Factors influencing the Perceptions of youth entrepreneurship development in South Africa

Youth unemployment is one of the central concerns affecting global economics in the world today. The recent World Economic Forum held at Davos prioritized the discussions on issues confronting youth unemployment. The International Labor Office (ILO, 2013) projected a global youth unemployment rate of 12.7% by 2017. According to the ILO, (2013), 202 million people are unemployed globally and 40% are under the age of 24. South Africa fares even worse. Statistics SA (2012) indicates that 71% of the unemployed are aged 25-34 and the unemployment rate among youth is 36%. About 3.3 million youth aged 15-34 are not employed or studying (Financial Mail, 7th February 2013). With this in mind, the paper intends to look at the perceptions affecting youth entrepreneurship development in South Africa and whether entrepreneurial education and training fosters the development of entrepreneurial orientation in the South African youth. A five point Likert Scale was used, 1 = Strongly disagree 3 = Neutral and 5 = Strongly agree. Furthermore, a quantitative research method was used and 132 grade eleven learners were purposefully selected randomly in Crawford high school in Gauteng. Findings indicate that entrepreneurship education and training can direct students towards certain career choices; secondly, planned behavior can be predicted; and thirdly, practically is able to increase the propensity of students to start a business.

Keywords: SA, learners, entrepreneurship culture, orientation, education, youth unemployment.
JEL Classification: L26, J24