Barriers to Business Start-up among Tanzanian University Graduates: Evidence from the University of Dar-es-salaam

Abstract

This article assesses barriers to business start-ups among university graduates by drawing evidence from the University of Dar-es-salaam. A cross-sectional research design was used with a sample comprising 308 graduates and 10 key informants. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and key informant interview checklist and were analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) whereby confirmatory factor analysis was performed using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Pearson’s chi-square was used to test whether graduates who had not studied entrepreneurship and those who had studied entrepreneurship reported different start-up barriers. It was found that inappropriate teaching methods, lack of business experience, deficiencies in the university programmes, commitments on extended families and bureaucratic tendencies had greater contribution to hindering business start-ups. It was concluded that entrepreneurship study influenced the way graduates perceived the barriers; it was observed that graduates who studied entrepreneurship reported different start-up barriers from those reported by their counterparts. The results were statistically significant at p-value < 0.05. Higher learning institutions should adopt competent based curricula in order to impart necessary business skills to students and use the business apprenticeship approach while students are still on studies.