Popular misconceptions of entrepreneurship education in a higher education institution in Niger Delta region of Nigeria

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is now a very important course in higher education institutions in Nigeria. This has become necessary in view of the high level ofunemployment ofgraduates which has and is still causing youth restiveness. Being enterprising is vital for job and wealth creation as prerequisites for economic and political stability. Universities are power-houses of knowledge, and as such should take a lead in producing graduates with entrepreneurial skills and mindset to tackle unemployment crisis. Using a survey design, the study investigated the level of misconceptions of entrepreneurship education among students; ascertained the extent to which students who offered entrepreneurship education have entrepreneurial mindset; identified the teaching strategies mostly used for teaching entrepreneurship education; and analyzed the contents of entrepreneurship curriculum. Questionnaire items were the instrument used for data collection from 150 randomly sampled students in two faculties at the University of Port Harcourt. Frequencies, percentages, mean scores and z-test were the statistical tools used for analyzing the data. The findings identified six major misconceptions about entrepreneurship education among students. It established that the strategies used for teaching/learning entrepreneurship were not experiential and activity-oriented to enhance active construction of knowledge; and that the focus of the curriculum contents were basically on entrepreneurial learning skills only, although the students have entrepreneurial mindset. The following recommendations were made: (1) The National University Commission (NUC) should liaise with university authorities to collaborate with entrepreneurial experts, curriculum experts, educational technologists, policy-makers and politicians, to form a forum and re-design entrepreneurship education curriculum, paying attention to activities, delivering strategies, and generic skills; (2) Workshops and seminars to be conducted in all faculties where local entrepreneurs from different related fields peculiar to each faculty are invited to share success stories, and business-starting fundamentals to an audience of students and teachers, among others.