Evaluating the Effectiveness of Entrepreneurship Education in Reducing Graduate Unemployment in South East Nigeria

This study evaluates the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education programmes in reducing graduate unemployment among vocational and technical education graduates in South East Nigeria, covering Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia, and Ebonyi States. With graduate unemployment persistently high, entrepreneurship education is positioned as a critical intervention, equipping graduates with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to create their own employment. Despite widespread adoption of entrepreneurship education in Nigerian institutions, rigorous evaluation of its employment outcomes in the vocational context remains sparse. A longitudinal design tracks 300 vocational graduates through 24 months post-graduation, comparing employment and enterprise creation outcomes between those who received intensive entrepreneurship education and those who received standard programme content. Logistic regression examines predictors of self-employment. Qualitative case studies of 15 graduate entrepreneurs provide depth. Findings are expected to reveal that entrepreneurship education significantly increases the probability of self-employment, particularly when combined with access to post-graduation microfinance. The study also examines the quality of graduate enterprises in terms of income generation and business survival. Recommendations include integrating business incubation with vocational training, linking entrepreneurship curricula to available financing instruments, and alumni entrepreneurship mentoring networks. This study contributes strong evaluation evidence to entrepreneurship education research in South East Nigerian technical education and provides insights applicable to national VTE employment policy. Keywords: entrepreneurship education, graduate unemployment, South East Nigeria, self-employment, vocational education