Digital Competencies and Entrepreneurial Readiness in Technical Higher Education: Evidence from Polytechnic Students in South-West Nigeria
Keywords:
digital competencies; entrepreneurial readiness; digital training; social media management; polytechnic education; NigeriaAbstract
Polytechnics are expected to combine technical education with capabilities that support self-employment, yet evidence remains limited on which forms of digital competence are most closely associated with students' entrepreneurial preparedness. This study differentiates four digital competency domains—general digital skills, digital marketing competence, participation in digital training, and social media management capability—and examines their relationships with entrepreneurial readiness among final-year polytechnic students in South-West Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 600 National Diploma and Higher National Diploma students from six polytechnics, one in each state of the South-West geopolitical zone. A researcher-developed Likert-type questionnaire was subjected to expert review and pilot testing; reported Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from .78 to .86. The data were analysed using optimal scaling regression with 1,000 bootstrap samples. The model was statistically significant, F(9, 590) = 52.607, p < .001, and explained 44.5% of the variance in entrepreneurial readiness (adjusted R² = .437). Social media management capability showed the strongest positive association with readiness (β = .592, p < .001), followed by participation in digital training (β = .154, p < .001). General digital skills (β = .059, p = .166) and digital marketing competence (β = .061, p = .297) were not statistically significant. The findings indicate that digital competencies are not interchangeable: applied platform-management capability and structured training appear more closely connected to perceived entrepreneurial preparedness than generic digital literacy or theoretical marketing knowledge.
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