Entrepreneurial Competencies Needed By Electrical/Electronic Graduates of Technology Education for Self-Employment in Enugu State (Published)
The objective of this study is to determine the entrepreneurial competencies required by electrical/electronics technology education graduates for self-employment in Enugu State. The study was necessitated because of the prevailing issue of unemployment among graduates of higher institutions which has become a thing of worry for all and sundry. Three purposes of the study with corresponding three research questions and a null hypothesis guided the study. A survey research design was used for the study. Population was 185 graduates of electrical/electronics (tech) education which comprises of 118 government employed and 67 self-employed graduates of the same programme in Enugu State. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire meticulously structured by the researcher which was made up of three sections according to the three research questions of the study. The questionnaire has a total number of 41 item statements structured in four point response categories of very highly needed, highly needed, slightly needed, and not needed with weighting values of 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively. 185 copies of the questionnaire were administered to the respondents and collected back by the researcher. Mean with standard deviation was used to answer the three research questions of the study while t-test was used to test the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed that ability to accommodate and plan for changes in technology among others are the managerial competencies needed for self-employment while skills to recitify faults among other findings are the technical/ICT competencies needed by graduates of electrical/electronics (tech) education for self-employment. Also, it was found that ability to take wise decisions based on the available facts and being honest to customers and employers among others are interpersonal competencies needed by the graduates for self-employment. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made which include, that education authorities and the government at all levels should create enough awareness about entrepreneurship education for onward eradication of the ailing problems of unemployment and abject poverty that abound in the country.
Keywords: Education, Electrical and Electronics Graduates, Entrepreneurial Competencies, Self-employment