Engineering Students’ Innovation Competence: A Comparative Analysis of Nigeria and South Africa

Omoseni Oyindamola Adepoju,Nnamdi Nwulu

doi:10.3991/ijep.v10i6.14695

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to assess the role of tertiary institutions in impacting innovation competence among graduating students in the engineering discipline. To achieve this aim, two research questions were investigated: First, we examine if the graduating students possess some key innovative competence qualities innovative competence which include qualities such as creativity, leadership, self-efficacy, energy and risk propensity. Secondly, we investigate the key elements of tertiary institutions that impact innovative competence among the graduating students. A structured questionnaire was administered to graduating engineering students at the Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria and University of Johannesburg, South Africa during the 2019/2020 academic session and their responses were compared. Results indicate that students generally had a high assessment of their innovation competence and attributed some of this competence to their institutions learning environment.

Highlights

Innovation competence can be defined as the ability to conceptualize and execute ingenious ideas that have practical and tangible impact [1]
The population of the study comprised of final year engineering students at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa and Federal University of Technology (FUTA) in Nigeria
The results show that UJ students assess themselves as having higher levels of innovation competence than FUTA students have

Summary

Introduction

Innovation competence can be defined as the ability to conceptualize and execute ingenious ideas that have practical and tangible impact [1]. These ingenious ideas can either take the form of a product or service [1]. There is an attitude and skill set required to successfully conceptualize and implement innovative ideas consisting of precise knowledge, resilience, self-motivation and creativity [2]. This is because innovation is a complex endeavor and the innovation process involves uncertainty with no guarantee of success [13]. It is imperative that learning environments are deliberately designed to foster this competence

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Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion