Entrepreneurship is about Problem-solving, Innovation, Value creation, Opportunity-finding and Technology application (PIVOT), for both impact and profit. Entrepreneurship is overtaking possibilities through creative thinking and undertaking responsibilities through capacity building. It is moving an entrepreneurial idea from conceptualisation to commercialisation. It is about taking a business idea from indoors to industry and turning a creative idea into a lucrative opportunity. Entrepreneurs are the catalysts that propel economies forward.
Entrepreneurial thinking (ET) is about thinking creatively, solving problems, creating innovative products and starting a new business. It is about developing something new, from conception of ideas to incubation and the creation of business opportunities.
Vocational training, on the other hand, is instructional programmes or courses that focus on the skills required for a particular job function or trade. It can be described as training that emphasises knowledge and skills needed for a specific trade, craft or job function. Earlier, this training was confined to certain trades like welding, automotive services and carpentry but the horizon of vocational training has expanded with the evolution of time.
Today, a wide range of job functions like retail training, tourism management, paralegal training, property management, food and beverage management, computer network management and floral designing are also being included under this category.
Between vocational training and entrepreneurial thinking, which is more empowering and why?
Between having the knowledge to innovate or the skill to create – For instance, I think of the invention of the photovoltaic cell and the smart installation of solar panels as entrepreneurial thinking and vocational undertaking respectively. I ponder on whether it is knowing how to operate a sewing machine or using Machine Learning to solve problems that fosters development or, whether it is receiving vocational training for self empowerment or deploying creative thinking for business development that bolsters job creation, boosts economic activity and contributes to poverty reduction.
Think about the industrial revolutions and advancement in STEM education? Is it entrepreneurial thinking or vocational training that is capable of engineering a revolution? Talk about the transformation of the economy and modernisation of society, is vocational education potent and radical enough to empower individuals with the skills to disrupt, innovate and manage entrepreneurial initiatives?
To avoid luring you into my seemingly biased viewpoints in favour of entrepreneurial thinking, I decided to seek scholarly perspectives and expert opinions on vocational training and entrepreneurial thinking as tools for social and economic re-engineering.
“In my opinion, entrepreneurial thinking is more empowering… Why? Vocational Training (VT) is a general activity that instills a special or particular skill in individuals. However, these individuals may not be able to break-in the competition barrier since what he/she has known is not new in the market. In a nutshell, VT is just about acquiring a known or routine skill. It is usually to solve one’s financial problem.
Entrepreneurial Thinking (ET) is far more than just acquiring skill but knowing how to do it in a better way than the existing one or identifying what does not exist and taking all efforts to bring it into existence to solve societal problem, thereby, generating income. Through ET, you become a wealth of knowledge and trainer who then dispenses skills to the low thinkers.” –Gbenga-Julius O., Business Tech Entrepreneur, University of Ibadan School of Business.
My perspectives are:
- The empowerment offered by both are different and which is more impactful will depend on the subject individuals.
- Vocational training offers relevance in cases of immediate need, skills development and career progression while entrepreneurial thinking is much broader for creativity and innovation, flexibility and independence in regards to work, as well as potential for growth more generally than a restricted vocational training.
- But all said, in my professional experience, it’s more productive in the long term to focus on entrepreneurial thinking for our youths, for societal development rather than on ad-hoc and limiting vocational training.
- In Nigeria, in the last decade and more, government and political scorers have focused more on vocational training, which has not done more than give immediate employment to a fraction. I believe it’s time to devote more attention to entrepreneurial thinking as well, with stronger support for emergent and budding entrepreneurs for greater long-term impact.” – Godservant Tunde Kolajo, a consummate entrepreneurship expert/certified management consultant and fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants, United Kingdom.
“Entrepreneurial thinking is much more rewarding, enduring, productive and long-lasting. It predisposes someone for instance to the realm of opportunity finding anywhere and at anytime legitimately (Elon Musk and the concept of electric cars among others), even when it seems you have nothing however, vocational training can be a good substrate to lunch a person into the world of opportunities and productivity when entrepreneurial orientation and acumen is brought into it which is a concept I am advocating as ‘Vocapreneurship.’
We should also reflect on this: do we make someone an entrepreneur or do we make an entrepreneur out of someone? The two are correct though, but it is better to make an entrepreneur out of individuals, that is, give them opportunities to discover themselves and get entrepreneurial orientation and they will go places.”— Olaosebikan Johnson Olusola (PhD), Associate Professor, Bowen University.
Vocational Education and Training (VET) is a key enabler of economic development. In developing countries, VET – in the form of vocationalised or diversified secondary schools – is an essential component of economic development (Brunello, 2007; Lee et al., 2016; King and Palmer, 2007). Most advanced economies also view VET as a means of reducing youth unemployment (Hanushek et al., 2017; Nilsson, 2010; Schueler, 2016). In both academic and political sectors, VET is assumed to facilitate the transition from school to work, especially for students who are less academically inclined (Golsteyn and Stenberg, 2017).
Although there is an assumed association between VET and employability, empirical studies evaluating returns to VET are limited.
While a considerable number of studies have been conducted on social returns and cost-benefit analyses of VET at the business/employer level (Ryan, 1998; Schueler, 2016), there is no coherent evidence of private returns to VET at the individual level. Specifically, existing empirical analyses of the impact of VET on individuals are limited and ambiguous in three aspects. First, these studies suffer from selectivity issues. Undergraduate students will face a vast and increasing number of open, complex, dynamic, and networked problems in their future careers (Dorst, 2015). For example, new graduates will work in many different sectors such as health care policy, alternative energy, and agriculture – all of which strive to innovate, and thus demand a new type of skill-set and ways of thinking (O’Connell, McNeely, & Hall, 2008).
Whether it is “entrepreneurial vocation” or “vocational entrepreneurship,” the bottom line is that, sustainable personal and national development rests on the ability to create economic opportunities with soft skills, leveraging both vocationalised and innovative schemes.
References:
Choi, S. J., Jeong, J. C. and Kim, S. N., 2019. Impact of vocational education and training on adult skills and employment: An applied multilevel analysis. International Journal of Educational Development, 66, pp.129-138.
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