Secondary school students’ perceptions of entrepreneurship education and career options in Zambia

Oct 15, 2026

Study examining Zambian secondary school students’ perceptions of entrepreneurship education and career options, guided by the central question on how students view entrepreneurship and potential career pathways. Quantitative career-option data were gathered via a Google form from 113 respondents, complemented by focus group discussions with 40 students to capture in-depth perceptions. Students also proposed ways curriculum reform could strengthen preparation for formal-sector employment or self-employment as entrepreneurs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Youth unemployment and education as a solution

Entrepreneurship education integration in Zambia’s curriculum

Stakeholder consultation and the role of students

Study purpose and approach

Vol. 20(5), pp. 75-85, May 2025 DOI: 10. 5897/ERR2025.4463 Article Number: 05214A873312 ISSN: 1990-3839 Copyright©2025 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article [http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR](http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR) Educational Research and Reviews Full Length Research Paper Secondary school students’ perceptions of entrepreneurship education and career options in Zambia Joseph Mukuni1*, Kaluwe Petros Libingi2 and Anthony Marvin Samanenga3 1Virginia Tech School of Education, 1750 Kraft Dr SW Room 2105 (0302, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States. 2 Nord Anglia Education, 2888 Junmin Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai, 201315, China. 3Chikupi Secondary School, 83MW+WC5, P. O. Box 360296 , Kafue, Zambia. Received 28 March, 2025; Accepted 22 May, 2025 The central question of the study was “What are Zambian secondary school students’ perceptions of entrepreneurship and career options?” Quantitative data were collected using a Google form to collect students’ career options from 113 secondary school respondents and focus group discussions involving 40 students were used to determine in-depth students’ perceptions concerning the concept of entrepreneurship and students’ likelihood of considering entrepreneurship as a career option. In addition to stating their career preferences, students made some suggestions regarding how future curriculum reforms could make schooling more effective in preparing students for their future as formal sector employees or as self-employed entrepreneurs. Key words: Entrepreneurship education, career options, students’ voice, self-employment, curriculum reform, technical education and vocational training. INTRODUCTION It is a ticking bomb waiting to explode. That is how some have described the problem of youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa (Ighobor, 2013) . Although the African continent has in recent years experienced a remarkable economic growth rate, the population of unemployed youth is far greater than the number of jobs available (Baah-Boateng, 2016; Betcherman and Khan, 2018; Sumberg et al. , 2021) . Informed by the human capital theory (Becker, 2009; Strober, 1990), over the years, some African countries have looked to education for solutions to the problem of youth unemployment (Arthur-Holmes and Yeboah, 2025; Godia, 1987; Lebakeng and Matebese-Notshulwana, 2024; Nieuwenhuis, 2012; Onsomu and Munga, 2012; Zikhali and Matsiliza, 2024) . The belief is that education holds the answer to the problem of youth unemployment and the attendant issues such as economic doldrums. Following that route, the nation of Zambia is about to rollout a revised curriculum framework which is premisedon the hope that education “will enhance the acquisition of knowledge, skills, positive attitudes and values necessary for the sustainable development of the nation”(Ministry of Education, 2023:2) . One of the innovations in Zambia’s new curriculum is the incorporation of Entrepreneurship Education (EE) into the curriculum. The incorporation of EE into the curriculum is a contribution to solutions to the problems of social inequality, poverty, unemployment, and *[Corresponding author. E-mail:](Corresponding author. E-mail: mjoseph7@vt.edu. Tel:)[ ](Corresponding author. E-mail: mjoseph7@vt.edu. Tel:)[mjoseph7@vt.edu](Corresponding author. E-mail: mjoseph7@vt.edu. Tel:)[. Tel:](Corresponding author. E-mail: mjoseph7@vt.edu. Tel:) +1 540 391 1902. Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License 76 Educ. Res. Rev. underemployment. The new curriculum document gives the following justification for incorporation of EE into the curriculum: Entrepreneurship Education is aimed at empowering learners with knowledge, skills and positive attitudes that will help them to identify business opportunities create jobs by starting their own businesses for se

FAQs

What is the central research question of the study?

The study centers on Zambian secondary school students’ perceptions of entrepreneurship and career options.

How were students’ data collected for the study?

Quantitative career-option information came from a Google form (113 secondary school students), and focus group discussions involved 40 students for deeper perceptions.

What kinds of suggestions did students provide beyond stating career preferences?

Students offered recommendations on how future curriculum reforms could make schooling more effective for both formal-sector employment and self-employed entrepreneurship.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Olivia Brown