Assessing attitude to, and knowledge of entrepreneurship among students with hearing impairment in Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated attitude and knowledge of secondary students with hearing impairment towards entrepreneurship. The main goal was to know the depth of their knowledge and attitude in becoming entrepreneurial in line with millennium development goals. A sample of 124 students with hearing impairment was selected through purposive sampling from Ijokodo High School and Methodist Grammar School in Ibadan. Three research questions and one hypothesis were raised and tested. A questionnaire tagged Entrepreneurial Inventory (EI) was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics and chi-square were the major statistical tools employed in data analysis. The findings revealed high entrepreneur knowledge and positive attitude among the participants, no significant influence of knowledge on attitude of the participants and no significant difference in entrepreneurship knowledge and attitude of students with hearing impairment to entrepreneurship. The findings showed that people with hearing impairment in Nigeria have started changing the age long orientation of total dependence to independent living. Based on the findings from the study, it was recommended that disabled micro-credit facility should be established to take care of their financial needs. They should be encouraged if exceptional performance in small scale business has been demonstrated over time. Entrepreneurship education should be made a core curriculum for people with special needs as these will further encourage their economic independence.

Keywords: Attitude, knowledge, students, hearing impairment, entrepreneurship.