EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition

of knowledge, skills, values, morals, beliefs, habits, and personal development.
Employment on the other hand is a paid work agreement between an employer and an
employee. In recent times, a higher level of educational attainment may enhance chances
of finding well paid jobs mainly in the formal sector. However, this seems to fail in
contemporary society. Employers desire for highly skilled employees rather than highly
educated employees. Mourshed, Farrell and Barton (2012, p. 35) promulgated that a
survey conducted revealed 70 percent of employers are ready to significantly give higher
wages to get more qualified employees. (Extract 3). There is a rise in graduate
unemployment hence causing great loss to global economies. To link education to
employment, focus must be channeled to entrepreneurial education to provide job
skills, self-employment capabilities and leave room for creativity. Mensah (2013,
p.17) also penned that “there is an upsurge in demand for entrepreneurship education
across the globe. This is manifested in various ways including rising supply of
entrepreneurship education and increasing political will towards the promotion of
entrepreneurship education.” (Extract 5)

Entrepreneurial education is one key platform for development of job skills. We live in
an age of unprecedented global and technological transformation. Today's students face
an uncertain future full of complex global, social, and environmental issues. Therefore,
we cannot predict exactly what our students will need to know after they graduate for
employment. “Moreover, while young people are eager to work, more than half of those
without jobs say they simply can’t find one-all while businesses across Europe insist,
they struggle to find young people with the skills they need (Mourshed, Patel & Suder,
2014, p.44)” (Extract 1) Entrepreneurship-focused programs teach students crucial life
skills that will help them navigate this uncertain future. These skills include problem-
solving, teamwork, empathy, as well as learning to accept failure as a part of the growth
process. According to Palmer (2007), the government of Ghana intend reducing
unemployment through the diversification of SSS level and provision of skills for the
poor through limited platforms such as Integrated Community Centers for Employable
Skills (ICCES) and Skills Training Entrepreneurship Promotion (STEP). (Extract 4). All
these is a factor developed by entrepreneurial education.
Furthermore, Mourshed et al. (2012, p.35) stated that knowledge of job placement will
not guarantee employment from the educator’s perspective. Also, one-third of educators
cannot tell or guess rightly the number of graduates who get jobs. (Extract 3) The rise in
unemployment can be blamed on the inability of graduates to create their own jobs. Self-
employment is the act of generating one’s income directly from customers, clients or
other organizations as opposed to being an employee of a business or person. When one
is self-employed, it means one is carrying on one’s own business rather than working for
an employer. Results show that entrepreneurship education significantly increased the
rate of self-employment among university graduates approximately one year after
graduation.

In addition, entrepreneurial education leaves room for creativity and innovation.

As standardized testing has become more common in public schools, opportunities for
students to innovate and collaborate with others have become scarcer. Entrepreneurship
education encourages creativity, innovation, and collaboration. These attributes are
highly valued by the top colleges in the world and will serve students well beyond the
knowledge of job placement. “Entrepreneurship education provides the necessary
medium for developing the human aspect of entrepreneurship capital of a nation.”
(Mensah, 2013, p. 17). Extract 5

In conclusion, education must be given the light of employment through the

entrepreneurial structure. An education which provides graduates with, skills and mind
set of job creation will enhance employability across the globe. Brown (2003, p. 141-179)
argued that We must return to a consideration of the role of education in the social
structure of competition. Extract 2
 REFERENCE LIST

Brown, P. (2003). The opportunity trap: Education and employment in a global economy.

The European educational research journal, 2(1), 141-179

Mensah, M…………