EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS REQUIRED BY BUSINESS EDUCATION GRADUATES FOR CAREERS IN ACCOUNTING AS PERCEIVED BY EMPLOYERS OF LABOUR IN ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Approval Page iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of Contents vi
List of Figures ix
List of Tables x
Abstract xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
Background of the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 10
Purpose of the Study 12
Significance of the Study 12
Research Questions 14
Hypotheses 14
Delimitation of the Study 15
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 16
Conceptual Framework 16
- Employability Skills 17
- Business Education Programme 38
- Careers in Accounting 42
- Employers of Labour 44
Theoretical Framework 48
- Kolb’s Skill Learning and Transfer Theory, 1984 48
- Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence Theory, 1998 49
- Yorke and Knight’s USEM Theory, 2004 49
Related Empirical Studies 50
Summary of Literature Reviewed 55
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 57
Design of the Study 57
Area of the Study 57
Population for the Study 58
Sample and Sampling Technique 59
Instrument for Data Collection 59
Validation of the Instrument 60
Reliability of the Instrument 60
Method of Data Collection 61
Method of Data Analysis 61
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 62
Research Question 1 62
Research Question 2 63
Research Question 3 64
Research Question 4 65
Research Question 5 66
Hypotheses 67
Hypothesis 1 67
Hypothesis 2 69
Hypothesis 3 71
Hypothesis 4 74
Hypothesis 5 75
Findings of the Study 77
Research Questions 77
Hypotheses 79
Discussion of Findings 80
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS 85
Restatement of the Problem 85
Summary of Procedures Used 86
Implications of the Study 87
Limitations of the Study 88
Conclusions 88
Recommendations 89
Suggestions for Further Study 90
REFERENCES 91
APPENDICES
- Letter to Validates 98
B: Letter to Respondents 99
C: Copy of Research Questionnaire 100
D: Cronbach Alpha Coefficient Formula Used for Reliability Test
of Instrument 105
E: Formula Used for Calculating the Mean, Standard Deviation and the
t-test Value
F: Population Distribution for the Study 106
G: Sample Population Distribution for the Study 108
H: List of Organizations Sampled for the Study 110
I: List of Employers of Labor in Gombe State involved in Pilot Test 114
LIST OF FIGURE
- Schema Representing the Concept of Employability Skills Required
by Business Education Graduates for Careers in Accounting as
Perceived by Employers of Labor 47
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Mean Responses of Employers of Labor on Conceptual Skills
Required by Business Education Graduates for Careers in
Accounting 62
Table 2: Mean Responses of Employers of Labor on Technical Skills
Required in Business Education Graduates for Careers in
Accounting 63
Table 3: Mean Responses of Employers of Labor on Human Skills
Required by Business Education Graduates for Careers in
Accounting 64
Table 4: Mean Responses of Employers of Labor on Communication
Skills Required by Business Education Graduates for
Careers in Accounting 65
Table 5: Mean Responses of Employers of Labor on Problem-Solving
Skills Required by Business Education Graduates for
Careers in Accounting 66
Table 6: t-test Analysis of Difference between the Mean Responses of
Employers of labor in Teaching and Non-teaching Jobs on
Conceptual Skills Required by Business Education Graduates
for Careers in Accounting 68
Table 7: t-test Analysis of Difference between the Mean Responses of
Employers of Labor in Teaching and Non-teaching Jobs on
Technical Skills Required by Business Education Graduates
for Careers in Accounting 70
Table 8: t-test Analysis of Difference between the Mean Responses of
Employers of Labor in Teaching and Non-teaching Jobs on Human
Skills Required by Business Education Graduates for
Careers in Accounting 72
Table 9: t-test Analysis of Difference between the Mean Responses of
Employers of Labor in Teaching and Non-teaching Jobs on
Communication Skills Required by Business Education Graduates
For Careers in Accounting 74
Table 10: t-test Analysis of Difference between the Mean Responses of
Employers of Labor in Teaching and Non-teaching Jobs on
Problem-Solving Skills Required by Business Education Graduates
for Careers in Accounting 76
ABSTRACT
The study was conducted to determine employability skills required by Business Education graduates for careers in accounting as perceived by employers of labor in Adamawa State, Nigeria. The study was guided by five research questions and five corresponding null hypotheses. Literature relevant to the study was reviewed. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study consisted of 2194 Heads of Department or Section of employers of labor in teaching and non-teaching jobs in Adamawa State, Nigeria, out of which seventy five were selected using convenience or purposive sampling technique. A structured questionnaire titled: Employability Skills Questionnaire for Employers of Labor (ESQEL) was used to collect data for the study. Three experts face-validated the instrument Cronbach Alpha coefficient reliability index was used to test the reliability of the instrument and it yielded high reliability coefficient of 0.98. 75 copies of the questionnaire were distributed and all were returned duly completed. Data collected were analyzed using means and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that employers of labor required Business Education graduates to acquire the five categories of employability skills for careers in accounting, as follows: Conceptual Skills, Required, Technical Skills, Highly Required, Human Skills, Required, Communication Skills, Required and Problem-solving Skills, Highly Required. The null hypotheses tested showed that there was a significant difference in the mean ratings between employers of labor in teaching and non-teaching jobs on all the five employability skill clusters. Based on the findings, it was concluded that all the five employability skills identified for the study were required by Business Education graduates for careers in accounting. It was recommended among others, that the universities, curriculum planners and implementers should pay much attention on the employability skill cluster items identified as highly required to improve on their provisions more than ever before so as to enhance Business Education graduates’ employability for careers in accounting.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Every nation depends greatly on the quality of her human resources for its developmental programs and wellbeing, and education has been identified as the major determinant of such quality. The natural resources in Nigeria as well as the global economic opportunities that abound cannot be exploited without an educational program that provides opportunities for all citizens to acquire employability skills for effectively exploiting those resources for human consumption. In order to provide the requisite employability skills, the Federal Government of Nigeria held its first National Curriculum Conference in 1969 to fashion out its educational curriculum contents and objectives to meet its manpower skills requirement for managing the various sectors of the economy including economic, social, political and technological sectors.
The sectors of any national economy cannot be managed very well if it is not guided by any policy framework. Nigeria saw this need in the education sector and developed its first National Policy on Education in 1977, revised in 1981, 1998 and 2004, to guide the implementation of the school educational programs that cut across board. The major emphasis on this policy is to educate the citizenry by equipping them with requisite employability skills and knowledge that will enable them become not only job seekers but also employers of labor, job creators and self-reliant. The policy document recognized Business Education as one of the educational programs that can provide vocational skills to recipients from lower to higher level manpower. It was because of the above recognition that the curriculum of Business Education was made dynamic to stand the test of time in providing the required employability skills for careers in accounting, marketing and business offices (Osuala, 2004).