Infopreneurial Behaviour among University Graduates in the Information Science Faculty of a University in Zimbabwe.

Abstract

Infopreneurial behaviour amongst University graduates has the potential to guarantee employment and bridge the gap between job-security and the perceived insecurity of an information business. At present, the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe offers infopreneurship and entrepreneurship courses to students in the faculty of Communication and Information Science. The course content and presentation are similar in nature as they all relate to the selling, marketing and promotion of information products and services. However, little research has been done to find out the impact of this course in creating an infopreneurial behaviour among graduating students. The researchers conducted a questionnaire-based survey to find out the infopreneurial behaviour among students who graduated from 2008 to 2012 in the faculty. The exploratory investigation reported by this paper presents the status of these graduates in utilizing their acquired knowledge in infopreneurship and entrepreneurship with regards to the selling and marketing of information products and services, especially through small physical or online/internet-based businesses. The major finding of this study was that the students between 2011 and 2012 have been making initiatives to establish internet-based information businesses but lack further business and technical skills necessary to translate these initiatives into ‘real’ businesses. These business and technical skills are lacking in the course content. The researchers conclude by making recommendations on possible adaptations that can be introduced to the courses to improve infopreneurial behaviour among graduating students in information science.