ASSESSMENT OF SOFT AND TECHNICAL SKILLS POSSESSED BY BUSINESS EDUCATION POSTGRADUATES FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Oluwasina, Boladale Ruth; Onokpaunu, Michel Oghenekaro & Odusanya, Abosede Abolanle

Abstract

The study concentrated on determining soft and technical skills possessed by business education postgraduates for national development in Nigeria. In order to execute this study, two research questions and four null hypotheses were raised. Descriptive survey research design was adopted and a sample population of 364 postgraduate business education students in public universities in South- West and South-South, Nigeria was selected using proportionate sampling technique. A 4-point questionnaire containing 22 items in two clusters was used for data collection. Internal consistency of the instrument was determined through a pilot test using Cronbach alpha which yielded reliability coefficients of 0.83 and 0.72. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that the subjects possessed soft and technical skills at a low extent while institution type and region did not significantly influence their rating. It was concluded that the poor teaching of practical workplace skills in business education programme could be responsible for the lack of soft and technical skills among business education graduates in South-West and South-South, Nigeria. It was recommended among others that business educators should incorporate effective instructional strategies and methods within and outside the classroom in order to impart the necessary soft and technical skills in students to enable them contribute effectively to national development.