ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AS A CORRELATE OF JOB CREATION IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

TABLE OF CONTENTSAPPROVAL PAGE ii CERTIFICATION iii DEDICATION iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF TABLES viii ABSTRACT ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Background of the Stu

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AS A CORRELATE OF

JOB CREATION IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

JANUARY, 2015

TITLE PAGE

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AS A CORRELATE OF

JOB CREATION IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

BY

AGADA, ROSE ONYECHE PG/M.Ed/12/64235

A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA,

NSUKKA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE AWARD OF MASTERS DEGREE (M.Ed) IN

EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION

AND PLANNING

JANUARY, 2015

Prof Uju C Umo

Dean, Faculty of Education

CERTIFICATION AGADA, Rose Onyeche, a postgraduate student in the department of

Educational Foundations with registration number PG/M.Ed/12/64235 hassatisfactorily completed the requirements for the course and research work for theaward of Master degree in Educational Administration and Planning The workembodied in this project report is original and has not been submitted in part or in fullfor any other diploma or degree of this or any other university

……… ……… Agada, Rose Onyeche DR A.N Okolo

Student Supervisor

This work is dedicated to my husband Engr S.A Agada

The researcher’s profound gratitude first and foremost goes to the almightyGod the giver of good health and life who saw me through the duration of the study.The researcher owe a lot of thanks to her supervisor Dr A N Okolo who despite hertight schedule, painstakingly scrutinised each stage of this work making constructivecriticism and giving helpful advice Her motherly support made this work a reality

Much thanks to the researcher’s lecturers Dr S C Ugwoke, Rev Dr.Ejionueme and Dr Ezeugwu who validated the instrument making corrections thatguided the study, Dr A U Okere, Dr L T Ugwuanyi and Dr (Mrs) C Enyi whoread through the work and made necessary corrections

In a very special way, the researcher thank her husband Engr S A Agada forhis understanding, financial and moral support throughout the duration of the study.Also to be thanked are the researcher’s parents Mr and Mrs C A Ameh for theirprayers and encouragement Not to be forgotten are the researcher’s children Chris,Ben, Paul and Ann and my sister Grace, thank you for bearing with my frequentabsence God bless you all

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL PAGE ii

CERTIFICATION iii DEDICATION iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

LIST OF TABLES viii ABSTRACT ix

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Background of the Study 1

Statement of the Problem 11

Purpose of the Study 13

Significance of the Study 13 Scope of the Study 15 Research Questions 15

Research Hypotheses 16

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 17 Conceptual Framework 18

Concept of Education 18

Concept of Entrepreneurship 20

Concept of Entrepreneurship Education 23

Concept of Job Creation 33

Theoretical Framework 41

Human Capital Theory (HCT) 41

Need for Achievement Theory (NAT) 42

Risk Taking Theory (RTT) 42

Empirical Studies 43

Entrepreneurship Education and Career Intention of Students 43

Entrepreneurship Education and Self-productivity 46

Entrepreneurship Education and Poverty Alleviation 49

Summary of Review of Literature 51

Method of Data Collection 56

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF RESULTS 58

Summary of the Results 64

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS,

LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Mean and Standard Deviation of respondents on skills undergraduate

Students acquire after completing an entrepreneurship education

Table 2: Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis of skills students

Acquire after an entrepreneurship education course and career

Table 3: Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis of skills students

Acquire after an entrepreneurship education course and

Table 4: Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis of skills students

Acquire after an entrepreneurship education course and poverty

Table 5: Regression Analysis of the significant relationship between skills

Students acquire after an entrepreneurship education course and

Table 6: Regression Analysis of the significant relationship between skills

Students acquire after an entrepreneurship education course and

Table 7: Regression Analysis of the significant relationship between skills

Students acquire after an entrepreneurship education course and

The present study examined the relationship between entrepreneurship education programme of universities in Benue State and job creation, career intention, self- productivity and poverty alleviation of undergraduate students Four research questions and three hypotheses guided the study The correlational research design was adopted for the study The sample for the study consisted of 225 final year undergraduate students drawn from three universities in Benue state The instrument used for the study was a researcher developed instrument tagged Entrepreneurship Education and Job Creation Questionnaire (EEJCQ) which was validated by experts and used for data collection Mean and standard deviation, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis and regression analysis were used

to analyse the data collected Major findings of the work showed that; (i) undergraduate students acquire entrepreneurship skills after completing an entrepreneurship education course (ii) There was a high positive relationship between entrepreneurship skills and entrepreneurial career intention of students (iii) There was a moderate positive relationship between entrepreneurship skills and self-productivity.(iv)There was a high positive relationship between entrepreneurship skills and poverty alleviation (v) Entrepreneurship skills significantly influence students’ career intention, self-productivity and poverty alleviation Based on these findings, conclusions were drawn and the implications were extensively discussed Among the recommendations made were that universities should organize industrial tours, field trips, mentorship programmes, seminars, workshops and exchange programmes for students to engender entrepreneurship culture in them Government and all stake holders in education industry should ensure that entrepreneurship education is adequately funded as no effective planning and implementation can take place

in the absence of funds.

INTRODUCTION Background of the Study

Most countries of the world have provided various forms of educationalprogrammes for their citizens This is evident in a number of developed nations likeJapan, Thailand, China and America who have utilised entrepreneurship education forimproving their human capital (Witte and Wolf, 2003) Education is recognized asthe corner stone for sustainable economic development The development ofeducational sector leads to development in all other sectors Adamu (2008) assertedthat development in any society is anchored primarily on education According toOlaleye and Omotayo (2009) education is the fulcrum around which the development

of any country revolves

In order to address issues of holistic transformation, the Federal Republic ofNigeria (2004 p.4) referred to education as an “instrument par excellence” foreffecting national development According to Sule (2004) education is a sure pathway

to liberation of the mind and the improvement of socio- economic status of people.Education and training empower individuals to escape poverty by providing themwith the skills and knowledge to raise their output, income and wealth creation (Aliu,2007) Education in the context of this study refers to the inculcation of skillsnecessary for job and wealth creation This can be achieved through entrepreneurshipeducation Entrepreneurship education is very crucial in empowering individuals forgood living

1

The primary focus of entrepreneurship education according to Uduak andAniefiok (2011) is to develop entrepreneurship skills and attitude or qualitiesnecessary for successful entrepreneurship Okifo and Ayo (2010) definedentrepreneurship education as the type of education designed to change theorientation and attitude of the recipient In the process, he acquires skills andknowledge to enable him set up and manage a business enterprise, be self-productiveand alleviate poverty Onuma (2009) asserted that it is a form of education thatprovides programmes which are designed to produce competent and skilledmanpower for the various sectors of the economy According to Iheonumekwu(2003) it is a specialised training given to students of vocational and technicaleducation to acquire abilities and capabilities for self-employment rather than paidemployment.

Entrepreneurship education enable learners to acquire basic knowledge, skills,attitudes and ideas which equip the individual starting a new business (Osuala, 2004).According to Uduak and Aniefiok (2011) entrepreneurship education is an area ofstudy that includes those activities and skills essential for responding to one’senvironment in the process of conceiving, starting and managing a business enterprisefor economic growth and development In the context of this study, entrepreneurshipeducation is the formal structured learning that inculcates in students the knowledge,skills and training that will enable them engage in income yielding ventures, tobecome self-productive and alleviate poverty for national economic growth

Nigeria adopted entrepreneurship education to accelerate economic growth anddevelopment This is reflected in Nigeria`s National Policy on Education which states

that education is the most important instrument for propelling change, as nofundamental change can occur in any society except through educational revolutionthat impacts on the intellect (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004) In section one (1)

of the Nigerian National Policy on education (2004) there is much emphasis on theneed to create a functional and pragmatic education that would guarantee theacquisition of appropriate skills, attitude and competence necessary for the individual

to live and achieve maximum capacity for self-productivity and also function andcontribute meaningfully to the overall development of his society, thus the need forentrepreneurship education

Entrepreneurship education has received attention nationally Several attemptshave been made through researches, mounting of entrepreneurial courses andprogrammes in both institutions of learning and entrepreneurship research agenciesfor the purpose of developing both entrepreneurship spirit and culture among thepeople Some examples of these attempts include the establishment of the NationalDirectorate of Employment (NDE), National Poverty Eradication Programme(NAPEP), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria(SMEDAN), Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES), establishment of the nationalcommittee on job creation (Ogundele, Akingbade and Akinlabi, 2012) The FederalMinistry of Education made entrepreneurship education compulsory for all students

of tertiary institutions in Nigeria effective from 2007/2008 academic session (Uduakand Aniefiok, 2011)

Entrepreneurship education is not a new phenomenon in Nigeria; it hasalways been an age long tradition, a culture and a habit that has consistently been

transferred from one generation to another within the diverse ethnic nationalities thatmake up Nigeria Entrepreneurial mind set is prevalent in Yoruba land in WesternNigeria, Hausa land in Northern Nigeria and among the Igbo people of EasternNigeria (Raimi, Shokunbi and Peluola, 2010)

The three ethnic nationalities prior to colonialism, provided informalentrepreneurship education for their able bodied youths early in life throughcommunal socialisation, village engagements and social services Fajana (2000)described the informal entrepreneurship education in Nigeria as a mechanism for aself-reliant economy The economy of the various states which make up modernNigeria was basically a self-reliant economy That had been practiced by people inthe communities through informal training for job creation and employment (Fajana,2000) According to Raimi and Towobola (2011) the age long formal educationinherited from the imperialist turned out youths with job seeking mind-set as opposed

to job creation, they thus lack entrepreneurial traits like self-motivation, drive andinnovation needed for job creation

Job creation is very critical to development and fundamental for reducingpoverty in Nigeria The rate of job creation is watched as one of the most importantindicators of a nation’s well-being (Beegle, 2013) According to Umar (2011) jobcreation is the process of providing new jobs especially for people who areunemployed, the process of providing own job or the process of making jobsavailable for others In the context of this study, job creation refers to the process bywhich the number of jobs in the economy increases the provision of newopportunities for employment especially for those who are unemployed

Unemployment is one of the macro- economic problems which everyresponsible government is expected to monitor and regulate Every economy ischaracterized by both active and inactive populations The economically active onesare referred to as the population willing and able to work, and include those activelyengaged in the production of goods and services and those who are unemployed TheInternational Labour Organization (ILO) (2011) define the unemployed as numbers ofthe economically active population who are without work but available for andseeking for work, including people who have lost their jobs and those who havevoluntarily left work According to Fajana (2000) unemployment refers to a situationwhere people who are willing and capable of working are unable to find suitable paidemployment The higher the unemployment rate in an economy, the higher would bethe poverty level and associated welfare challenges (Fajana, 2000).

The concern of government now is on how to curb the ever rising tide ofunemployment and achieve appreciable success in job creation through theintroduction of formal entrepreneurship education in universities The age longformal education inherited from the imperialist turned out youth with job seekingmind-set as opposed to job creation (Raimi and Towobola, 2011) Aladekomo (2004)asserted that the colonial educational policy centred on the production of literatenationals who were required to man positions which would strengthen the colonialadministration Thus educational institutions, few as they were, remained factories forproducing clerks, interpreters, forest guards and sanitary inspectors who had noentrepreneurial or professional skill to stand on their own or even establish and

manage their own ventures It became obvious that the nation’s formal education isgenerating unemployment, crime and a cycle of poverty.

This situation brought the realization that there is the need for government toredress the socio economic implications of unemployment and poverty Poverty is thestate of being very poor Nweze and Ojowu (2002) asserted that poverty can becategorized into absolute poverty, relative poverty and subjective poverty Thesethree concepts form the basis of poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria Povertyalleviation is any process which seeks to reduce the level of poverty in a community

or among a group of people or countries

Absolute poverty is a situation where an individual or household is faced withlimited financial resources and as a result, unable to meet his or her or its basicnecessities of life such as food, portable water, clothes, shelter, education and healthservices which is the focus of this study Relative poverty is a situation where anindividual’s or household’s income is less than the average income of the population

in the society being considered Subjective poverty on the other hand is the perception

of people about their standard of living Some people undertake subjective povertydue to their religious, cultural or philosophical beliefs For example Christian monksand nuns take a vow of poverty by which they renounce luxury Poverty alleviationmeasures have no role with regard to subjective poverty

The alleviation of poverty through job creation no doubt calls for sustainablelife style which can be maintained when one is equipped with the necessaryentrepreneurship skills (Chike-Obi, 2012) According to Akanbi (2002) acomprehensive entrepreneurship education in Nigeria will eliminate poverty,

sustainable growth of the economy will be assured and the development of manypeople cannot be contested This is supported by Osakwe (2011) who stated that therationale for establishing entrepreneurship education in higher institution stems fromthe fact that most university graduates are not self-employed This could be due to thefact that, while many are risk aversive, some do not possess the knowledge, skill andexperiences to become entrepreneurs Others lack creativity, innovation, ideas and arenegative thinkers Osakwe (2011) asserted that the provision of entrepreneurshipeducation and training becomes very significant and relevant to ensure thatundergraduate students develop personal skills and qualities which will make themgain knowledge and understanding of the way in which the economy works and alsoreact to market forces.

It is expected that our educational institutions will become centres forinculcating the spirit of entrepreneurship rather than the spirit of passingexaminations to get white collar jobs The best way to do this is to create a curriculumthat is all encompassing in developing entrepreneurship culture in youths (Akpomi,2008) According to The European Union (2002) entrepreneurship education raisesstudents’ awareness of self-employment as a career option The message being thatundergraduate students can in future become not only employees but also employers.The Union further asserted that entrepreneurship education promotes the development

of personal qualities that are relevant to entrepreneurship Such qualities as creativity,risk taking and responsibility It also provides the technical and business skills thatare needed in order to start a new venture According to Nkang (2013)entrepreneurship education raises students’ choice and intention to become an

entrepreneur From the foregoing, it can be deduced that exposure of undergraduatestudents to entrepreneurship education will stimulate entrepreneurial drive in studentswhich is a significant factor in job creation for self-productivity and povertyalleviation According to Marlino (2007) entrepreneurship education increasesstudents’ interest in entrepreneurship as a career, creates a positive image for theentrepreneurs and contributes to the choice of entrepreneurship as a professionalalternative by students after graduation

Currently, Nigerian universities have initiated entrepreneurship educationprogramme in the hope that it will equip undergraduate students with skills necessary

to start their own businesses Skills that will make them job creators rather than jobseekers This is sequel to the directives by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2007

to all tertiary institutions to include entrepreneurship education as a compulsorycourse to be offered by all undergraduate students irrespective of their areas ofspecialisation (Gabadeen and Raimi, 2012) This will enhance skills acquisition byundergraduate students for job creation leading to self-productivity and povertyalleviation Onuoha (2011) asserted that the Nigerian education especially universitysystem produces graduates that do not meet the needs of the labour market Agraduate is a person who has completed a course of study in the university and hasobtained a university degree Onuoha (2011) further stressed that there is obviousdisconnection between the expectation of industries and products of the nation’shigher institutions This structural imbalance renders many graduates of Nigerianhigher institutions unemployed Consequently, the Federal Ministry of Educationdirected that entrepreneurship education be included as part of the undergraduate

curricular of universities through the National Universities Commission (NUC)effective from 2007/2008 academic session (Gabadeen and Raimi, 2012) Thegovernment intends to do this through the roles assigned to universities.

The role assigned to universities through their highest supervisory agency isessentially the task of transmitting and implementing government’s policy onentrepreneurship education in Nigeria The expected outcome from the assigned roleinclude: establishing entrepreneurship study in all universities, establishing thecurriculum for entrepreneurship education courses, the development of teachersguide, instructional manual and students’ handbook for sale as well as capacitybuilding for at least ten lecturers in each university, establishment of entrepreneurshipresource and knowledge centres in the NUC, and development of masters and Ph.D.programmes in some selected universities (Yahya, 2011)

Despite the effort of universities in transmitting and implementinggovernments policy on entrepreneurship education, the effort however has not beingsuccessful There are some challenges such as lack of entrepreneurship educationlecturers in universities in terms of quality and quantity (Ifedili and Ofoegbu, 2011).Students need to cultivate practical entrepreneurship skills that will help them createjobs and be self-reliant This is why Familoni (2012) posited that entrepreneurshipeducation is not just only about teaching people how to run a business, it alsoinvolves inculcating in the individuals creative thinking and promoting strong sense

of self-worth and accountability to be able to sustain the created job

Society’s poor attitude towards entrepreneurship education is anotherchallenge There is the general believe that education which exposes people to white

collar job is superior to education that leads to entrepreneurship skills for employment This invariably has affected the perception of undergraduate studentsthemselves who according to Osakwe (2011) have some entrepreneurship backgroundbut lack entrepreneurial zeal even before graduation Osakwe (2011) further statedthat students always focus their mind on job search without thinking of how to use theknowledge they have acquired from school to create a job

self-Another challenge facing entrepreneurship education in meeting its policygoals is traceable to lateness in starting entrepreneurship education in Nigeria This ispremised on the argument that introduction of anything new in human society takestime to develop Available facts in literature indicate that the United States ofAmerica introduced entrepreneurship education into their university curriculum in

1947 (Kuratko 2003) It is therefore normal for a novel initiative likeentrepreneurship education to have some operational challenges Besides, theunpleasant experiences of self-employed graduates send wrong signals to theundergraduate students taking the compulsory courses in entrepreneurship education.These experiences have not being palatable as they live and cope with the problem ofmultiple taxes, poor government patronage, difficulty in getting registered orincorporated, difficulty in accessing funds in banks, harsh government regulations,extortion by government officials, exorbitant cost of raw materials etc (Ariyo 2005).These challenges are sources of discouragement to undergraduate students who intend

to engage in self-employment after graduation These challenges also hinder therealisation of the overall objective of entrepreneurship education

The overall objective of entrepreneurship education in the university system is

to continuously foster entrepreneurship culture among students and faculty with aview of not only educating them but also supporting students of the system towardsestablishing and also maintaining sustainable business ventures (Yahya, 2011).Complementing the view above, Oyelola (2010) asserted that the policy thrust ofentrepreneurship education is the acquisition of entrepreneurship skills and ideas bystudents so as to be self-employed and self-reliant after graduation According toKolawole and Omolayo (2006) many individuals have difficulties in translating theirbusiness ideas to realities and creating new business ventures because of lack ofnecessary information, skills and ideas needed to achieve their targets, thereby causingthem to remain unemployed

Benue state as one of the 36 states in Nigeria is not insulated from the variousefforts at bringing the objectives of entrepreneurship education to bear Thoughsuccessive governments in the state have tried to address the issues above, the effects

of the policies and programmes on creating jobs and reducing unemployment andpoverty among the youths has being that of mixed feelings as there still exist a veryhigh rate of youth unemployment in all parts of the state Given this scenario, itbecomes pertinent to examine how entrepreneurship education is associated with theentrepreneurial orientation of undergraduate students towards job creation

Statement of the Problem

With the soaring unemployment rate in Nigeria and Benue state in particular,self-employment and small enterprise initiatives are presently high on the country’snational agenda, it is hoped that these initiatives will provide alternative channels of

employment.Agood number of youths are unemployed, this is traceable to the type ofeducation students receive in school They are generally educated in areas like arts andsciences which has given rise to what is described as “white collar job syndrome”which has failed to arrest unemployment because of the limited availableopportunities in government establishments To solve the problem of unemployment,there is need for a more functional and skill oriented education whichentrepreneurship education seeks to provide.

The present initiative by the National Universities Commission (NUC) inintegrating entrepreneurship education into the formal university curriculum is tomake significant contribution in encouraging a positive orientation among universitystudents It is hoped that this initiative will bridge the gap and change the mind-set ofundergraduate students from job seekers to job creators upon graduation Commitmentmade by the government notwithstanding, it is not yet evident the extent to whichentrepreneurship education has been able to solve the problem of unemploymentthrough job creation leading to self-productivity and poverty alleviation There stillexist indication of high rate of youth unemployment, poverty and other social vices inall parts of the state Underlying this situation is the fact that the training whichuniversity students receive has not been fully successful in equipping them withdesirable skills and competences required for job creation and self-employment Theperiod between graduation and employment dates has continue to lengthen and thishas become a source of frustration So posed as a question, the problem of the studyis: what is the relationship between entrepreneurship education programme ofuniversities and job creation in Benue State?

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study was to determine the relationship betweenentrepreneurship education and job creation in Benue state Specifically, the studysought to:

i Examine the skills undergraduate students acquire after completing anentrepreneurship education course

ii Determine whether entrepreneurship education will lead to entrepreneurialcareer intention of undergraduate students

iii Determine whether entrepreneurship education will bring about

self-productivity of undergraduate students

iv Determine whether entrepreneurship education will affect poverty alleviation

of undergraduate students

Significance of the Study

The significance of the study was examined from both the theoretical andpractical perspectives Theoretically, the Schumpeter effect was deemed appropriate.This is a psychological theory propounded by Joseph Schumpeter in 1934 whichposits that the phenomenon of unemployment is inversely related to new firm start-upsotherwise called entrepreneurship In other words, when new businesses areestablished in the economy, employability is stimulated through the power of creativedestruction Put differently, high level of unemployment is often associated with a lowdegree of entrepreneurial activities in the economy That is, where people are notmotivated to set up business enterprises, the rate of unemployment will be very high.The relationship of Schumpeter effect to this study is that unemployment will be very

high if students as future entrepreneurs do not have the required endowments ofhuman capital and entrepreneurial talents required to start and sustain new jobs andemployment which is imparted through entrepreneurship education

Practically, the findings of the study will be of immense benefit to employers

of labour, educators, educational policy planners, future researchers and government.The study is significant because the need to examine the relationship betweenentrepreneurship education and job creation remains vital in the effort to ensuring fullrealization of the objectives of entrepreneurship education

The findings of the study revealed the skills which undergraduate studentsacquire after completing an entrepreneurship education course This is of benefit toemployers of labour for these are transferable skills sought by employers of labour Itgives them an insight on the type of people to employ, the skills to look out for inemployees

The findings of the study revealed the relationship between entrepreneurshipeducation and career intention of students This is of benefit to entrepreneurshipeducation educators Educators will ensure that entrepreneurship education iseffectively taught hence it is the avenue for training job creators It will assist policyplanners to formulate and implement appropriate policies that are geared towardsrealising the objectives of entrepreneurship education It will further help governmentand stakeholders in providing assistance where it is felt necessary

The result will enable the government to know the extent to which she hasencouraged entrepreneurship education in universities and thus be poised atadequately providing the necessary funding, personnel, facilities etc It will further

enable government to provide enabling environment and necessary support for thosewho intend to become self-employed Government and stakeholders will utilize theinformation to know areas of need and give necessary assistance.

The findings of the study will be of benefit to future researchers It will helpthem raise new questions, suggest variations or make comparisons to improve theirown work

Scope of the Study

The study was limited to undergraduate students in universities in Benue state.Its focus was on the relationship between entrepreneurship education and job creation

in Benue state in the areas of skills acquisition, career intentions of students, productivity and poverty alleviation

self-Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1 What are the skills undergraduate students acquire after completing anentrepreneurship education course?

2 What is the relationship between skills undergraduate students acquire aftercompleting an entrepreneurship education course and entrepreneurial careerintention of students?

3 What is the relationship between skills undergraduate students acquire aftercompleting an entrepreneurship education course and self-productivity?

4 What is the relationship between skills undergraduate students acquire after completing an entrepreneurship education course and poverty alleviation?

Research Hypotheses

The study was guided by three formulated null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level

of significance

H0 1 : There is no significant relationship between entrepreneurship education skills

and career intention of undergraduate students

H0 2 : There is no significant relationship between entrepreneurship education skills

and self-productivity

H0 3: There is no significant relationship between entrepreneurship education skillsand poverty alleviation

Concept of Entrepreneurship Education

Concept of Job Creation

Theoretical Framework

Human capital theory (HCT)

Need for Achievement Theory (NAT)

Risk Taking Theory (RTT)

Empirical Studies

Entrepreneurship Education and Career Intention of Students

Entrepreneurship Education and Self-Productivity

Entrepreneurship Education and Poverty Alleviation

Summary of Review of Literature

17

Conceptual Framework

Concept of Education

The term “education” originated from a Latin word “Educatum” which meansthe act of teaching or training It is also derived from another Latin word “educere”which means to lead forth or to come out Education seeks to develop and nourish theinnate good qualities and draw out the best in every individual According to Aries(2000) educating an individual is an attempt to give him some desirable knowledge,understanding, skills, interests, attitude and critical thinking Education simply can beregarded as an activity or experience which brings the required changes in thebehaviours of the learner It enables a man to become more efficient, to achieve withincreasing facility the legitimate goals of his life According to Afolayan (2011)education involves a number of activities on the part of several people including theteacher, pupil, parents, government and every citizen of the country It starts the verymoment a person is born and ends when the person dies According to Taiwo (2007)education is the means through which individuals acquire adequate and appropriateknowledge, skills, attitudes and values known as cognitive, psychomotor and affectivebehaviours to be able to function optimally as a citizen Invariably, education is ameans of preserving, transmitting and improving the culture of any society

Education remains a priority of every nation for the overall development of hercitizens Mitchell (2005) regard education as a key to training individuals towards areliable state of mind for it is an act that has a formative effect on the mind, character

or physical ability of an individual Fafunwa (2003) asserted that education is theaggregate of all the processes by which the child or young adult develops the abilities,

attitudes and other forms of behaviour which are positive to the society in which helive It is a powerful instrument devised by man for improving his lot which entailsinculcating the right attitudes, values, norms, abilities and skills in an individual toenable him be a functional member of the society Succinctly, the Federal Republic ofNigeria (FRN, 2004) recognize education as “an instrument par excellence” foreffective national development, geared towards self-realization, better humanrelationship, individual and national efficiency, effective citizenship, nationalconsciousness, national unity as well as towards social, cultural, economic, political,scientific and technological progress.

The principles of education and school organization are rooted in the concepts

of education given by prominent educationists: Education is something which makesman self-reliant and selfless, it is for liberation, for the realization of self, training ofcountry and love of the nation One gets from nature, the manifestation of divineperfection already existing in man and the widest road leading to the solution of allour problems (Akinkpelu, 2011)

From the view of western philosophers like Socrates, Rousseau and Froebel,Education includes the bringing out of the ideas of universal validity which are latent

in the mind of every man, developing in the body and soul of the pupil all the beautyand perfection which he is capable of before he can speak or understand Education isthe process through which the child makes internal external an unfoldment of what isalready enfolded It involves the process of providing information from teacher topupil to help him/her develop physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, spirituallyand economically from childhood (Reynoids, 2008)

Concept of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship has been recognized as an important and sustaining aspect ofany economy (Dickson, Solomon and Weaver, 2008) It contributes in immeasurableways towards creating new jobs, wealth creation, poverty reduction and incomegeneration for both government and individuals Entrepreneurship is very significant

to the growth and development of economies (Keister, 2005) Entrepreneurship isreferred to as a source of employment generation This is because entrepreneurialactivities have been found to be capable of making positive impact on the economy of

a nation and on the quality of life of the people Adejumo (2001) Entrepreneurship ismore than simply starting a business It is a process through which individuals identifyopportunities, allocate resources and create value through the identification of unmetneeds or opportunities for change It is the act of being an entrepreneur which is seen

as one who undertakes innovations and transforms them into economic goods andservices (Ayandike, Emeh and Ukah, 2012)

Entrepreneurship is an enterprising human activity in pursuit of the generation

of value through the creation or expansion of economic activity, by identifying andexploiting new products, process or markets (OECD Entrepreneurship Programme2009) Oviawe (2010) noted that entrepreneurship is the acquisition of skills and ideasfor creating employment for oneself and others It is the act of starting a company,arranging business ideas and taking risk in order to make a profit (Omolayo, 2006).According to Nwangwu (2007) entrepreneurship is the process of bringing togetherthe factors of production, namely: land, labour and capital to provide goods andservices for public consumption

Entrepreneurship can be described as the willingness and ability of anindividual to seek out investment opportunities and take advantage of scarce resources

to exploit the opportunities profitably (Aina and Salako, 2008) They further see it asthe process of creating something new with value by devoting the necessary time andefforts, assuming risks and at the end receiving resulting reward According toEzegbe, Eskay and Anyanwu (2013) entrepreneurship is both the art and process ofplanning, organizing and co-ordinating human and material resources skilfullytowards the achievement of a business goal Tijani (2004) defined entrepreneurship asthe process of increasing the supply of entrepreneurs or adding to the stock of existingsmall, medium and big enterprises available to a country This is done by creating andpromoting many capable entrepreneurs who can successfully run innovativeenterprises, nurture them to growth and sustain them to achieve socio-economic goals

Government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international bodiesseeking to improve youth livelihood could best pursue their empowerment objectives

by tapping into the dynamism of young people and build on their strong spirit of risktaking through entrepreneurship Adejumo (2001) Entrepreneurship development hasled to job creation, employment generation, growth of the economy and sustainabledevelopment Salami (2011) has identified two types of entrepreneurship thus:

Opportunity – Based Entrepreneurship: This occurs when an entrepreneur perceives abusiness opportunity and chooses to pursue it Such entrepreneurs see economicslowdown as the perfect time to pursue new market opportunities In addition,recession tend to favour the naturally innovative temperament of entrepreneurs

Necessity – Based Entrepreneurship: This occurs when an entrepreneur is left with noother viable option to earn a living It is borne not as a choice but compulsion whichmakes him or her choose entrepreneurship as a career.

Entrepreneurship leverages the human capital that the nation’s universities areendowed with and empowers more youth to participate in opening up the potentials ofthe nation Having understood the vital role of entrepreneurship in economicdevelopment, it becomes apparent that careful attention is needed to invest andpromote entrepreneurship Education has been seen as a precondition forentrepreneurship development It is said to be an important determinant of selectioninto entrepreneurship, formation of new venture and entrepreneurial success (Dickson,Solomon and Weaver, 2008) For any country to foster genuine economic growth anddevelopment, its educational system must be considered as basic and essentialingredient Education is undisputedly considered as the bedrock of any meaningfuldevelopment FGN (2004), be it economic, social or political

The National policy on education made it clear on the need for functionaleducation; education to be relevant, practical and based on the acquisition ofappropriate skills and development of competencies, as equipment for the individual

to live in and contribute to the development of the society (Aladekomo, 2004).Operationally, entrepreneurship is a state where an individual gainfully employs his orher skills, attitude and cognitive abilities to earn a living as well as helping othersaround him to earn same

Concept of Entrepreneurship Education

Schumpeter who was perhaps, the first major economist to analyse the role ofentrepreneurship in economic development argued that to study the entrepreneur is tostudy the central figure in modern economic history He attributed innovation to theentrepreneur Sequel to his argument that there is need for entrepreneurship education,many social scientists have come up with many definitions For instance,entrepreneurship education can be defined as any pedagogical programme or process

of education for entrepreneurial attitudes and skills, which involves developing certainpersonal qualities It is therefore not exclusively focused on the immediate creation ofnew businesses (Fayolle, Kyro and Ulijn, 2006)

Entrepreneurship education is defined as the structured formal conveyance ofentrepreneurship competencies which in turn refers to the concepts, skills and mentalawareness used by individuals during the process of starting and developing theirgrowth oriented ventures (Alberti, Sciascia and Poli, 2004) According to Bridge(2010) entrepreneurship education should not be confused with general business andeconomic studies; its goal is to promote creativity, innovation and self-employmentand also include the following elements: developing personal attributes and skills thatform the basis of an entrepreneurial mind-set and behaviour (creativity, sense ofinitiative, risk-taking, autonomy, self-confidence, leadership, team spirit etc.) raisingthe awareness of students about self-employment and entrepreneurship as possiblecareer option, working on concrete enterprise projects and activities and providingspecific business skills and knowledge of how to start a company and run itsuccessfully (Bridge, Hegarty and Porter, 2010)

Entrepreneurship education has been described as a formal structured learningthat inculcates in students the ability to identify, screen and seize availableopportunities in the environment in addition to skill acquisition (Jones and English,2004) In the words of Shane and Venkataraman (2000) the thrust of entrepreneurshipeducation entails identifying the source of opportunities, the process of discovery,evaluation and exploitation of opportunities and the set of individuals who discover,evaluate and exploit them The deliverables of entrepreneurship education whenproperly imbibed by students and learners are: ability to impart something new tostudents so that their creativity, innovative abilities, beliefs and combination of skillswould be enhanced and students will develop the ability to identify somethinghappening in the environment (Sofoluwe, 2007) Entrepreneurship educationaccording to OECD Entrepreneurship Indicator Programme (2009) can be described

as a training that stimulates learners to better their lives by generating value throughthe creation or expansion of economic activities, identification and exploiting newproducts, processes or markets

Anything that can be taught is education Since entrepreneurship can be taught,entrepreneurship education refers to pragmatic and meaningful interaction betweenthe learner and the instructor for the purpose of developing the ability of the learner toidentify, evaluate and generate ideas and solving business problems in a unique way(Raimi and Towobola 2011) Entrepreneurship education when effectively andefficiently taught, has the likelihood to precipitate self-employment among learnersand accelerate sustainable growth and development This is evident in a number ofdeveloped nation like Japan, China and America that utilised entrepreneurship

education for improving their human capital as opposed to the traditional approach ofteach and listen which is prevalent in the developing third world nation (White andWolf, 2003) Sofoluwe (2007) view entrepreneurship education as a learning processthat imbibes in the learners/students traits and competences such as team spirit,leadership, problem solving, negotiation skills, self-direction and self-managementunlike the traditional stereotype education which places less attention on skills andpractical needs of the world of work According to Gabadeen and Raimi (2012)entrepreneurship education can be said to be a specialised and all round trainingprogramme designed by education authorities to change the world view of studentsfrom job seekers to job creators by developing their latent talents and potentials.

Entrepreneurship education is the process of inculcating entrepreneurial spiritthrough the development and application of relevant and entrepreneur basededucational curriculum More importantly, it involves giving the recipient ofeducation the understanding and capacity or the unique orientation, behaviour, skillsand attribute to pursue entrepreneurial ventures (Falkang and Alberti, 2000).Entrepreneurship education has been applied in various forms and scope in differentcountries thereby bringing about variant of definitions A common denominator hasemerged from the existing definitions The broad concept of entrepreneurshipeducation sees it as opening up a person’s potentials and providing the opportunity toacquire the appropriate skills and competences needed for him to explore, sustain andexpand his or her own business or businesses This entails creativity, innovation,showing initiatives and risk taking as well as the ability to plan and manage projects inorder to achieve objectives (Koster and Rai, 2009)

Education should be refined with a view to creating and enhancing the supply

of entrepreneurial initiatives and activities (Adejimola and Olufunmilayo, 2009) Thebottom line here is to inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship in the students throughentrepreneurship education programmes (Dickson, Solomon and Weaver, 2008) Fromthe several definitions provided, entrepreneurship education can be conceptualised inrelation to the present study as an academic programme designed to provide studentswith the skills necessary for initiating business and managing them

In a patriotic resolve at making the Nigerian education creative, innovative andmeeting the needs of the industries, the national universities commission wasmandated by the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) to introduce entrepreneurshipeducation into the undergraduate curricular of Nigerian universities This becameexpedient in order to offer a realistic approach to solving the endemic problem ofunemployment facing the nation It has since been made a compulsory course to betaken by all undergraduate students irrespective of students’ area of specialization(Yayah, 2011) According to Oyeola (2010) the policy thrust of entrepreneurshipeducation in the polytechnic system is the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills bystudents so as to be self-reliant and self-employed after graduation Complimentingthis view, Yahya (2011) asserts that the overall objective of entrepreneurshipeducation in the university system is to continuously foster entrepreneurship cultureamongst students and faculty with a view of not only educating them but to alsosupport graduates of the system towards establishing and also maintaining sustainablebusiness ventures

In 2006, the Federal government directed all Nigerian higher educationinstitutions to include Entrepreneurship Education (EEd) as a compulsory course forall students with effect from the 2007/2008 academic session The EEd goalsaccording to Aliu and Ibe (2008) is to inculcate in the student the ability to: Identifyand solve problems using critical and creative thinking, work effectively with others

as a proactive team member and cultivate the ability to resolve conflicts, organize andmanage one’s self and ones activities, collect, analyse, organize and critically evaluateinformation (to make decisions that must be carried through), communicate andnegotiate effectively, reflect on experiences and explore various strategies foreffective learning… learning to learn at all times, become curious leading to readiness

to experiment and innovate (being never satisfied with the status quo) and considerself-employment as a viable option upon graduation from their institutions

Paul (2005) asserted that entrepreneurship education aims to offer functionaleducation for the youth that will enable them to be self-employed and self-reliant,provide the youth with adequate training that will enable them to be creative andinnovative in identifying novel business opportunities, serve as a catalyst foreconomic growth and development, reduce high rate of poverty, create employmentopportunities, reduce rural-urban migration, Provide graduates with enough trainingand support that will enable them to establish a career in small and medium sizebusiness, Offer adequate training to tertiary institution students in risk management tomake certain bearing feasible, inculcate the spirit of perseverance in youths which willenable them to persist in any business venture they embark on and to create smoothtransition from traditional to a modern industrial economy

The Nigerian government seems to have woken up to the reality that thecountry needs to break away from the vicious cycle of poverty, infrastructural neglect,corruption and other vices The reason been that, after over fifty years of achievingindependence, the country is yet to attain her optimum level of development.According to Kolawole and Omolayo (2006) many individuals have difficulties intranslating their business ideas to reality and creating new business ventures because

of lack of necessary information and skills needed to achieve their targets To them,the university curriculum was in the past oriented towards making graduates suitableonly for white collar jobs This underscores why thousands of university graduatesroam about the streets of our major cities and towns in search of white collar jobs It isnecessary and possible to position Nigerian universities to stimulate economic growththrough deliberate programme of production of entrepreneurial minded students,hence entrepreneurship education (Jimah and Unuigbokhai, 2011)

Entrepreneurship education seeks to prepare people, especially youths, to beresponsible enterprising individuals who become entrepreneurs or entrepreneurialthinkers and who contribute to economic development and sustainable communities(Familoni, 2012) That is to say that entrepreneurship education is not just aboutteaching someone to run a business It is also about encouraging creative thinking andpromoting a strong sense of self-worth and accountability Familoni (2012) stressedfurther that through entrepreneurship education, students learn to create a business,and they also learn a lot more for example, they have an opportunity to take risk,manage the result and learn from the outcome Familoni (2012) stated that the coreknowledge created via entrepreneurship education are: The ability to recognize

opportunities in one’s life, the ability to pursue such opportunities by generating newideas and marshalling out needed resources, the ability to create and operate newventure and the ability to think in a creative and critical manner.

Entrepreneurship education improves academic performance, increasesproblem solving and decision making skills Entrepreneurship education improvesinterpersonal relationships, teamwork skills, money management and public speakingskills (The United States Department of Labour, 2013) The entrepreneurshipeducator’s aim is to help students develop core skills for enterprise and provideopportunity for these to be practised within a range of situations to gain enhancedconfidence and self-belief Students after completing their course in entrepreneurshipeducation, should be able to take creative and innovative approaches that areevidenced through multiple solutions and reflective processes (creativity andinnovation), persuade others through informed opinion and negotiate support for ideas(persuasion and negotiation), manage a range of enterprise projects and situationsappropriately for example by proposing alternatives or taking a holistic approach(approach to management), evaluate issues and take decisions in situations ofambiguity, uncertainty and risk (decision making), use networking skills effectively,for example to build or validate ideas or to build support for ideas with potentialcolleagues or stakeholders (networking), recognize patterns and opportunities incomplex situations and environment (opportunity recognition), model and proposebusiness opportunities that take account of financial implication and issues ofintellectual property (financial and business literacy) (Enterprise and

Entrepreneurship, 2012)

A critical element slowing the progress of entrepreneurship education in Benuestate is lateness in starting entrepreneurship education in Nigeria While the UnitedStates of America commenced formal teaching of entrepreneurship in its tertiaryinstitution in 1947 Kuratko (2003) Nigeria started her own in 2007 (Yahya, 2011) It

is therefore normal for a novel initiative like entrepreneurship education to have someoperational challenges (Raimi, Shokumbi and Peluola, 2010)

The first challenge affecting entrepreneurship education according to Garba(2004) is poor curriculum implementation across tertiary institutions This unpleasantstate of affair has made the goals of entrepreneurship intervention in Nigeria veryillusive It is common in the Nigerian education landscape that objectives ofspecialised education are not often translated into practical realities during the process

of policy implementation (Okebukola, 2004), (Onyeachu, 2008) Besides, the style ofteaching entrepreneurship education across the tertiary institutions would have beingflawed because of too much emphasis on rudiments of writing business plan in groups

of 10 to 15 students (Ifedili and Ofoegbu, 2011) Entrepreneurship education is betterimparted through industrial tours, professional talks from successful business ownersand real execution of business projects while in school Presently, the focus is more ontheoretical instructions and mentoring (Gabadeen and Raimi, 2012)

Related to the point above is the absence of standard text books and otheruseful learning materials on entrepreneurship education (Ifedili and Ofoegb, 2011).Most available text books are deficient and do not address the peculiar nature of theNigerian business environment Furthermore, there is inadequate funding ofentrepreneurship education which has negatively affected the implementation of