Lecturers’ entrepreneurial competencies in science teacher education programmes in rivers state tertiary institutions

Abstract

The problem of unemployment in developing and underdeveloped countries of the world has been a recurrent decimal and global challenge over the years. Therefore, it becomes highly imperative for stakeholders to focus on equipping graduates in all disciplines with the appropriate skills necessary for personal job creation and self-employment. Accordingly, this study examines lecturers' entrepreneurial competencies in science teacher education programmes in Rivers state tertiary institutions. A descriptive survey design was adopted using 46 Universities and Colleges of Education Science Education Lecturers as a sample. The instrument was the "Entrepreneurial Competencies Questionnaire" (LECQ) developed by the researcher and validated by two other Science Education Lecturers with a reliability coefficient of 0.79 determined by the test-retest method. Research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while hypotheses were tested at 0.5 level of significance using a t-test. The findings of the study revealed a low extent of lecturers' competencies in developing new products or market opportunities, building new environments, initiating investor relationships, defining core purpose, coping with unexpected challenges, developing critical human resources, fostering students' self-efficacy, creating authentic learning environments, creating collaborative learning environments and developing and coaching experiential learning. No gender-related significant difference in entrepreneurial competencies existed. In conclusion, there is a low extent of lecturers' entrepreneurial competencies among science education lecturers. It was recommended that training should be organized by government or cooperate bodies to enhance lecturers' entrepreneurial competencies and also make funds should be made available for further research on entrepreneurship.