Entrepreneurship Intervention: Towards Transforming Education in Institutions of Higher Learning: A Case of One Public University in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The study assessed selected university stakeholders’ views and perceptions regarding the curriculum being offered at one public university in Zimbabwe and its alignment towards socio-economic needs. The study also sought ways of how entrepreneurship could be effectively infused into the university curriculum to address the challenge of unemployment. A qualitative case study involving thirty purposively selected participants was adopted. Participants included university administrators, lecturers, students, curriculum developers, captains of industry and the university community. Open ended questionnaires and in-depth face to face interviews were used to elicit responses which were later analysed to discern themes. Findings revealed that the curriculum offered partially addressed the needs of the market due to its failure to focus on entrepreneurial skills training. This tended to constrain students’ self-reliance. Furthermore, entrepreneurship per se was not taught in some of the Faculties. The study concluded that the lack of a practical component was the missing link in fully addressing socio-economic needs and that Entrepreneurship was not a university wide module. The study recommended that for Entrepreneurship to address the socio-economic challenges, there was need to make it a university wide course that incorporates the practical component while consulting various stakeholders for input and relevance.

Keywords: skills training, Entrepreneurship, transformation, curriculum, market demands

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-35-03

Publication date: December 31^st 2019