Assessment of Entrepreneurship Education as a Strategy for Poverty Alleviation among Business Education Graduates of Universities in South-South Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed entrepreneurship education as a strategy for poverty alleviation among business education graduates from universities in South-South Nigeria. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The target population for this study comprised of 200 business education graduates in Federal/State Universities in South-South Nigeria. The entire population was used for the study, since the population is manageable. Hence there was no sampling. The instrument that was used to collect data in this study was a questionnaire. The face and content validities of the questionnaire were determined by the researcher’s supervisor and two other experts in Business Education Department. Cronbach alpha reliability index was used to determine the internal consistency of the items in the instrument. The data obtained were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Mean and standard deviation were utilized to answer the research questions while independent samples t-tests were employed to test the hypotheses at a significance level of 0.05. The findings of the study revealed that on average, undergraduate students possess high ability in the utilization of ICT skills; that on average, business education graduates possess high ability in the utilization of management skills; that on the average, business education graduates possess high ability in the utilization of marketing skills. The study also revealed that there is no significant difference between male and female business education graduates in the mean ratings of their possessed competencies in marketing. The study recommended that educational institutions should provide additional education and training for undergraduate in ICT so that they can possess high ability on how to create website, identify and open spreadsheet in another location, send and receive fast messages.