Young people's perception of entrepreneurial skills and traits

Abstract

According to the Report of the International Labor Organization for 2012/13 the total unemployment rate at the global level amounts to around 200 million people and/or 6% of the total available labor force. Twelve per cent of that amount is young people aged 15 to 24 years. Eighty-five per cent of them live in developing countries. It is evident that youth self-employment will become very popular in the forthcoming period especially if viewed as a source of new jobs and economic dynamics as well as the source of improvement of lives of young people and their economic independence. Therefore, it may be concluded that it is necessary to encourage entrepreneurial behavior among young people. The paper will present the results of an empirical study 'Entrepreneurial aspirations of students in secondary vocational schools'. The aim of this study was to determine the existence of entrepreneurial aspirations among high school youth, with special regard for the perception of necessary traits of entrepreneurs and self-perception of own abilities for entrepreneurship, assuming these are positively correlated. The survey was conducted in June 2012 on a sample of 300 students in three of selected secondary vocational schools: School of Economics and Trade in Kikinda, 'Uroš Predić' School of Chemical Engineering, Food and Textile Industry and '23.maj' Technical School in Pančevo. The research used testing, statistical methods and the comparative method. The obtained data were analyzed using statistical methods.