ASSESSMENT OF COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY UNIVERSITY POSTGRADUATE BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS TO HANDLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA

AUTHOR: OKORO, JAMES

DEPARTMENT: VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION

AFFILIATION: NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA

University business education graduates, by the nature of their programme, ought to possess relevant competencies for successful entrepreneurship but casual observation and empirical reports indicate that they are not doing well in their entrepreneurial knowledge. Therefore, this study assessed the competencies possessed by the university postgraduate business education students to handle entrepreneurship business challenges in Nigeria. Five research questions were used to guide the study, while five hypotheses were tested. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population, also used as the sample, consisted of 388 business education graduates who are currently running their postgraduate programme in universities in the south-south and south-east geopolitical zones. A validated questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.80 was used for data collection. The arithmetic mean and standard deviation were used to analyze data relative to the research questions while the z-test statistic was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that the respondents have relevant competencies in information and communication technology, management and accounting, among others. It was further discovered that gender and location of respondents’ universities do not significantly affect respondents mean ratings on possessed ICT, office practice and management competencies. Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that, relatively, university business education graduates used for the study have the required competencies for entrepreneurship success and should be encouraged to start some kind of businesses. However, it is recommended, among other things, that university authorities should ensure adequate provision of ICT equipment and facilities for business education and that the programme should adequately incorporate different aspects of insurance while the students and graduates are encouraged to attend seminars in insurance for practical knowledge.

TO VIEW THE FULL CONTENT OF THIS DOCUMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE UNIZIK LIBRARY WEBSITE USING THIS LINK, http://naulibrary.org/dglibrary/admin/book_directory/Vocational_education/11403.pdf

JOB COMPETENCIES EMPLOYERS OF LABOUR CONSIDER NECESSARY FOR BUSINESS EDUCATION GRADUATES IN ANAMBRA STATE

AUTHOR: AZIKE, CHINYERE OGOCHUKWU

DEPARTMENT: VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION

AFFILIATION: NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA

The need to equip university business education graduates for effective performance in employment necessitated this study to ascertain the competencies employers of labour consider necessary for university business education graduates in Anambra State. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. A total of 145 employers registered with Anambra State Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ACCIMA) were used for the study. Six research questions were drawn to guide the study, while three null hypotheses were tested. The instrument for data collection was a 70-item validated questionnaire that was structured on a four-point response options. A test re-test method was used to determine the reliability of the instrument and correlation co- efficient of 0.86 was obtained. Data collected for the research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. One- way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and z-test were used for testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that employers in Anambra State considered operational, public-relations, communications, decision-making, accounting and office-system management/information and communication technology competencies necessary for university business education graduates. It was therefore concluded that university business education graduates intending to be employed in any organization in Anambra State needed to possess all the six competencies listed as pre-requisite for getting employment and that the necessity of these competencies to graduates does not depend on employers’ characteristics such as qualifications, gender and type of organization. Based on the findings of the study and the conclusion, it was recommended, among others, that business education programme should ensure the inclusion of adequate emphasis on the six competency areas as revealed in the study since employers’ need their employees to possess them. The implication of this is that inadequate utilization of these competencies could result in producing graduates who are not likely to be practically exposed to practical courses where skill acquisition is highly demanded. Finally, suggestions for further research were given.

TO VIEW THE FULL CONTENT OF THIS DOCUMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE UNIZIK LIBRARY WEBSITE USING THIS LINK, http://naulibrary.org/dglibrary/admin/book_directory/Vocational_education/11402.pdf