academic discussions, conferences, workshops and seminars targeted revising the curricula for the production of business education graduates that would be competent in creating and managing their own business. .

The findings of this study could have significant effect on the way people live, work and play in the society. Finally, future researchers could also benefit by identifying further skills required of business education graduate for effective entrepreneurship.

 Scope of the Study

The scope of this work is limited to the skills required of business education graduates for entrepreneurship development as perceived by business educators. This study examines basic skills, innovative skills, organization skills by business education graduates for entrepreneurship development.

Pages:  70

Category: Project

Format:  Word & PDF               

Chapters: 1-5                                          

Source: Imsuinfo

Material contains Table of Content, Abstract and References.