Technical Education as a Catalyst for Promoting Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Ghana

Abstract

The shift towards economies with environmentally sustainable status has expedited the demand for green innovation, green entrepreneurships and green skills across the globe. Educational systems, especially technical education is incrementally expected to supply graduates that are capable to drive green industrial transformation through sustainable enterprise creation. Nonetheless, available evidence from developing economies indicates a perpetual gap between ambitions towards sustainability and the capability of education systems to produce entrepreneurs that are environmentally oriented. Anchored on these accentuations, this study interrogated technical education as a catalyst for promoting sustainable entrepreneurship in Ghana. Established on the Theory of Planned Behavior, Social Cognitive Theory, Experiential Learning theory and the Entrepreneurial Cognition Theory. The study’s objective specifically examined the influence of green curriculum integration on innovative mindset, evaluate the effect of project based learning on entrepreneurial competencies and investigate the relationship between green technical competencies and green entrepreneurial intention among students of selected Ghanaian higher learning institutions. The study was quantitative oriented using descriptive and cross sectional survey research design. Data were obtained from 287 students of six (6) TVET institutions in Ghana through a structured questionnaire. Findings revealed that green curriculum integration influences with innovative mindset (r2= 0.825, p-value <0.05); it was revealed further that project-based learning has an effect on entrepreneurial competencies with (r2= 0.811, p-value <0.05) and a significant association was between green technical competencies and green entrepreneurial intention with (r=0.815, p-value<0.05). Premised on these findings, the study concluded that the integration of sustainability into the curricula of technical education strengthening green the developmental of technical skills and adopting experiential approaches to learning can help higher learning institutions in significantly enhancing the readiness of students in the creation of sustainable enterprises. However, a standardized framework for greening technical education should be developed to ensure consistency across institutions by the Ghanaian national policymakers, and regulators of education. Keywords: Entrepreneurial Competencies, Green Curriculum Integration, Green Entrepreneurial Intention, Green Technical Competencies, Innovative Mindset and Project Based Learning.