Determinant of Higher Education Institutions on Promoting Students’ Entrepreneurship Across Discipline: Evidence from Dire Dawa, Haramaya and Adama University

Abstract

Recently in Ethiopia, thousands of graduates are producing from higher education institutions each year. As the current capacity of the national labor market of the country cannot provide adequate jobs, many are found unemployed. As a result, higher education institutions are required to produce an entrepreneurial graduates who can create his/her own job rather than waiting to be hired. In relation to this few studies have been conducted which were mainly focused on business and technology students and the impact of entrepreneurship course only. To fill this gap, this study was conducted on various fields of studies with the aim of investigating the factors affecting higher education institutions on promoting student’s entrepreneurship across discipline in the case of three selected Universities (Dire Dawa, Haramaya and Adama). For the sake of achieving this objective, primary sources of data were collected through structured questionnaire from a sample of 972 students which were selected using a stratified random sampling technique. Moreover, focus group discussions and interview were conducted. While descriptive narrations through concurrent triangulation strategy were applied to analyze the data collected from focus group discussion and interview, data collected using questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics and econometric model (ordinal logistic regression). Hence, University commitment, curriculum, delivery method, assessment method, learning facility were found significant factors in determining the students’ entrepreneurship promotion. Therefore, in collaborating to different stakeholders, higher education institutions should provide wide and continuing programs that promote students’ entrepreneurship through opening a center which facilitate the program. Besides, universities should revise and evaluate their curriculum, delivery method, assessment method and learning facility in relation to its role on promoting students’ entrepreneurship.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Higher education institution, promotion, students.