An autoethnographic study in youth development with technology entrepreneurship

Abstract

The inadequate participation of youth in business activities is disturbing in the light of the high rate of unemployment together with an education system that is not aligned to the needs of the economy. As a result, the majority of the youth prefer seeking employment and earning a salary rather than embarking on a business career which could be financially more beneficial to the individual, his/her family and the wider community The study aims to determine how entrepreneurship education coupled with the necessary coaching and mentoring can fulfil the primary role of preparing young South Africans to contribute towards the economic growth of the country and the prosperity of its people by engaging in entrepreneurial activities. This study leverages my entrepreneurial experience to mentor nascent entrepreneurs to collaborate in knowledge gathering, information sharing and business networking using ICT. Using the autoethnographic approach, the study explores my experiences in entrepreneurship from my early childhood as an observer in the family business and later as an entrepreneur highlighting my successes and failures. To ensure that my business experiences could make a difference in society, I have undertaken to mentor a group of aspiring youth entrepreneurs to add to their knowledge and experience. This could help ensure that they are sustainable in business, contributing to the growth of the economy through job creation amongst the unemployed and generating wealth for the alleviation of poverty in the community. A mixed methods approach guides the direction, collection and analysis of a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data in this study. The main premise for the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches in combination is that it provides a better understanding of research problems than either approach alone would have achieved. Here autoethnography becomes a powerful tool in feeling and practically putting one’s self in the other’s shoes, which otherwise would be logically analysed and clinically reviewed. The results suggest that youth entrepreneurship in South Africa is compromised by high levels of bureaucracy thereby limiting access to finance, a shortage of skills and a general lack of innovative thinking making the country less competitive on the international stage. The youth should be exposed to entrepreneurship education from primary and secondary school so that entrepreneurial orientation and intention are developed early, thereby ensuring that the aspiring entrepreneur is psychologically competent for a career in business.