Promoting Entrepreneurship to Reduce Graduate Unemployment

Book excerpt: Based on recognition, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities, entrepreneurship is a process that stimulates economic growth, provides us with new products and services, and serves as a solution to low unemployment rates. Hence, many governments encourage their citizens to embrace entrepreneurship as a strategy to mitigate unemployment, particularly youth and graduate unemployment. While studies show that entrepreneurship education has yielded positive results in Western countries, in other parts of the world it seems that most students still prefer to seek paid employment in their career of choice. Promoting Entrepreneurship to Reduce Graduate Unemployment seeks to expand understanding of the barriers that face graduates in becoming entrepreneurs in various countries, examining the role of educational institutions in promoting graduate entrepreneurship and evaluating governments as well as other schemes that promote graduate entrepreneurship. Although it will not be a panacea for all the obstacles that impede graduate entrepreneurship, it is hoped that this book will illuminate the entrepreneurship career path, serve as a platform for further diagnosis for reducing graduate unemployment, and highlight areas in need of further research. Covering topics such as entrepreneurial self-efficacy, career choice, and educated unemployment, it serves as a dynamic resource for educators, educational administration and faculty, government institutions, graduate students, student organizations, professionals, researchers, and academicians.