Exploring the Impact of Entrepreneurship Education Module on Employment of Graduates: A case study of a selected South African University

Exploring the Impact of Entrepreneurship Education Module on Employment of Graduates: A case study of a selected South African University

Zimkhitha Jenety Kulati & Berington Zanoxolo Gobingca

Issue: Vol. 7 No.3 2026 Article 20 pp. 920 – 932
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20267320| Published online 29th April 2026

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ABSTRACT

The paper reports on the impact of the Entrepreneurship Education module on the employment of graduates of a selected South African university. Despite the module’s theoretical value, it has been noticed from 2022-2024 convocation records that some graduates struggle to access employment in job markets. An interpretivist research design was adopted. The case study research design was also employed. A qualitative research approach was used. After all necessary ethical measures were undertaken, semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face with six purposefully sampled unemployed graduates of the 2022-2024 academic years. It emerged that content knowledge and digital skills gaps in the curriculum offered and acquired by them in their pre-service teacher education programme, especially in areas such as design thinking, impact on their graduate attributes. It surfaced that there is a lack of entrepreneurial centers to support real-world applications. These limitations hinder graduates’ ability to start and sustain entrepreneurial ventures. It is recommended that the Entrepreneurship Education module content be revisited and reviewed to empower students with the necessary knowledge, practical entrepreneurial and digital skills. It is also recommended that establishing incubation centers could mitigate the lack of entrepreneurial skills. It is further recommended that strengthening university-industry partnerships through subjecting the students to work-integrated learning is critical to better prepare them to sustain themselves while they are unemployed.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship education, graduate attributes, graduate unemployment, experiential learning, mentorship, design thinking, incubation centers.

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ABOUT AUTHOR(S)

Ms. Kennety Juliet Kulati is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education in Business Management Education Department at the Walter Sisulu University in Komani Campus, in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. She holds a Master’s in Education degree composed of coursework and a dissertation. She has specialised in Accounting Education, lecturing student-teachers in Accounting content module level III enrolled in the Bachelor of Education Senior Phase and Further Education and Training (BEd SP & FET) Teaching degree. She has almost six years of university teaching experience. Currently, she is enrolled in a Doctor of Philosophy in Education at the Walter Sisulu University. Additionally, areas of my interest in research are Entrepreneurship Education, governance, leadership and management.

Prof. Berington Zanoxolo Gobingca is an academic staff member in the Business Management Education department in the Faculty of Education at Walter Sisulu University. He has 18 years of lecturing experience at the University. Currently, he is lecturing level IV student-teachers in Business Studies at the University. He is active in postgraduate supervision and has successfully supervised and graduated a large number of honors, master’s, and doctoral students. He is a committee member for various University committees. He is the reviewer for numerous journals. He has published a reasonable number of papers in accredited journals. He has presented papers locally and internationally. He is also an external examiner for several public South African universities. He has participated in recurriculation and reviews of various teacher education programmes. His areas of interest in research are curriculum development, governance, leadership and management.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Kulati, Z. J. & Gobingca, B. Z.. “Exploring the Impact of Entrepreneurship Education Module on Employment of Graduates: A case study of a selected South African University,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 7, no.3 (2026): 861 – 873. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20267320