IMPACT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ON INNOVATION AMONG OFFICE TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT GRADUATES OF POLYTECHNICS IN KATSINA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the impact of entrepreneurship education on innovation among Office Technology and Management (OTM) graduates of Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic, Katsina state Nigeria. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. A survey design was adopted with a population of 147 OTM graduates from 2020/2021 to 2022/2023 sessions. Census sampling was used to maintain the population of the research. Data was collected using a 19-item questionnaire, "Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on Promoting Innovation (IEEPI)," validated by three experts from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi. A pilot test with 10 OTM graduates from Kano State Polytechnic yielded a Cronbach alpha of 0.85. The researcher and one trained assistant administered the questionnaire. Findings showed no statistically significant impact on social innovation [F(1, 132) = 0.245, p = .621 > 0.05, R² = .002, B = .033, t= 0.494]. However, entrepreneurship education significantly impacted marketing innovation [F(1, 132) = 17.928, p = .000 < 0.05, R² = .120, B = .375, t = 4.234]. The study concluded that entrepreneurship education significantly promotes marketing innovation among OTM graduates, while the relationship between entrepreneurship education and social innovation remains inconclusive. It recommended integrating experiential projects, real-world marketing challenges, industry collaborations, and community partnerships into the curriculum to bridge perception gaps and enhance graduates’ innovative marketing strategies