Published Article

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the relationship between competence needs of Business Education graduates and employability potentials in Rivers State. This study adopted a descriptive survey research design and a correlation research design. The population of this study consisted of 2,552 business education graduates from the period of 2015/2016–2018/2019 academic sessions. The sample size of 331 respondents was derived based on Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) table of sample size determination. A self-structured questionnaire titled "Competency Needs and Graduate Employability Potentials Questionnaire (CNGEPQ)" was used as the yardstick to measure the relationship between competency needs of business education graduates and their employability potentials. The questionnaire was divided into two sections: A and B. Section "A" covered the respondent’s demographic information while Section "B" covered the instructions guiding the filing of the instrument and the items of the instrument. Section B was further divided into two sub-sections; Part I covered the items on the dimensions of competency needs, having three clusters – covering quantitative skill competence of 15-items; while Part II covered the items on Employability Potentials, with three clusters – covering white-collar employment, blue-collar employment, and entrepreneurial engagement, with a total of 15-items. To obtain the reliability of the instrument, copies of the questionnaire were trial tested by administering it on 20 Business Studies graduates gotten from old students association of Madonna University, Elele, Rivers State. Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used to analyse the data gotten from the administered instruments to the respondents, yielding a reliability coefficient of 0.88, which by implication was enough to adjudge the instrument as being reliable. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was used in the analysis of the data collected. The results from the investigation revealed results favouring white-collar employment need for the investigated competence needs of Business Education graduates among the respondents that participated in this study. The study indicated that there was strong and significant relationship between quantitative skill competence and white-collar employment of Business Education graduates. It is recommended that tertiary institutions in Rivers State offering business education need curriculum planners to introduce courses that would ensure that, upon graduation, business education graduates will be equipped with quantitative skills that would help them earn a living instead of seeking white-collar jobs.

KEYWORDS: Competence Needs, Business Education Graduates, Employability Potentials, Rivers State and Nigeria