Year: 2017
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: An attempt to reposition the Nigerian economy has led to the introduction of entrepreneurship education in all the country’s tertiary institutions with a view to redirecting the youths to technical and entrepreneurial skills for self-employment. Recent studies, however, show low enrolment of students in building related skills at the vocational centres of these institutions despite the important role the sector plays in the socio economic development of the country. While several efforts have been made to explain the reasons for this sombre scenario, empirical-based evidence on the influence of socio-economic background on the attitudes of students towards the acquisition of these skills is lacking. The aim of this study, which was based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour, is to explore the influence of gender and family’s occupational background on the attitudes of polytechnic students towards building-based vocational skills. Data were sourced through structured questionnaire administered on 358 randomly selected students from the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti. Chi-square statistics were used to test the hypotheses. Results show that majority of the respondents have negative views about building related skills, which are found to be greatly influenced by the family’s occupational background and gender differences. In order for the nation to achieve its economic and social goals, intensive campaign strategies are required to disabuse the minds of the populace against these perceptions. It concludes by highlighting some of these strategies.
Author: Peter Oluwatoyin Adewale
Institution: The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2768024835