A critical perspective on industry involvement in higher education learning: Enhancing graduates’ knowledge and skills for job creation in Nigeria

Abstract

This study explores how Nigerian higher education institutions can facilitate industry involvement in the design of programmes and activities that enhance the development of students’ knowledge and skills for business start-ups, leading to job creation. Using interview and focus group methodologies, the researchers obtained rich information from 50 participants, including higher education teachers, final year undergraduate students who had taken part in the compulsory Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme and industry executives with an understanding of how industry can make a meaningful contribution to learning in higher education. Focusing on four dominant themes from the thematic analysis, the authors analyse the factors that contribute to students’ knowledge and skill development. Building on human capital theory, they make recommendations for curriculum restructuring, renewed pedagogical approaches and competencies, building linkages between higher education and industry and career training and mentoring to enhance the development of students’ knowledge and skills for job creation.

Keywords

Curriculum design graduate skills higher education learning industry involvement Job creation Nigeria

Higher education (HE) plays a significant role in developing a nation’s economy. This is a critical reason for emphasizing the enhancement of HE systems. Skilbeck and Connell (2004: 7) explain that ‘successful learning at school is the foundation of lifelong learning by individuals in the globalized, knowledge society of the future’. This implies that, through effective teaching and learning, HE graduates are expected to acquire relevant knowledge and skills for employment and job creation. However, the fact that a person is successful in learning in school does not guarantee his or her ability to create jobs. This study acknowledges that study programmes, extracurricular activities and exposure to student-centred learning contribute towards an individual’s ability to start a business and create jobs. In addition, preparing graduates for job creation requires functional linkages between higher education institutions (HEIs) and employers.

Doubt has been expressed about the relationship between HE and job creation in Nigeria (Hack-Polay et al., 2019). The literature suggests that the majority of Nigerian graduates lack entrepreneurial skills and knowledge that could lead to job creation (e.g. Bandele and Faremi, 2012; Okolie et al., 2019a; Pitan, 2017). Some scholars have blamed this deficit on the differences between the skills that students acquire in HE and the actual skills needed by industry (e.g. Bandele and Faremi, 2012; Bimrose and Hearne, 2012). Others have noted that the Nigerian HE curriculum does not effectively promote the development of entrepreneurial skills (despite entrepreneurship education being mandatory) (Okolie et al., 2019c).

According to Asiyai (2012), the quality of Nigerian HE has fallen in the past decades. This decline can be traced back to the early days of Nigeria’s independence in the 1960s. Since graduates depended largely on obtaining government white-collar jobs instead of starting businesses, the quality of HE provision was not questioned (Adeniyi, 2001). There is now a troubling view in industry that Nigerian graduates are unemployable and unskilled and that they are inadequately equipped to start up small businesses (Nwanegbo and Odigbo, 2013; Okolie et al., 2019a). Okolie et al. (2019c) argue that Nigerian graduates’ inability to start-up businesses, and so facilitate job creation, derives from an overemphasis on theory rather than skills acquisition. They further explain that it is disappointing for parents and caregivers to see their ‘well trained’ graduates struggling to secure elusive white-collar jobs. As Pitan (2016) noted, greater scrutiny of the ability of HE to produce skilled graduates in the competitive 21st-century world is imperative. Tomlinson (2008) and Pitan (2017) note that when HE graduates are not sufficiently equipped with the relevant skills to be entrepreneurial, they experience difficulties in contributing to society in a meaningful way.

This study focuses on the role of industry in providing relevant input in the design of programmes that may enhance the development of HE students’ knowledge and skills for job creation through quality teaching and learning. It hypothesizes that industry can enhance job creation through (i) accepting students into internship programmes, (ii) contributing to the design of a curriculum that incorporates the needs or demands of industry, (iii) training HE teachers to gain business and industry expertise regardless of their discipline or field of study, (iv) helping to train HE teachers on the use of student-centred approaches instead of the predominant traditional lecture methods, (v) encouraging and motivating practice-based entrepreneurship education, (vi) promoting career training and mentoring of HE students and (vii) encouraging and promoting skill-driven learning instead of certificate-driven learning. It is important to note that, while these aspects of industry involvement are important to note, their detailed examination is beyond the scope of this study.

The study objective

Considering the importance attached to business start-up (and its impact on job creation), it is appropriate to examine how Nigerian HEIs can facilitate industry involvement in the design of programmes and activities that will enhance the development of the relevant knowledge and skills. Since, as noted above, Nigerian industry tends to regard the knowledge and skills of graduates as insufficient to meet employers’ expectations, the greater involvement of industry HE is especially important. Previous studies have focused primarily on employability development in Nigerian HEIs, enhancing entrepreneurial skills acquisition and developing entrepreneurial skills for employment and job creation (e.g. Chillas et al., 2015; Forrier et al., 2015; Jackson, 2015; Knight and Yorke, 2003; Pitan, 2016). However, little is known about how HEIs can in practice involve industry in HE programme design in the Nigerian context. This is the gap that this study aims to fill. The key objective is to explore how industry might become be involved in curriculum design. The study examines issues such as industry support for entrepreneurship education, setting up innovation hubs, promoting industry–HE partnerships, and business start-ups for students. The following research questions (RQs) were formulated to guide the study:

RQ 1: How can industry involvement in Nigerian HE lead to the development of students’ job creation skills?

RQ 2: How can HE curriculum restructuring lead to the development of students’ job creation skills?

Conceptual framework and theoretical underpinning

The industrial development of every nation is directly related to its knowledge and skill base. Improving graduates’ abilities is therefore a critical issue for every national HE system (Fox and Gaal, 2008; Hack-Polay et al., 2019). Similarly, strong linkages between industry and HEIs help to ensure that HE provision is not divorced from national economic structures: effective industry–HE partnerships can play a significant role in producing competent graduates who are capable of starting new businesses and creating jobs. The assumption is that industry involvement promotes the vocationalization of HE programmes, thereby presenting business creation opportunities in every field of study. Mason et al. (2009) point out that industry input into curriculum design and delivery might focus on aspects such as the relevance of course content, the provision of materials and ideas for student projects, formal membership of course advisory panels and guest lectures. As Okunuga and Ajeyalemi (2018) argue, there is evidence of skills shortages among Nigerian graduates, and this deficiency is largely attributable to a low level of cooperation between industry and HEIs.

This study is guided by human capital theory, which suggests that education and training develop skills that enable employees to be industrious. Originating from the work of Becker (1964), human capital theory assumes that education and training are an investment process that generates a future flow of income. The theory emphasizes that high-quality education improves skills and the productive capacity of a population. According to Boateng and Ofori-Sarpong (2002: 39),

from the perspective of human capital theory, the main determinant of the demand for higher education is the expectation of higher earnings over an individual’s lifetime, and higher income is necessary to compensate for the high costs associated with higher education.

Human capital theory has become an influential economic theory in many countries due to its contention that education and training foster the highest rate of return for both workers and firms (Moreau and Leathwood, 2006). Arguably, Nigerian HEIs can meet the anticipation of human capital theory if industry experts are invited to become involved in curriculum design or in formulating programmes that can help students develop knowledge and skills that will lead to productive job creation (Okolie et al., 2019c). According to human capital theory, education is instrumental in improving the production capacity of a people.

Methodology

This study adopts a qualitative research approach to explore industry–HE links that will facilitate the development of students’ knowledge and skills for job creation in Nigeria. The motive for adopting a qualitative approach is based on the assumption that it allows participants the opportunity to freely share their views on the subject matter (Creswell, 2015). The qualitative approach also enables researchers to explore data more thoroughly by allowing careful interactions with participants (Onwuegbuzie and Collins, 2007). Ary et al. (2010) explain that qualitative research methods enable the capture of a rich and comprehensive image of a situation and allow the participants to provide more detail about their experiences.

Participant selection

The process of selecting the study participants was as follows. First, we approached 63 HE teachers in 9 public universities (5 federal and 4 state universities) in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. HE teachers were targeted because they could offer relevant information on the subject of study and explain the link between HE and human capital theory on which this study is built. A purposeful sampling technique (Palinkas et al., 2015) was used in selecting the universities. The teachers were invited to participate in the study through face-to-face and email invitations. The invitation letter explained the objective of the study and requested the consent as well as the profile of the teachers (a short profile was requested to determine whether the potential participant was eligible). After several rounds of reminders over 30 days, 32 teachers agreed to participate. Of these 32, 9 were eliminated because they did not have the required 10 years of teaching experience in the Nigerian HE system. Applying the purposeful sampling technique, 17 HE teachers (6 females and 11 males, aged between 38 and 62) were selected.

Second, industry executives were invited to participate in the study by means of invitation letters sent to their workplaces in the cities of the selected universities. The input of industry executives was sought on the basis that they could offer relevant information concerning the practical application of human capital theory through education and training for national productivity and job creation. We received responses from 21 industry executives representing 21 top firms in the host cities of the HEIs selected. However, we eliminated 5 of these executives because they had less than 10 years of executive experience in industry. The remaining 16 executives (5 females and 11 males, aged between 42 and 57) participated in the study.

Third, final-year undergraduate students from the selected universities were invited to participate. These students were taking part in the compulsory Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), a 3- or 6-month on-the-job training programme that aims to help students develop skills to be productive and perform better in the workplace after graduation. Final-year students were included in the study because they are significant stakeholders in the HE system (Geryk, 2018; Mainardes et al., 2010); failure to include them in such a study would constrain the researchers’ ability to draw a full picture of the relationship between human capital theory and HE provision. The undergraduates were invited during lecture periods with the help of their lecturers. The researchers approached the students directly to ensure that lecturers did not influence decisions on whether or not to participate. The participating students were informed about their rights to withdraw from the study at any time. The invitation letter explained the aim of the study, asked for the students’ consent and a short profile and assured them of anonymity (Onwuegbuzie and Collins, 2007).

Students who were interested in participating were encouraged to return the consent forms to the lead researcher via email (Krueger, 2000). This process yielded 50 potential participants. We applied the purposeful sampling technique (Patton, 2002) to select 17 undergraduate students (6 females and 11 males, aged between 22 and 28).

Overall, the population of the study is 50, comprising 17 HE teachers, 16 industry executives and 17 final-year undergraduate students who had participated in SIWES.

Data collection and analysis

The process of data collection was twofold. First, we used a semi-structured interview approach. Participants were asked questions that helped them to explore how industry involvement in the design of HE learning could enhance job creation. They were asked to offer insights on how industry involvement could demonstrate the assumptions of human capital theory about the linkages between education and productivity, including job creation and higher earnings. Participants were interviewed face-to-face at a convenient time and place (e.g. Wengraf, 2001). The undergraduate students were interviewed during school hours at their respective universities (e.g. Wiles et al., 2005). Each interview started with the interviewer’s introduction to set out the aims of the study. This was followed with substantive questions, such as ‘Please, can you tell me what you know about industry’s involvement in HE learning?’, and ‘Do you think that industry’s support in the design of HE learning in Nigeria can lead to the development of relevant skills and knowledge required by students for job creation?’

There were some difficulties in reaching 4 of the 16 industry executives due to their busy schedules. After several failed attempts to arrange face-to-face interviews, those executives consented to telephone interviews, which followed the same process as the face-to-face interviews. The telephone interview did, however, increase privacy for the participant and reduced distractions (e.g. Lechuga, 2012). The face-to-face interviews lasted from 34 min to 51 min, while the telephone interviews lasted from 28 min to 42 min.

The second phase of the data collection involved focus group discussions with participants who were chosen from among the 50 participants selected for this study. To ensure triangulation of data obtained through the interviews, two focus groups were held with undergraduate students (n = 5) and HE teachers (n = 4).¹ Triangulation of data helped to control bias and improve validity or trustworthiness. The focus group participants were selected on the basis of proximity: participants at two or more universities from the same town or community were grouped together. The focus groups helped us to gain an in-depth understanding of the subject under study (Smithson, 2000) and to ensure triangulation of the data: interviews differ from focus group discussions in that the researcher controls the dynamics of discussion and engages with one individual or group at a time (Ochieng et al., 2018). During the discussions, which lasted, respectively, 86 and 93 min, the facilitator kept the attention of participants on human capital theory by ensuring that they considered key issues related to the industry–HE interface.

The whole data collection process was completed between April and July 2018. The data from interviews and focus groups were recorded in two ways. During the interviews, 6 out of the 17 teachers declined to be recorded with an electronic device. Since the success of the interviews depended on the dynamic with participants, we wanted to ensure that they did not experience unease (e.g. Harrison et al., 2015; Kuckartz, 2014) and therefore resorted to manual recording in the case of those six interviewees.

To obtain the best possible quality of data from the interviews and focus groups, we established mutual trust in a relatively short time before the start of the discussions (Al-Yateem, 2012; Sherman, 2001). The recorded data were transcribed verbatim (Poland, 1995). As Braun and Clarke (2006) suggest, thematic analysis procedures were followed, which included familiarizing with the data, assigning preliminary codes to describe the content, searching for patterns or themes in the codes across the interviews and focus groups, reviewing the themes, defining and naming themes and producing the report. Overall, the key research questions and human capital theory framework were useful in identifying the leading and most interesting topics of discussion (Guest et al., 2012). Participants were assigned coding alphabets and numbers to differentiate their comments during data analysis (e.g. A/NU = HE teachers, IE = industry executive and UDST = undergraduate students).

Data analysis and results

From the thematic analysis, four main themes were identified based on the research questions:

Theme 1: Curriculum restructuring. This theme addresses how curriculum restructuring can lead to the development of students’ knowledge and skills for job creation. It further highlights some of the challenges that Nigerian HE institutions may face in achieving this and how those challenges may be resolved.

Theme 2: Renewed pedagogical approaches and competencies. This theme concerns how teaching techniques adopted in Nigerian HE can help students to construct learning for business development skills and job creation.

Theme 3: Building linkages between HE and industry. This theme concerns how industry support could lead students to the development of the knowledge and skills required for job creation. It establishes the degree to which effective collaboration between industry and HEIs can enable industry to have an input in the areas of entrepreneurship education, career fairs, the establishment of innovation hubs, business start-up ideas for students and the training and retraining of HE teachers.

Theme 4: Career training and mentoring services. This theme concerns how industry can become involved in providing career-related activities and programmes, and how career training and mentoring services can help to reduce career mismatches.

Theme 1: Curriculum restructuring

Reflecting earlier discussion on human capital theory (Boateng and Ofori-Sarpong, 2002; Moreau and Leathwood, 2006), this study’s emphasis on job creation raises awareness that graduates’ ability to create jobs requires the restructuring of HE curriculum to include programmes and activities that support the development of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. Participants felt the need for Nigerian HE curriculum restructuring, with many commenting on the difficulties they faced, using the current curriculum, in enhancing students’ development of knowledge and skills:

I strongly feel that the current Nigerian higher education curriculum has not offered adequate opportunities for our students to develop the right skills and knowledge for job creation. Our current curriculum involves too many theory-based courses with very little practical programmes or activities. (A/NU-5)

This participant suggests that the overdependence on theory-based courses on which the current Nigerian curriculum is built cannot produce graduates with the skills needed to start businesses. Curriculum restructuring can be achieved by involving seasoned industry experts and HE policymakers and soliciting their suggestions for improvements that would result in higher productivity and higher earnings. While the procedures for rethinking the HE curriculum were not explained in-depth, participants offered some pointers:

I would recommend that curriculum restructuring begins by identifying the needs of the nation for technological innovation, manpower development and economic growth. Also […] we must know the entrepreneurial ideas and skills of those who’ll help in restructuring the curriculum. This is why the industry is needed in shaping the Nigerian HE curriculum. (A/NU-7)

This participant’s response implies that the current HE curriculum provides students with knowledge in the specific discipline they elect to pursue. It emphasizes cognitive coherence, promotes mastery of conceptual structures and encourages subject-based teaching. However, it appears that the participants favoured a more vocational/professional curriculum, which would emphasize the development of specific skills in addition to discipline-specific knowledge. Participants explained that a vocational/professional type of curriculum supports multidisciplinary knowledge and encourages student-centred and problem-based learning which foster skills for starting businesses that will lead to job creation:

I do not contest the industry participation in restructuring the higher education curriculum. My worry is the procedures for implementing the restructured curriculum. This is an important factor that must be considered to achieve effective curriculum restructuring. We also have to think about vocationalisation of our higher education. (IE-4)

This participant’s view highlights the importance of working out effective strategies for implementing the restructured curriculum, without which the students may not effectively develop the required skills for job creation. This is consistent with Kelly and Price (2009) who contend that the vocationalization of education programmes brings about career-focused and experiential learning. The participants seem to agree that Nigeria needs HE graduates who are more business-oriented, and capable of creating new businesses that enhance productive job creation, than graduates with more academic, knowledge-based achievements. Such a perspective is in accordance with the human capital theory, which emphasizes that investment in education should result in output and financial gains:

I feel that […] a good procedure for making changes to the higher education curriculum would be about getting feedback from the students that receive the teaching and from industry that receive the students for work-placement programmes and employment. (UDST-6)

This participant’s assertion reflects studies that identify students as the most important stakeholders (Geryk, 2018; Mainardes et al., 2010) and argue that failure to fulfil their needs and expectations may run counter to the human capital theory on which this study is built. One participant suggested designing a curriculum that would strengthen entrepreneurship education and business start-up programmes to help students develop strong and effective entrepreneurial skills:

I am convinced that industry can offer innovative ideas on the effective restructuring of the existing academic curriculum. And restructuring can be achieved through quality assurance mechanisms such as effective programme evaluation and feedback on graduate performance. (IE-6)

It is important to note that, without a good quality assurance mechanism in the HE system, with internal and external moderation of exams and programmes, high standards may not be achieved. Many participants agreed that, with a robust curriculum that met the standards of quality assurance, the Nigerian HE system could engage with industry to provide students with an effective learning environment, training and research opportunities, thus engendering entrepreneurial and job creation capabilities. A key reason for the call for restructuring Nigerian HE curriculum is explained in the following quotation:

During my undergraduate years, entrepreneurship education used to be my worst course of study. I hardly attended the course lectures because of the way the programme was structured. There were too many theories to learn than the actual business start-up skills that I needed to start a new business, grow the business and employ others. It affected us a lot. I am sure that nothing has improved currently. (GDST-8)

The views of the participants accord with those of Okolie et al. (2019a) and Ikoya and Onoyase (2008): the curriculum is the main focal point in developing entrepreneurial and job creation skills and universities cannot achieve that outcome by themselves, so the engagement of industry in refocusing the curriculum and programme design is imperative. Thus Nigerian HEIs need to strengthen their relationships with industry to present their learners with a competency-based curriculum.

Theme 2: Renewed pedagogical approaches and competencies

The findings provided clear evidence of the necessity for renewed pedagogical approaches and competencies for HE teachers. The participants pointed out that the poor teaching approaches used by a majority of teachers in Nigeria might be hindering students’ successful development of entrepreneurial capabilities. In particular, one participant recalled and decried the teaching techniques and competencies that had deprived them of a more robust learning experience:

I feel so bad when I see that many lecturers have difficulties engaging the students they teach. This is a result of either poor knowledge of the subject matter or inability to use effective pedagogical approaches that can engage and motivate students to construct meaningful learning. (A/NU-2)

Reflecting on their teaching experiences, participants made comparisons with other pedagogical approaches they had tried at some point in their career, noting how much renewed pedagogical approaches could enhance learners’ capabilities and practical competencies. For example, it was pointed out that using collaborative learning, with students divided into smaller groups to discuss topics or solutions to problems, could help students develop the knowledge and skills to start services or consultancy-based businesses:

Well, one of the biggest challenges we have in our universities is the predominant use of traditional teaching/lecture methods […] this has mainly allowed our students to sit for hours listening to uncountable theories. In fact, many business development courses I teach contain 100% theories. I do not feel that more theories can help us to achieve productive job creation. Students will certainly not develop skills to start new businesses and then create jobs through our teaching approach. We must renew the pedagogical approaches since the curriculum has provided us with more theory-based courses to teach. (A/NU-11)

There were other complaints about the teaching techniques used. Participants noted that the traditional teaching/lecture method, which is widely used in Nigerian HEIs, seemed passive and might not instil the development of adequate knowledge and skills for job creation on graduation. One participant explained the effect of the traditional method:

I noticed that in my class, the majority of students just come to copy notes, cram the lecture notes to pass semester exams, collect the degree certificates and walk away. I’ve taught about other innovative teaching approaches that can engage our students and help them develop knowledge and saleable skills for job creation. (A/NU-4)

This narrative provides some explanation of why graduates are not always employable and cannot start up small businesses despite having taken several entrepreneurial and business development courses. The participants appeared to agree that the Nigerian HE system focuses on traditional and passive teaching methods. Innovative teaching techniques can facilitate generic skills development (as explained by Moreau and Leathwood, 2006 and Tomlinson, 2007), which students require for successful entrepreneurship after graduation. This accords human capital theory and the notion that education should be reformed so that learning can lead to opportunity recognition and knowledge and skills development, as well as resource acquisition. Participants suggested pedagogical approaches that Nigerian HEIs could train their teachers to adopt in addition to traditional teaching methods:

I’ll recommend teaching approaches such as problem-based learning, practice-based learning, work-based learning, collaborative learning, self-directed learning, and competency-based learning. You see, these renewed pedagogical approaches should be introduced and adopted in addition to the traditional teaching methods. This can help students to develop theoretical knowledge and practical skills. It will help them to develop critical thinking skills. (IE- 2)

Many participants commented that teachers should be encouraged to be proactive in planning and delivering their teaching. For example, in addressing real-life challenges in companies, students can find solutions through problem-based learning, thus developing business acumen. The participants’ willingness to adopt such innovative pedagogical approaches was reflected in their suggestions for HEI and government strategy. As one industry executive commented:

From past experiences, I am convinced that adequate pedagogical training is what the Nigerian higher education teachers lack in excess. Our universities and government should provide continuous pedagogical training and retraining to the teachers to understand the current labour market demands, be able to interpret the restructured curriculum designed industry input, be motivated to present quality teaching that can help students develop the right knowledge and skills for starting businesses, and employ others. (IE-4)

There were also suggestions as to how the industry and HE could engage to develop an effective learning system:

I propose 50% theoretical and 50% practical coursework as opposed to our usual 80% theory and 20% practical coursework. Industry can engage with higher education institutions to develop innovative programmes, course modules for business development strategies, offer internships, help to design functional work-placement programmes, offer business development mentorships and volunteer to evaluate programmes periodically to ensure quality is maintained. (GDST-2)

Previous studies have highlighted the importance of pedagogical approaches and competencies for professional development (Lueddeke, 2003; Marentič Požarnik and Lavric, 2015). The pedagogical competencies of Nigerian teachers are an important factor in enhancing the quality of HE for the development of human capital.

Theme 3: Building linkages between HEIs and industry

Participants appeared to agree that effective linkages between industry and HEIs would facilitate industry’s input into HE learning. Participants were confident that entrepreneurship education, organizing career fairs, setting up innovation hubs and suggesting business start-up ideas to students could help to develop entrepreneurial competencies. While the participants did not offer explicit procedures for establishing industry–HE linkages, their suggestions based on practical experience could be of benefit if applied by Nigerian HEIs:

I realized that there are several small and medium-scale industries in my university host town. Some are into manufacturing, distribution of goods and services, many provide services only, others are into waste management, etc. However, there don’t seem to be any serious linkages between these industries and my university. I feel that this may be one of the major reasons why our students have difficulties getting an internship or work-placement in many of these industries. (A/NU-11)

This statement explains the difficulties encountered by Nigerian students in connecting with host industries. Participants noted that another benefit of building effective linkages was that it supports the integration of students’ classroom learning with real-world practical experiments, which strengthens their ability to operate effectively as professionals or entrepreneurs after graduation. They drew a distinction between the poor skills development in students and the inadequacy of the relationship between industry and HEIs.

Addressing that inadequacy might entail the establishment of industry liaison offices in every Nigerian HEI to facilitate the engagement of industry in student project supervision and the provision of workshops and guest teaching:

Firstly, I’ll suggest that every Nigerian higher education institution should have an industry liaison office within the institution. The office would be responsible for inviting new and existing partner companies whether big or small to contribute to the training of university students and staff on job-specific skill needs and entrepreneurial capabilities of the 21st century. (IE-3)

Participants suggested that such offices could be charged with reaching out to new and existing industries within and beyond the university’s host community – for example, new and existing industries might be involved through volunteering in training students in job creation skills (this is in accordance with the argument of Callanan and Benzing, 2004). One participant summarized what was needed:

I feel that effective linkages between industry and HE institutions can be achieved through proper engagement. There should be a mutual agreement between industry and the higher edcuation system on how to conduct skills development related programmes such as internships and workplace learning, among others. And there should be clear defining assessment criteria for the skills-related programmes. (GDST-2)

As many participants pointed out, HEIs have a bigger role to play in ensuring that industry’s involvement in HE learning is extensive. In establishing such collaboration, HEIs and industry need to ensure that job creation programmes do not clash with the usual disciplinary courses that students take compulsorily. The restructured curriculum should include balanced activities that encourage the development of competencies:

I sincerely love the idea of building functional linkages between HE institutions and industry. It’s a long-overdue expectation. We need our students to participate in job creation seminars, workshops and conferences organized by industry in collaboration with HE institutions, more industrial visits by students. (IE-11)

Drawing on these perspectives, it is evident that HE regulatory bodies could build on the perceived benefits of establishing effective linkages between industry and HE systems. For example, through such efforts, students could be linked to industry experts for business development mentoring, could join networks for potential business owners and could become familiarized with new technologies for business start-up and development. However, many participants said that some university departments did not run programmes that supported the school-to-work transition, industry internships or workplace learning. One commented:

In my institution, many departments do not send their students for industrial attachment programmes. This means that students are continuously bombarded with theories without having real-life skill-based learning throughout their stays in the university. (GDST-6)

It was pointed out that departments and programmes that did not support industrial training attachments limited their students’ ability to acquire the skills and knowledge required to start a business. Such a limitation runs counter to human capital theory, which proposes that on-the-job training offered by industry provides general human capital – the knowledge and skills to improve higher earning and productivity (e.g. Pitan, 2016).

Theme 4: Career training and mentoring services

Participants explained how industry could become involved in providing career training-related activities and programmes that could help students to develop interests in pursuing their career goals. They appeared to agree that career training and mentoring services could help to reduce career mismatches and improve social equity and socio-economic participation:

I have noticed that many undergraduates lack the right career and job-related advice. This affects their career aspirations. (IE-7)

It is worth noting that adequate career-related advice and counselling can increase an individual’s entrepreneurial orientation. According to some participants, Nigerians do not have access to programmes and activities that encourage lifelong learning. Although SIWES was welcomed, they pointed out that students participated in SIWES only once during their entire undergraduate studies. Many departments allow a 6-month SIWES programme, while others allow 3 months. It was suggested that industry’s involvement should be geared towards streamlining programmes and activities so that students would have more opportunities for SIWES-related engagement without a negative impact on their discipline-based courses.

Participants reflected on how career training and mentoring in Nigerian HEIs related to student development. One explained:

In my university, we do not have career training and mentoring units. The university is more interested in awarding certificates than developing the students’ career prowess. Career training and mentorship services that must be provided free to the students can enhance lifelong learning and reduce career mismatches. (A/NU-13)

The value participants placed on career training and mentoring was evident from the data. While some argued that establishing career training and mentoring units in every university would be more beneficial to students who might want to work in established organizations instead of starting their own business, many affirmed that a strong industry–HE partnership could play a positive role in training and mentoring students in graduate venture creation. One industry executive thought that a major reason why industry should be involved in this way was to correct the situation in which the HE system focuses on awarding certificates instead of imparting knowledge and skills:

My son has a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication; he has two Master’s degrees in Mass Communication and International Relations. He’s currently a doctoral student in Mass Communication without a paid job or his own business. [Laughs]. He has no business of his own probably because he lacks business start-up skills and confidence. I’m still funding his education. Sometimes I ask myself where these certificates can lead him to. (IE-8)

This narrative helps to illustrate the importance of career training and mentoring services. Students can be encouraged and mentored by sharing their career development problems with experts, and this will be facilitated if HEIs build an effective network to engage industry expertise. While agreeing that industry involvement in career training and mentoring services would provide students with up-to-date business start-up information, participants argued that such programmes might face challenges due to an overemphasis on the part of government on the importance of certificates:

There’s a notion in Nigeria that university graduates are not meant to work with their hands because they have acquired certificates, that they’re supposed to be employed in an air-conditioned office, after all, their certificates have offered them such opportunities. This erroneous notion has been embedded in the minds of almost every Nigerian higher education student. This is why everybody chases after certificates instead of skills for starting a business and becoming self-employed. Well, the trend is that Nigerians are ready to acquire more certificates at all costs instead of skills that promote entrepreneurial independence. (GDST-7)

This perspective is consistent with the findings of Okolie et al. (2019b) who found that an overdependence on certificates in Nigeria has promoted poor-quality learning. Okolie et al. (2019b) explain that students who are desperate to gain more certificates, given the importance attached to their acquisition, indulge in various forms of malpractice to achieve that end. According to Obiekwe (2001: 22), the consequences of this overemphasis on the acquisition of certificates include

turning out educated illiterates who parade certificates that may be worth nothing more than papers on which they were printed. There is reduced productivity in the economy when people placed in positions of responsibilities based on their paper qualifications cannot perform satisfactorily.

In summary, participants were confident that, through career training and mentoring programmes designed and supervised by industry in Nigerian HEIs, students’ notions about certificate acquisition could be corrected and their mindset better positioned to develop the knowledge and skills needed for job creation. Drawing on human capital theory, one way to facilitate industry’s involvement in HE is through investment in career advice and training, education and mentoring, which can also aid the building of a network of job creators for the sustainability of their businesses.

Discussion

As the above exploration of the four themes indicates, participants placed a high value on developing effective strategies for industry to be involved in HE. Their views were generally consistent with human capital theory, holding that quality education and training is positively correlated with income. The results show that participants believed that the Nigerian HE system was lacking in substantial support from industry due to poor linkages between the sectors. Participants attributed students’ low-level development of entrepreneurial and business skills to a largely theoretical curriculum, poor pedagogical approaches and competencies of teachers. An interesting theme that emerged from the data was the establishment of career training and mentoring services by industry in every Nigerian HEI to provide students with programmes and activities that could enhance their career aspirations and personal development plans. This reflects Dickinson and Griffiths’s (2017) view that HEIs and industry can work together to improve access to graduate opportunities and national productivity.

The four themes reflect a human capital theory perspective on how knowledge and skills achieved through quality education and training can increase productivity and income for graduates if they are more enterprising. The participants stressed that the overemphasis on certificate acquisition rather than skills acquisition posed significant challenges to the development of entrepreneurial abilities. Brown and Scase (1997: 92) note that

a greater emphasis on the development of personal and social skills in education is unlikely to gain widespread support, especially from the elite schools, colleges and universities. This is because the credibility attached to academic credentials remains based on the perceived ‘objective’ assessment of ‘knowledge’ epitomized by the ‘unseen’ examination paper.

The results of this study confirm that, to address the weaknesses in Nigerian HE curricula and to change the mindsets of students with regard to business development and job creation, it is essential to secure the successful involvement of industry in the HE system. This is needed for an effective restructuring of the curriculum to foster appropriate lifelong learning programmes and activities, and to ensure that, in addition to certificate acquisition which acts as proof of attendance at HE programmes, students can effectively develop saleable skills to be self-employed and contribute to economic growth.

Although there is a current industrial work placement programme in Nigeria (SIWES), which allows students from certain departments or disciplines to participate in a 3-month or 6-month industrial attachment or work-placement programme, the findings suggest that its effectiveness in developing strong entrepreneurial competencies has not been verified. On the basis of this research, therefore, industry involvement is recommended in establishing the objectives, design and implementation of these industrial placement programmes. Such involvement is likely to produce a significant long-term impact on students’ abilities to create jobs on graduation. This conclusion is consistent with Robert’s (1990: 40) view that ‘higher education and industry are integral, inter-dependent parts of the economy and their working together synergically will provide an engine for economic growth’. According to Robert (1990), there are essentially three ways in which industry and HE can support each other: the supply of highly qualified manpower and the updating of those already in the workforce; research and development; and technology transfer.

The findings of this study also highlight the importance of the vocationalization of every HE programme in Nigeria through industry partnerships. This will entail a dramatic modification of the existing curriculum to provide a more diverse range of courses that will accommodate students’ diverse interests. It would also mean that every HE course would contain less academic content and would be more vocational in nature (in line with Maclean and Pavlova, 2005). Equally, higher investment in entrepreneurship training through effective industry–HE collaboration will enable graduates to plan, start and run businesses to boost self-employment and job creation.

The findings also have implications for pedagogical approaches and teacher competencies. If new pedagogical approaches, such as problem-based learning, work-based learning, practice-based learning, self-directed learning and collaborative learning are adopted, students will develop core entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. This is in accordance with Oghiagbephan’s (2015) assertion that quality education through a restructured HE curriculum is the key to increasing human capital and economic growth. Furthermore, the results showed that career training and mentoring services were considered essential in helping students to develop the knowledge and skills for job creation. All these measures can help to build students’ career aspirations and interests in certain businesses. It will help students to freely interact with like minds to build strong networks and self-help forums of business owners.

Conclusion and recommendations

Drawing on human capital theory, our findings demonstrate that industry involvement in the design of quality HE learning and activities for students’ development of knowledge and skills for job creation is essential. Although our findings do not provide definitive procedures for ensuring such involvement, they do provide clear examples of the perceived benefits that Nigerian HE stands to gain if appropriate measures are adopted. HEIs need to allow adequate time for activity-based and problem-based curricula, which offer students the opportunity to learn through experiential learning (e.g. Umar et al., 2009). Appropriate initial training and the continuous professional development of HE teachers will encourage engagement with new pedagogical approaches. It is clear that innovative teaching methods are essential in developing an entrepreneurial mindset in students. It is important that Nigerian HEIs join forces with industry to establish career training and mentoring service units that could direct students to a variety of economic contributions outside employment in existing organizations in the public and private sectors (including new venture creation – Okolie et al., 2019c).

This study offers a significant opportunity to progress research to enhance graduates’ ability to create jobs and contribute to social and economic growth in Nigeria. It will raise awareness among the general public, policymakers and HE curriculum developers about how industry’s involvement in HE learning can help to develop students’ knowledge and skills for job creation.

Limitation and implications for further studies

Regarding the limitations of this study, we acknowledge that the small number of participants (50) constrains the generalizability of the findings. Further studies might include a larger sample of industry experts, practitioners and students to gain greater insights. A quantitative study could also be attempted to identify wider trends and make comparisons across states in Nigeria and private and public sector institutions. In addition, although our findings suggest that there is a need for industry involvement in HE, more research is required to establish the best procedures for sustainable industry–HEI engagement to improve entrepreneurial learning. Further study of the challenges to industry’s involvement in HE learning would be a significant endeavour in this regard.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Ugochukwu Chinonso Okolie

Dieu Hack-Polay

Note

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