The study aimed to evaluate how entrepreneurship education impacts self-employability among business education graduates from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. It focused on three specific objectives, including assessing the effect of entrepreneurship education on the ability of these graduates to start their own businesses.
To address these objectives, the study formulated three research questions, one of which was: What impact does entrepreneurship education have on the ability of business education graduates from Ahmadu Bello University to establish new businesses? The research used a descriptive survey design and targeted 66 graduates from the business education program who completed their studies in 2013. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select a sample of 29 students.
Data were collected through a validated questionnaire, and a pilot study involving 30 students from the Federal College of Education Zaria confirmed the instrument’s reliability with a coefficient correlation of 0.80. The questionnaires were distributed and returned via Google Mail.
The analysis utilized descriptive statistics, including frequency distribution, percentages, means, and standard deviations to address the research questions. Chi-square (χ²) tests were applied to the null hypotheses. The findings indicated that entrepreneurship education had a significant effect on the graduates' ability to establish new businesses.
The study concluded that without adequate entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, business education graduates may struggle to start, manage, and sustain new ventures. The researcher recommended that graduates leverage the entrepreneurship knowledge and skills they have acquired to create and sustain their own businesses, transforming themselves into "job makers" rather than "job seekers."
