Developing 4IR Engineering Entrepreneurial Skills in Polytechnic Students. A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) which is technological driven has brought a lot of opportunities those with entrepreneurial mindset as most of the skills demanded in the 4IR are entrepreneurial. This calls approaches that can lead to the development of engineering entrepreneurs that can drive the 4IR. To this effect, this study explored experts’ opinions on the most relevant entrepreneurial skills for the 4IR engineers as well as the best teaching methods to be adopted for the teaching of entrepreneurship education in Nigerian polytechnics. A two-round Delphi interview was used to arrive at 19 entrepreneurial skills with experts’ consensus of Wa = 0.821 and 8 innovative teaching methods with experts’ consensus of Wa = 0. 925. The results from the findings were used to develop a conceptual framework for the development of 4IR Entrepreneurial skills.