ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS OF ADULT CONTINUING EDUCATION IN ANDALUSIA. PERCEPTION OF TEACHER

Abstract

In the present study, we analyze the teaching staff perception of Adult Continuing Education in Andalusia (Spain) in relation to the degree of entrepreneurial skills present in their students. To give an answer the objective proposed, we assume a descriptive research design, where the collection approach and analysis of data have been defined as mixed, which include qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (questionnaire) techniques. For questionnaire validation the expert judgment technique was used, as they were selected by the «expert competence coefficient» or «K coefficient» procedure. The reliability analysis of the questionnaire through the Cronbach test was 0.957. The questionnaire was answered by 549 teachers from Continuing Education Centres in Andalusia and there were 23 in-depth interviews with key informants (centre directors and section coordinators). The results clearly show the perception, both of teachers and of those who exercise leadership, that the students of these schools are not sufficiently prepared to start their own business project, in spite of studying subjects of an enterprising culture. They consider that have not yet acquired the entrepreneurial skills necessary to create and
manage an efficient business project, with lack of creativity constituting one of the biggest obstacles to that end. Also, the study shows the low incidence of programs of an entrepreneurial culture developed in these centres.