Published Article

ABSTRACT

This paper determined Industry-based Skills and Liberalization of Employment Opportunities for Business Education Graduates in Akwa Ibom State. Two research questions were developed to guide this study. Two hypotheses were raised and tested at .05 level of significance. This study was based on Fischer (1980) skill theory. Relevant literatures were reviewed and referenced accordingly. The population of this study was one hundred and twenty (120) managers of registered business in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Convenient sampling technique was adopted to select sixty-eight (68) managers as respondent. Data for the study were collected using a structured questionnaire captioned: Industry-based Skills and Liberalization of Employment Opportunities for Business Education Graduates (IBSLEOBEGQ). Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test analysis was used for testing the hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The findings revealed that technical and soft skills are significant industry-based skills that influences liberalization of employment opportunities for business education graduates. It was recommended that: Business Education curriculum should be updated to global standard; this will afford the graduates wider opportunities in the labour market. Also, student should be given more training of technical and soft skills to enhance skill acquisition that would position graduates on a global perspective.

KEYWORDS:  Industry-based Skills, Liberalization, Employment Opportunities.