Comparing Choices Of Entrepreneurship Education Curriculum Content Among Undergraduate Students In Nigerian Universities

Abstract

University education in Nigeria, like in other developing countries, is set up to produce graduates grounded in generic skills and who possess a high quality of education for the nation's economic development. University curriculum, therefore, should reflect research about what works, as opposed to what is popular. This implies that the curriculum content must include technical and vocational skills to enable students attain the society’s expectations, and meet their personal needs, particularly in a globally depressed economy. This research is an attempt to identify potentially viable skills for curriculum development for entrepreneurship education at undergraduate level in Nigerian Universities, with a view to comparing them with the skills prescribed by National Universities Commission (NUC). Sixty-four skills categories were provided and 550 undergraduate students of the University of Abuja as well as 200 students from Federal University, Lafia were asked to rank them according to their best choices. The first twenty most acceptable skills ranked by students were compared with those prescribed by National Universities Commission as the basis upon which they could select entrepreneurship curriculum contents for students. This study recommends that centres for entrepreneurship studies be adequately equipped to deliver the prioritized vocational skills.