Assessment of Marketing Skills Possessed by Final Year Business Education Students for Self-sufficiency at River State University, Port Harcourt, Rivers State

This study assessed the marketing skills possessed by final year students of Business Education students at River State University, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The survey was conducted in the Department of Business Education, River State University, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. A descriptive study design was adopted. The population also serve as samples of the study cover final year undergraduate students of the Department of Business Education. A sample size of 246 students comprising 137 female and 109 male was carefully chosen for the study using a questionnaire for data collection. The mean reliability of the instrument was based on the following research questions 1 = 0.82, 2 = 0.91 and 3 = 0.84 with a mean = 0.86, using Cronbach Alpha reliability. The three study questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while t-test statistic was used to test the null hypotheses at a significance level of 0.05. The findings of the study revealed that students are highly competent in marketing skills such as advertising, sales promotion and sales forecasting skills among respondents. The study established that there is no significant difference between the average responses of female and male students on the advertising skills, promotion skills and sales forecasting skills possessed for self-sufficiency among respondents. The findings of the study established that marketing skills such as sales promotion skills, advertising skills, and sales forecasting skills could boost self-sufficiency among respondents. Also, it was recommended that the Department of Business Education should conduct frequent workshops and conferences for business education students on the basics to procure marketing skills among Business Education Students at graduation.