PERCEPTION OF BUSINESS EDUCATORS ON THE RELEVANCE OF INTEGRATING GLOBALIZED EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS IN THE BUSINESS EDUCATION CURRICULUM IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study sought to determine the relevance of integrating globalized employability skills in business education curriculum in tertiary institutions. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised 41 business educators in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Census survey sampling technique was used. A structured questionnaire was used. The questionnaire was validated by three experts, two from Business Education Department and one from Measurement and Evaluation, all from Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki. Cronbach Alpha reliability procedure was used. The instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.84. Forty one (41) copies of the instrument were administered to the respondents but 35 were retrieved representing 97% of the instrument. Data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation for research questions while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using t-test. The finding of the study showed that integration of technology and soft skills in business education curriculum in tertiary institutions was perceived very relevant and relevant respectively by business educators in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. It was also found from the hypotheses tested that the relevance of integrating technology and soft skills in business education curriculum by the respondents was not significantly influenced by gender. Based on the findings, it was concluded that graduates of business education programmes would easily familiarize themselves with diverse operations of the globalized employability skills upon graduation when relevant technology and soft skills are integrated and implemented in content of business education curriculum. It was also recommended among others that business education curriculum designers should incorporate the relevant technology and soft skills of the globalized workplace in the teaching and learning of business education curriculum.

Keywords: Employability Skills, Business Education Curriculum, Globalization, Perception Business Educators