The Development of Entrepreneurship in Ghana, Opportunities for the Tertiary Graduate: (A Case Study of U.S.T Graduates)

1.1 DEFINITIONS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP The researcher considers entrepreneurship as the creative will of building or establishing a business. A renowned American professor, J.A. Tirnrnons, defines it as the finding of personal energy by initiating and building an enterprise or organisation, rather than by just watching, analysing or describing one. The Reader’s Digest Universal Dictionary defines an Entrepreneur as one who organises, operates and assumes the risk for business ventures. Thus entrepreneurship has existed virtually as long as humans have existed in societies. Entrepreneurship involves taking calculated risks with one’s ideas, with the hope of deriving benefits from taking those risks. An Entrepreneur will see opportunities where most people will see chaos and confusion. He will virtually create something out of nothing. Almost everybody can try to be an entrepreneur. However, few people will become successful entrepreneurs. In Ghana today, so much is being said about entrepreneurship and self-employment. Many are suggesting entrepreneurship as a way out of the difficult problem of unemployment, particularly graduate unemployment. Much has been written about its relevance to the development of our society. Increasingly this message is gaining currency among graduates of our universities. Indeed some graduates have already attempted being self employed with disastrous consequences. Others have been somewhat more fortunate and seem to be doing well. Notwithstanding these developments many fundamental questions are unanswered whiles the media hype persists. This is where exactly the stimulus for the present work arises. 1.2 OBJECTIVES The present work will attempt to provide an outline of the development of entrepreneurship in Ghana. Essentially, the research aims at addressing the following objectives: i) To bring together the relevant facts surrounding the advent and growth of entrepreneurship in his country to date. j) To determine whether or not tertiary graduates particularly those in the University of Science and Technology embrace the idea of entrepreneurship and problems facing graduate entrepreneurs. iii) To make recommendations on strategies to eliminate such inhibitions and how to promote graduate entrepreneurship. 1.3 METHODOLOGY There will be analytical study of the problem posed. This will involve the review of relevant materials available, to provide a framework based on which the study can be conducted. Interviews will be conducted involving people around the university, undergraduates, and graduates of the University of Science and Technology as a way of obtaining information about their attitude towards graduate entrepreneurships. During these interviews, attempts will be made to determine whether the public will be supportive of graduate entrepreneurs. Surveys by questionnaires will also be employed to gather facts about attitudes of tertiary graduates towards entrepreneurship. All data will be analysed statistically to determine their significance and therefore what conclusions can be safely drawn from the study. 1.4 SCOPE Due to time and finance, this work will look at people around the university, undergraduates and graduate of the University of Science and Technology, as a case study. A reasonable sample size will be chosen for the same reason. 1.5 LIMITATIONS For reasons of finance and time, very large sample sizes will he avoided although these could have been more representative. Thus the results of the work will be limited in its applicability on a national scale, even though it could be used for general broad policy outlines. Again, the sample should have been drawn perhaps from each of the tertiary institutions within the country, but for the reasons stated above, the present work is limited to a case study of the University of Science and Technology.

Source: KNUST