One debate among business owners and policymakers centres on whether higher education institutions (HEIs) have failed to transform the younger generation by developing their competencies, skills, values and behaviours to enable them to be fit for the world of work. While previous studies have considered the importance of skills development and its assessment in many contexts, there appears to have been limited scholarly research on employability issues within the higher education system (HES) in Nigeria. In seeking to address this, it is vital to understand how HEIs in Nigeria conceptualize generic skills and why HEIs have problems with teaching generic skills in their programmes. By adopting a qualitative approach, based on interviews with senior academics, industry executives and final-year undergraduates, this study found that many of the HEIs do not facilitate the teaching of high-level generic skills in their programmes. Some of the factors attributed to this include poor learning environment, lack of staff with industry experience, and over-dependence on theoretical content teaching. The findings are significant for reorienting the HE curriculum developers to align with the needs of the industry and society. Regarding implications for policy, we recommend that enterprise education be made mandatory for primary, secondary and tertiary education curriculum in Nigeria. Finally, we advocate more inclusive and interpretive research for greater understanding of the issues, and to offer useful data for policymaking and decision-making on the perspectives of preparing graduates for work.

This study shows how HE teachers (particularly, business management and vocational studies) experience the teaching of critical thinking to foster student development of critical thinking skills (CTS) while working across diverse international contexts. Using a qualitative online survey and interview methodologies, we obtained rich information from 55 participants from 26 countries in the Global South including HE teachers who incorporate CTS into their teaching practices and those who had studied and briefly taught in developed countries’ universities where CT is embedded into the HE learning with an understanding of the subject under study. Focusing on three dominant themes from the thematic analysis, we analyze three key approaches that HE teachers can adopt to enhance students’ development of CTS which include: teaching strategies, active learning, setting problem or inquiry. Also, we discuss the perceived challenges that HE teachers may experience in the course of promoting teaching for CTS.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the attributes of the Igbos in Eastern Nigeria and the underlying factors influencing their entrepreneurial behaviour. More specifically, the study highlights the links between family, culture, institution and entrepreneurial behaviour in the African context. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on a qualitative research method by interviewing 50 entrepreneurs and community leaders of the Igbo nation. Igbos have been described as “naturally enterprising and ingenious” and can be found throughout Nigeria and West Africa. Understanding the vagaries of ethnic entrepreneurship can arguably only be achieved through research that is undertaken within these socio-historically rich, traditional and cultural contexts. Findings: Linked to the social learning theory, Igbo families provide an entrepreneurial leadership platform which influences youths through role models, providing mastery experiences and socialisation. The extended family provides a safe environment for risk taking, creativity and innovation. Also, an informal apprenticeship system provides entrepreneurial learning that prepares the younger generation to take to business as a way of life. Research limitations/implications: The study is based on a relatively small sample size of 50 respondents, which makes it difficult to generalise the findings despite the benefits of the research methods adopted in the study. Also, there are limitations to the extension of the findings to a generalised Igbo population comprising individuals who may, or may not, behave entrepreneurially. Practical implications: There are significant practical implications, both nationally and internationally, for policy makers that are concerned with developing jobs for the growing population of unemployed youths and inclusive entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Originality/value: The research has three main contributions. First, it valorises indigenous knowledge of family and institutional entrepreneurial behaviour in an African context. Second, it highlights the importance of the linked institutions of the extended family and the informal apprenticeship system in Igbo culture. Finally, it provides a model and an explanation of how the Igbo culture nurtures and develops transgenerational entrepreneurial behaviour.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide fresh insights into rural artisanal activities in a developing world context. It highlights key determinants of the decision to engage in an artisanal business and the challenges that impact upon the growth of these activities. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a mix-method research approach to explore a rural setting where most respondents (81 per cent) combine farm and non-farm livelihood activities. Quantitatively, a multi-nominal regression is used to examine the determinants of diversified artisanal livelihoods. It modelled the differences between farming livelihoods that have not diversified, compared to those also involved in the artisanal activity or wage employment and the intensity of participation. Findings: The findings show that nearly half of artisanal businesses (45.4 per cent) comprise only the owners and no employee, while 54.6 per cent employ one to three workers. Also, some artisanal ventures were more gender-specific than the gender-neutral activities. Other observations were in age (most artisans were under the age of 46 years) and vocational training (most were self-trained followed by a third receiving training only in specific areas such as technical works, building and construction and general trading apprenticeships). Research limitations/implications: The study is based on a relatively small sample size of 306 business owners, which makes it difficult to generalise despite the persuasiveness of the observations made. Practical implications: First, the use of econometric methods enabled the development of valid data sets (and various descriptive statistical and logit regression) to analyse determinants of the decision to engage in artisanal work, and the intensity of participation. Second, the ambiguity in categorising artisanal activities is unravelled. The study characterises the local artisanal sector and examines the intensity of participation. Without these, targeted support would remain elusive for practical and policy interventions. Originality/value: Artisanal activities constitute a high proportion of small businesses in the study area – with more than half (54.2 per cent) of respondents being classified as artisans, yet it is an overlooked area of entrepreneurship. Highlighted here are both types of activities and challenges regarding better conceptualising the understanding of artisans and regarding this mostly unarticulated base of practice.