Competencies Required for Adaptation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Business Educators’ Perspectives

Abstract

The need for job security in the fourth industrial revolution necessitated the study to ascertain the competencies that could be aligned with the jobs and opportunities in the fourth industrial revolution as perceived by business educators. One research question guided the study, and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Survey research design was used. Population of the study comprised 98 business educators from four tertiary institutions offering business education courses in Anambra State. There was no sampling, hence, the whole population was used. Structured questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. The instrument was validated by five experts. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research question while null hypotheses were tested using the z test at 0.05 level of significance. Findings from the study revealed that creativity, empathy, cognitive flexibility, among others were considered as competencies required for adaptation in the fourth industrial revolution. Also, there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the respondents on the competencies required for adaption in the fourth industrial revolution as a result of gender and location. Based on the findings, it was therefore recommended that business educators should be re-oriented with high-tech resources to blend their knowledge with the contemporary competencies needed for adaptation in the 4IR.