OPPORTUNITY RECOGNITION COMPETENCY REQUIRED FOR JOB CREATION BY BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN BAYELSA STATE

Abstract

The study investigated the influence of opportunity recognition competency required for job creation by business education students in tertiary institutions in Bayelsa State. The study was anchored on the theory of skill acquisition. A descriptive survey research design was used to carry out the study. The population of the study consisted of 499 undergraduates in business education from the three tertiary institutions in Bayelsa State. A simple random sampling technique was used to draw a sample size of 222 undergraduates, which was derived using Taro Yemen’s sampling formula. The Opportunity recognition Competency and Job Creation Questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument was validated and tested for reliability, with a reliability index of 0.975 derived through Pearson's Product Moment Correlation statistic. Out of the 222 copies of the questionnaire distributed, 219 copies were retrieved and used for further analysis. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions, while the null hypotheses were tested using the independent t-test at the 0.05 significance level. The findings of the study revealed, among others, that there is no significant difference in the mean response of male and female students on the extent to which opportunity recognition competency is required for job creation. The study concluded that business education students in tertiary institutions should be trained to understand opportunities and make plans so that they can create jobs. The study, therefore, recommended, among others, that Business education lecturers should be able to expose students to how to recognize business opportunities so that they can make plans so that they can create jobs when they graduate, and Business education curriculum planners should incorporate the programs into the business education curriculum to aid students in the formalization of business so that they will understand opportunities and make plans when they graduate.