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Faculty of Management Sciences

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    The entrepreneurial mind-set of university students : a cross-cultural comparison between Namibia and Germany
    (Inderscience Publishers, 2011) Haase, Heiko; Lautenschlager, Arndt; Rena, Ravinder
    The objective of this article is to set a cornerstone to compare and understand the phenomenon of graduate entrepreneurship in developing and developed countries. Our central research questions are: Are there differences in the entrepreneurial intentions of university students? What are the factors that might explain potential differences in their entrepreneurial mind-set? In response to these questions, we performed a cross-sectional study exploring the prospective career paths of 2,353 university students from Namibia as well as from Eastern and Western Germany. We found that Namibian students have a higher entrepreneurial intention compared to their German counterparts. We detected several differences between both countries and revealed explanatory factors. However, they are not sufficient to explain the ‘regional dimension’ of the higher entrepreneurial intentions in Namibia. Several implications are presented.
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    The effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in the selected high schools, TVET colleges and public universities in KwaZulu-Natal province
    (2022) Ncube, Thandukwazi Richman; Lekhanya, Lawrence Mpele
    People around the world are increasingly seeing entrepreneurship is an avenue to create wealth, stimulate economies, and fulfil self-employment hopes. Entrepreneurship has also become a powerful tool for creating jobs and improving economic conditions in the labour market and economy as a whole. Moreover, with the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a variety of additional competencies involving creativity, innovation, and agility are required for young entrepreneurs. Many South African government educational institutions are currently considering embedding entrepreneurship education within their curricula. Considering the shifting entrepreneurial environment, teaching staff (educators, lecturers, and instructors) must constantly be adjusting the educational practices, procedures, and curricula to ensure the best outcomes for future entrepreneurs. Public institutions of learning (PILs) need to entice students through programmes that are relevant. As the entrepreneurial environment has changed, so have the expectations of educational programmes. This study therefore seeks to evaluate the current effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in PILs in KwaZulu-Natal – secondary education; technical, vocational and training (TVET) colleges and universities. South Africa as a developing country has a high rate of unemployment, while the failure rate of start-up businesses is also high. These issues have triggered the South African government’s efforts to help solve the unemployment crisis through the promotion of entrepreneurship. Critical questions remain, however, such as whether entrepreneurship education in PILs is effective enough to develop an entrepreneurship mind-set in students, and how effectively these institutions can influence students to value self-employment and create their own businesses rather than remain job seekers. In addition, interest and investment in entrepreneurship education are increasing in all PILs from secondary schools to graduate schools. This entrepreneurship education has become important in tandem with the demand of students seeking a business education that can provide the necessary competencies to succeed in an increasingly diverse and complex management environment. The current critical situation concerning entrepreneurship in the country motivated this study The study applies a mixed method inductive approached to capture the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education from the perspective of teaching staff and students in PILs. Separate questionnaires for teaching staff and for students, each contained quantitative and qualitative (interview-type) questions which respondents were asked to complete independently (self-administered). These were followed by interviews which the researcher conducted with each individual (both students and instructors) face-to-face. The data collection process would thus result in both qualitative and quantitative responses, and two qualified statisticians were employed to analyse the data - one being responsible for the quantitative analysis, and one for the qualitative analysis of the interview questions. The study involved identifying the factors in teaching and learning entrepreneurship including attitudes, level of awareness, barriers to inclusion and effectiveness. Non-probability purposive sampling techniques were used. The total population of the study was 758 and the sample size was 256 which was determined through Krejcie and Morgan (1970) Table (Sample size Table). The 256 participants who made up the units of analysis for this study; consist of 100 academics who teach entrepreneurial studies and 156 final year students in the Departments of Management and Entrepreneurship Studies or Business Studies from PILs in Kwa-Zulu Natal. A response rate of 85% was achieved. An inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data obtained from interview questions. The study was underpinned by different applicable entrepreneurship education theoretical frameworks, including principally the Theory of Planned Behaviour by Ajzen (1991) that guided the choice of instrument and the development and results of the study. The findings reveal that PILs lack an inclusive model that meets the quality standards required for successful teaching of entrepreneurship despite the dedication of many instructors. Resource constraints were identified by both staff and students as serious inhibiting factors including especially a lack of experienced and trained teachers of entrepreneurship. The insights gained from the intensive interviewing of both educators and students ensured strong qualitative data findings from each university and representative TVET colleges and high schools in the province. It was established that the current curricula are not able to guarantee the acquisition of an entrepreneurial mind-set amongst students of entrepreneurship despite the dedication of many educators and students. The ‘theory of planned behaviour’ illuminated this investigation and this conclusion. Without more resources and more, and better trained, educators, fully appraised of the requirements for developing an entrepreneurial mind-set, it cannot yet be claimed that PILs are able to make the contribution to economic growth and job creation which is the potential for this form of education. The theory was supported with a further dimension suggested. This information will be valuable for educators and policy makers within government institutions at high school and higher education levels. While the findings of the study are not generalizable beyond the Province of Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN), the identical syllabi for government high schools and TVET colleges and the similarity in context between KZN other provinces of South Africa will make them of interest to educators and to policy makers throughout the country.
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    Career development for female academics in Australian and South African universities: an integrative review
    (Beykent University, 2022-02-15) Kanyumba, Blessing; Lourens, Melanie
    South African and Australian higher education sector is facing challenges of fewer females in leadership positions despite policies in place in both countries. The main purpose of this integrative literature was to analyse and compare journal articles related to career development for female academics in South African and Australian higher education institutions to ascertain the challenges faced by women in both countries. South Africa and Australia was chosen for this study due to the differences in cultural background and legislation. Females are still underrepresented in the leadership positions both in Australia and South Africa, hence this study investigated the reasons and provided recommendations to improve female academics representation in higher education institutions. A literature review of 15 research papers and journals articles published from 2010-2020 was conducted. The key words “career development for female academics” were searched in three databases namely, Google Scholar, Ebsco-host and Emerald. The results from the literature showed that female career development in Australia is moving at a faster pace than in South Africa. The results also show that in both countries glass ceiling and limited female representation in leadership positions is rife in both countries. Female only career development programmes are essential to promote female development in higher education. As this study is focusing on two different countries in different continents, both countries have a lot to learn from each other in terms of policy implementations to enhance female career development. This article provides an analysis of the trends of female career development in South Africa and Australia. Therefore, from the existing literature for a period of 10 years, a conceptual career development model was developed.
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    The choice of public universities in a restructured and transforming Higher Education landscape : a student perspective
    (Business Perspectives, 2016) Penceliah, Soobramoney; Konyana, Samkele Vuyokazi Mizpha; Maharaj, Mandusha
    The central tenet of the new Constitution of South Africa is to create equal and socially just economic order. This resulted in the higher education sector being restructured through incorporations and mergers. The limited financial resources, forces universities to evaluate and review their marketing strategies in order to attract suitably prepared and qualified students. The universities have not fully explored the role played by choice factors in influencing the students’ decision of enrolling at a particular university. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that may influence students in their choice of selecting a public university in the Tshwane Metropolitan Region, South Africa. An empirical study was conducted amongst first year students at two public universities in the Tshwane Metropolitan Region, Pretoria. The study design was quantitative in nature, using a descriptive technique, cross sectional and collected data through the application of a non-probability sampling being utilized to obtain data from a sample of 216 respondents. The results of this study suggest that South African education landscape has evolved towards a market-orientated system in which Higher Education Institutions operate as businesses with marketing challenges. The results provide HEIs a guide to identify the key factors that influence students in the selection of a university in a developing country. University management should take cognizance of the gaps and position the university as an institution of first choice in South Africa.
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    The role of Universities in promoting social entrepreneurship in South Africa
    (Virtus Interpress, 2015) Lekhanya, Lawrence Mpele
    Social entrepreneurship can help to reduce socio-economic problems facing many countries including South Africa. Also it can be used as a strategic tool in building social cohesion in country. This paper aimed to examine the role of Universities in promoting social entrepreneurship in South Africa. The study also look assess the support that universities are providing to social entrepreneurship and to evaluate the extend of the support. The paper also analyses most strategies used by South African universities to help the development of social entrepreneurship. Mix approaches of qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed for data collection. The primary data was collected from six universities in South Africa where two comprehensive universities, two universities of Technologies from KwaZulu -Natal province and two comprehensive universities in Gauteng province were chosen for sample for this study. The sample consisted of 40 respondents made up of deans of faculties, heads of departments, and director of social entrepreneurship and head of social entrepreneurship department respectively according to structure of each university. Combination of structured qualitative and five –point Likert scale questionnaire were emailed to the respondents to complete. The results reveal that most of respondents are not involved in social entrepreneurship activities, or any entrepreneurship development programs. The findings also indicate that some respondents they had no clue about social entrepreneurship that their universities are involved in. the study was limited by exploratory nature. Therefore, generalization must be done with care. Further research should aim to target large sample and include other academic staff rather than focusing only on the deans and heads of departments.