Perception of Entrepreneurship Education in Adekunle Ajasin University: The Gender Perspective

Abstract

Nigeria’s poverty level has continued to increase; unemployment has also characterised the dilemma of her teeming young university and tertiary institutions graduates without much solution in sight. A few years ago, Nigeria devised a coping strategy in the form of Entrepreneurship Education in universities and tertiary institutions to cushion the effect of unemployment among graduates through job creation and self-reliance for economic growth of the country. However, there has been a wrong perception of Entrepreneurship education among the government, administrators of institutions, instructors and students alike which if not corrected might culminate in misplaced priority thereby, serving a tangential role in addressing its mandate. It is against this background that this study discusses the perception and teaching/learning process of Entrepreneurship Education in Adekunle Ajasin University. The qualitative method of eliciting information through Focus Group was used to obtain information from 181 Adult Education student respondents of 200 -400 Levels. 10 instructors and 5 administrative staff were also interviewed through the key Informant process. Findings show that although, Entrepreneurship education is not believed to be synonymous with Vocational education by both female and male students of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba- Akoko nor do the instructors hold the opinion as well; but Entrepreneurship education is not learnt and taught accordingly as it is more theoretical than practical. It is recommended however, that Entrepreneurship education need to be taught more practically, domesticated and diversified to meet local needs, contexts and situations. A commitment is also required from administration to put in place necessary impetus for a good functioning unit of Entrepreneurship studies. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n6p447