Entrepreneurial behaviour of disadvantaged urban youth: a study of the effects of an experiential intervention
Date
2016-08-05
Authors
Black, Stephen
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
students in the last few months of th~ir
a:Qterwardsin the tran\ttion
\..
studies! and
:' stages of their career development I were the sU:b,ejcts of
this research. The emphasis fa on t~ose young" adults>who
were not able to go to a tertiary education institut~, or
to get permanent; employment ..
The very depressed economid conditions of recent times
has !;'esutled in iI~creased unemployment, in the black
in pa.rticulc{•;_· The identi.fication and
development of entr~preneurial talent in this community
is of -prime importance. The formal sector cannot make a
meaningful contribution to the unempl~Yment situation.
This research haa developed atlexperiential intervention·
Which serves as a model to encourage informal business
d'evelopment. It is based upon the initiation and/:l::'unning
of a mini-business by high school-students I conducted
e:ktra curricularly, and \known as the Junior Achievemel'lt
programme. <\
The study measured the increa$e in the achievement.
motivation values and internality of the Experimental!:;
Group due to the i.ntervention,compared with a Contiol,
using varioup Validated instrumel1ts.rrherewas a positive
change in the motivational
0) /P
, (
'~\
values ~f the Experimental
oompare¢l with the Control students. The males in the
former increased their internaliJ.tycompared with the
females in the two groups. It was ~lso established that
there was an increase:in business k:rlowledg~·between 1lhose
,;
in the intervention and the rest of the partioipants.
The ,results of, the application of the skills as well as
(:"_i
the knowledge gained 1-2 years after the main inptttshad
been given confirmed the effectiveness
/0-\ °bf the
inte:rvent:;ionintel;.;est.
by the Experimental ent;r.eprene;urswere th€i~'~esl1lotf a
..better understand;i,ng of the elements needed in the
fOl::-mationof a new business ..':'A similar understandinc;!,'of
what is, needed to set up a new venture was not displayed
loy the entx;epreneur.s~n the C0l}:trolGroup. This finding
':;j demonstrates the value of the experiential method of
learning .•
Two results which.explained to some ~xtent contradictory
previous findings Were obt~ined involving all of thel'
stUdents in the st·:ud.y. In the first it was found that
the males were more pro-active and self-reliant than the
females (i.e. more internal). In the second, business
owners were. found ·to be signifioantly di:{,feren'uls:i;ng
\:
m~asures of time awareness, action orientation and goal
direqtedness compared with non-entre~feneurs. In
addition, the business owners were more il?-:I:;.ernaa.ly
oriel1tated.compared with tJhEiothers in\~j\thsetudy. (
The Outcomes of the research demonstrated an increase Qf
::/'
entrepreneul:'ial hehaviour ill the you~g persons as :h
result 1\ df"\)the intervention. There is evidence that the "
matriculation results of the Experimental Group were
better than those of the control. \)
d
It was an object!VIlE! of
ths stuay .to make the recipients of the JJnputsl\\Ore
enterprising
livesl:~ The
and to empower them to take chal;-geof 'their
sta.tistical evidence, t~e results of field
\ \,
V:•l.Sl'.t s, student interviews and the ex-students' ca,rear
aspirations provide that the increase : "j) z.:__1.
motivational values an(jinternality did take place.
evidence in
The provi<t9s the firot quantitative measure of
\\
disadvantaged school leavers 'do with their
research
wha.t urban
time, what they aspire to,otheir family circumstances,
and what they do to make a little money.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Management;. Department of Business
Administration, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, "in
f~J!fHment of the requirements-for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. I!
Johannesburg 1993