INFLUENCE OF DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DELTA STATE SKILLS TRAINING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME (STEP)

: This study evaluated the influence of Demographic factors on the implementation of the Delta State Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP). The population of the study comprised 4,559 beneficiaries. A sample size of 1,000 beneficiaries was selected through proportionate stratified and convenience sampling techniques. The questionnaire was used to collect data. Experts’ judgement was used to validate the instrument. The test-retest method of reliability was used to determine the reliability of the instrument, with a coefficient of 0.82. Frequency and percentage were used to analyse the data. The findings of the study revealed that there is a significant difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme; that there is a significant difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP on their employment of other youths after graduating from the programme; and that there is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises on the basis of their marital status after graduating from the programme. The study further showed that there is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths on the basis of their marital status after graduating from the programme; that there is a significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment


Introduction
Among the several policies and promises Governor Okowa made during his inaugural speech, he outlined a five-point agenda encapsulated in the acronym SMART which means; Strategic Wealth creation projects and provision of jobs for all Deltans; Meaningful peace building platforms aimed at political and social harmony; Agricultural reforms and accelerated industrialization; Relevant Health and Education policies; and Transformed environment through urban renewal.
Under the strategic wealth creation platform, the governor promised that employment will remain the central theme for all his policies.Reflecting his strong conviction that deliberate government focus and action are needed to stem the tide of rising unemployment, the intervention strategy will combine time-tested and trusted quick-win schemes and long-term plans for job/wealth creation in the state.As part of the implementation strategy of this policy, the Employment Generation Office was created as a special purpose vehicle for the actualisation of job and wealth creation schemes.The scheme is aimed at creating jobs and wealth; diversifying the economy through the development of non-oil sectors; engaging youths in productive enterprises; nurturing entrepreneurs and leaders; and promoting communal peace and security.
The objective of the employment generation scheme is to train and establish unemployed youths, aged 18-35 years, in various vocational skills, to become Entrepreneurs, Managers and Leaders.The strategy of the job and wealth creation scheme is to put resources (particularly, skills and productive assets) in the hands of unemployed youths and thereby empower them to become employed, employers of labour and create wealth.The employment generation scheme is implemented in multiple programme streams, among which is the Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP).STEP encompasses the training of youths in different skills/trade and helping them to establish their own enterprises for self-employment and to become employers of labour.The goal of the programme include: • to train youths in different skills/trades; • to help beneficiaries establish their own enterprises for self-employment; and • to enable beneficiaries to become employers of labour.Eight years after the initiation of the programme, there is an urgent need to examine the influence of demographic factors on the implementation of Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP).
The issue of self-employment has attracted the attention of economic researchers in the past decade for various reasons.Some economists have been drawn to the topic by the expansion of the self-employed sector that began in the U.S. in the mid-1970s (Blau, 1987;Evans and Leighton, 1989;Devine, 1994aDevine, , 1994b)).Others have been interested in the self-employment of marginalized groups (Moore, 1983a).Common threads running throughout this body of research concern the role of self-employment in economic advancement and growth, and the impact of public policies on self-employment (Moore, 1983b;Blau, 1985 and1987;Yuengert, 1994).
An extensive effort by Devine (1994) provides greater detail on gender differences in self-employment.She measured gender differences in self-employment rates by race, age, marital status, years of schooling, and full/part-time and full/part-year status.She recorded gender differences in occupation and industry distributions and earnings levels, for self-employed workers as well as wage-and-salary workers.In particular, she reported that among full-time, full-year workers in 1990, self-employed women earned 73% of the annual income of female wage-and-salary workers, whereas self-employed men earned 107% of the annual income of male wage-and-salary workers.
The results of Devine's descriptive statistics and the writings of previous researchers are suggestive of the causes for these gender differences.According to Devine, there are noticeable differences in the personal characteristics of self-employed men and women.For example, self-employed men are more likely to be in high-paying occupations (e.g., executive, administrative, and managerial; precision production, craft, and repair) and industries (e.g., construction) than self-employed women.Self-employed women are more likely to be in service occupations and industries.Self-employed men are, on average, more educated than self-employed women.Moreover, self-employed men are more likely than to have incorporated their self-employment business (Devine, 1994).
A number of studies have pooled data on men and women, using a dummy variable to capture gender differences (Blanchflower, 2000).While this allows the female self-employment transition equation to have a different intercept, it still restricts the effects of all other factors to be the same for men and women.In contrast, our point is that the effects of the standard factors on the self-employment decisions of women differ from those of men.Thus, an appropriate comparison of men and women would allow for different slopes, not just different intercepts.
Recently, Clain (2010) used separate samples of males and females to examine gender differences in the determinants of self-employment, and her reasons for doing so are similar to ours.She found evidence to suggest that women place more value on nonwage aspects of self-employment than do men.However, her estimation focused on demographic differences rather than the economic variables usually included in selfemployment studies, such as individual wealth, relative self-employment earnings, and intergenerational transfers of human capital.Also, her focus is on self-employment status, rather than the transition into self-employment, so her model does not examine the role of prior labor market status.There exist differences in self-employment rates between men and women, and women tend to be a minority of the self-employed workforce in all developed countries (Parker, 2009).Although the trend has been for women to enter self-employment at a faster pace, self-employed females remain over-represented in certain industries, such as services (sales, financial, insurance, and real estate; professional services and business services, Bates 1995).Self-employed females are more likely to be married and have children, and the argument that the costs of child care may be one reason underlying these results, as self-employment creates more flexible work arrangements.However, Lombard (2001) finds that although demand for non-standard work schedules is important, most of the rise in female self-employment is due to women's increased earnings potential in self-employment.Family variables, on the other hand, have little impact on male self-employment rates.Having a self-employed husband also seems to increase the probability that a woman will be self-employed.Using an EU-wide crosssectional survey, Cowling (2000) finds that in eight of the thirteen countries tested, no significant gender effects on self-employed exist.In his probit specification, he also controls for age, marital status, and education, but not for risk or other personality traits.He finds that entrepreneurs are not a homogeneous group, and constraints on entrepreneurship could be more binding in some countries.Georgellis and Wall (2005) examine gender differences in the determinants of self-employment in Germany and find that men are more responsive to wage differentials between salaried and selfemployment sectors and that liquidity constraints are more important for men than for women (Parker, 2009).
There is a common belief that women are more risk averse and hence are most conservative in their financial decisions than men (eg.Croson and Gneezy (2009)).More recent research has challenged this view pointing to other factors such as individual risk preferences, cultural background and socio-demographic characteristics that may play a role and not gender per se Badunenko et al. (2009), Booth and Nolen (2009), Arano et al. (2010)).Buttler and Sierminska (2011) examined the role of risk preferences in the decision of becoming an entrepreneur.In the first instance, they focused their analysis on Poland -a country which has undergone very large societal changes.The transition environment in this country provides an interesting setting for examining the changing level of self-employment.The authors compared differences between female and male entrepreneurs.Some studies suggest that whilst for men the decision to enter selfemployed is mostly income-driven (improvement of the economic situation), a significant fraction of women decide to become self-employed trading off income for a more flexible work arrangement and other non-pecuniary benefits associated with self-employment (Budig, 2006).
The marriage institution is one in which women play a major role and culturally, they are expected to give personal sacrifice to ensure the survival of its members.Sex roles within marriage are changing.The stereotype of the wife doing the housework and cooking while the husband goes to work still obtains but is fast giving way to more women seeking paid employment outside the home.Women's expectation towards marriage appears to have changed over time; they expect better treatment in terms of equality and a certain level of autonomy within their marriages.
In nearly all cultures, the usual practice is for young adults to look forward to and at some time in the future plan to get married and in most societies, this is the norm.By making marriage "the norm", society puts pressure on those who may not want to get involved.Sociologists have over the years developed models and theories which attempt to explain the purpose and function of marriage.The decision to get married or remain single as an individual and most especially as a female in any society is yet to be personal and sometimes may be mandatory but feminists are of the opinion that it should be personal and may be circumstantial.Some women in order to be able to pursue a life that is uninterrupted by family responsibilities and personal commitment to building their careers in the past, and in present situations chose not to be involved in any form of marriage which should continue to be seen as a personal decision.
Although the specialization hypothesis may seem gender-neutral (i.e., either partner may specialize in domestic work); its predictions for men and women are very different because, by and large, women still do a larger share of domestic work and child care in most post-industrial societies, including the U.S. (Blossfeld and Drobnic, 2001).Since women specialize in non-market work more often than men, the combined implications of the two hypotheses provide ambiguous predictions of marriage's impact on women's self-employment transitions.
The negative effect of marriage on self-employment migration (according to the specialization and economic exchange hypotheses) may only be true if self-employment is a vehicle of career progress.Yet, not all types of self-employments can be seen as careeradvancing.In fact, recent studies have argued that women are more prevalent in -unincorporated and non-professional self-employment because self-employment offers an opportunity to -balance work and family life, whereas men enter selfemployment to advance in their careers (Budig, 2006).Then, the negative effect of -marriage, predicted by the specialization hypothesis, may manifest itself with a higher proportion of women entering unincorporated self-employment, which requires lower levels of accumulated skills and resources.Women might prefer this type of selfemployment because it provides more time and flexibility for family obligations than non-professional/low-skill wage jobs (Budig, 2006).
All the previous literature about partners' influence on labour market outcomes considered marriage as the only context in which such interactions take place (Parker, 2008).As a result, marital status is often represented by a dichotomous variable where 1 indicates married and 0 includes all other states (e.g., singlehood, cohabitation, being divorced or widowed).This is problematic for the following reasons: First, it is hard to argue theoretically that the divorced and widowed are similar to the never-married with regard to a partner's resources.At some point, the divorced and widowed had access to all marriage-related resources (network, spill over of skills, etc.), which are not necessarily erased by divorce or widowhood.Furthermore, in the absence of a husband, a woman might take the breadwinner role and invest more in market work.There is empirical evidence that women actually increase their labour supply after divorce (Duncan & Hoffman, 1985).Thus, being divorced or widowed should be positively associated with women's self-employment entry.However, experiencing widowhood or divorce can be considered a negative income shock.The presence of children and the lack of sufficient human capital accumulation (increased specialization), which would increase with the duration of the previous marriage, might lead women to enter into the type of self-employment that requires fewer resources and accumulated skills.
There are also important theoretical reasons for distinguishing cohabiting couples from singles.Although cohabitation implies less stability (Smock, 2000), if spousal influences operate as predicted by the social capital hypotheses, we would not expect a difference between cohabitation and marriage.Partners would share their networks, information and other non-financial resources both in cohabitation and in marriage.Recently, Verbakel and De Graaf (2009) found that there is no difference between legally married couples and cohabiting couples in terms of partners' influence on upward mobility.However, cohabitation might suggest a lesser degree of specialization within the household; therefore, gender differences between the two types of self-employment might be smaller for cohabiting couples.
One reason why prior literature focused only on married couples (instead of all couples, including cohabitators), may be because marriage is construed as an institution that reduces labour-income risks via risk-pooling (Hess, 2004).Although sharing nonfinancial resources might occur equally in cohabitation and marriage, cohabitation, with its unstable nature, can hardly be considered a risk-reducing institution.Additionally, because there is less specialization for cohabiting couples, women might not be motivated to transition to -unincorporated self-employment as a way of balancing work and family life.
Education is considered as the key factor to increase women's empowerment by increasing their self-confidence and understanding of how to operate in the world.Education provides opportunities for women to begin the question about themselves and gradually develop self-confidence and a positive self-image so that they begin to appreciate their own capacities and potentialities.More so, education is one of the most important means of empowering women and of giving them knowledge, skills and the self-confidence necessary to be full partners in the developmental process (Vijayanthi, 2012).
However, based on the literature, it can be said that women's education not only influences women's empowerment but also eliminates gender inequality.In this perspective, Cassidy and Warren (2006) argued that women who had a lower level of education tended to support traditional gender roles and gender inequality.In contrast, women who have a higher level of education are more likely to support non-traditional gender ideology.
Many scholars such as Opeala (1996) argued that women's education, employment and income have a significant influence on their empowerment.In his study, Ackerly (1995) discussed that empowerment can be measured only through education level and knowledge.Further, Kishor (2000) has pointed out to education and employment as the measurement of empowerment.On the other hand, employment is argued to improve women's empowerment for similar reasons, i.e., because it gives women access to their own earnings or contributions to family income that in turn increase their understanding of money, right to participate in financial decisions or financial independence (Mason and Smith, 2003).
Second, the studies that explore family processes have largely ignored the heterogeneity of the self-employed.They either focus solely on incorporated business owners as entrepreneurs (e.g., Parker, 2008) or do not make any distinction between the various types of self-employment.However, recent research points to an increasing bimodality in self-employment types by gender (Budig, 2006).These studies suggest that men and women have very different motivations for becoming self-employed and are subject to different constraints, all of which frequently sort women into less-rewarding types of self-employment than men (Budig, 2006).

Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study: 1) To what extent can the sex of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme?2) To what extent can the sex of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme?3) To what extent can the marital status of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme?4) To what extent can the marital status of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme?5) To what extent can the educational qualification of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme?6) To what extent can the educational qualification of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme?

Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study: 1) There is no significant difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme 2) There is no significant difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP on their employment of other youths after graduating from the programme 3) There is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises on the basis of their marital status after graduating from the programme 4) There is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths on the basis of their marital status after graduating from the programme 5) There is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme 6) There is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on their employment of other youths on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme

Methods
A descriptive survey research design was used in this investigation.The population of the study comprised 4,559 beneficiaries of the STEP programme of the Delta State Government from 2015 to 2020.The sample size for this study comprised 1,000 beneficiaries representing 21.93% of the total population.The sampling techniques that were used for the study are proportionate stratified and convenience sampling techniques.A proportional stratified sampling approach is a probability sampling method that identifies distinct strata in a population and draws a proportionate number of elements from each stratum based on the relative number of elements in each stratum.Since all of the Local Government Areas in Delta State that were used in the study do not have an equal number of beneficiaries, this sampling strategy was used.As a result, each Local Government Area's population of beneficiaries was represented.The researcher estimated the percentage of the sample size with respect to the whole population size, which resulted in a percentage of 21.93%.
A convenience sampling technique, on the other hand, is a non-probability sampling strategy in which the researcher asks a group of persons who meet the study's broad requirements to volunteer (e.g., STEP beneficiaries from 2015 to 2020).The researcher used any STEP beneficiary who was accessible and willing to engage in the study utilising the convenience sample technique, as long as they meet the condition of being a beneficiary of the programme.
The research instrument that was used to collect data in this study, is a questionnaire developed by the researcher.The questionnaire contains two sections; Section A contains the demographic data of the respondents such as sex, marital status, location (urban and rural) and educational qualification.Section B, on the other hand, consists of items that will be used to elicit information from the beneficiaries of the programme on the extent to which the objectives of the programme have been achieved.Experts in Educational Measurement and Evaluation in the Department of Guidance and Counselling, as well as some staff at the Job Creation Office, validated the instrument.
The questionnaire was printed and handed over to the experts for assessment.The experts looked through it and made some suggestions which were critically followed.The face and content validitieswere, therefore, estimated through experts' judgement, and it was authenticated that the instrument was valid in terms of face and content validity.
The test-retest method of reliability, which estimates the measure of stability, was used to determine the reliability of the instrument.Copies of the questionnaire were administered to 50 beneficiaries of the programme at two different times, and the data obtained were analyzed using Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient.It yielded a coefficient of 0.82.Thus, the instrument produced results that are stable.
The researchers administered copies of the questionnaire to the participants in the different local government areas of the state.The researcher solicited the help of five research assistants, who helped him to visit the beneficiaries in their various locations.The process was entirely voluntary.They were assured that their responses would be used only for the purpose of research and not to victimise them in any way.The exercise lasted for a period of six weeks.At the end of the exercise, a total of 1,000 copies of the questionnaire were administered and a total of 1000 copies were retrieved, indicating 100% retrieval rate.
The data were collected, coded, and recorded into a computer system using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.After that, the data were checked for corrections of errors.Frequency and percentage were used to answer the research questions.

Result
Research Question 1: To what extent can the sex of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme?Table 1 shows the percentageanalysisof the influence of the sex of beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme.The result shows that of the total of 1,000 evaluated, 339 of them representing 33.9% were males while 661 (66.1%) are females.This implies that sex can influence the establishment of beneficiaries' own enterprises after graduating from the programme to a high extent.

Research Question 2:
To what extent can the sex of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme?Table 2 shows the percentageanalysisof the influence of the sex of beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme.The result shows that of the total of 573 who have employed other youths, 230 of them representing 40.1% were males while 343 (59.9%) are females.This implies that the sex of beneficiaries of the STEP can influence the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme to a high extent.

Research Question 3:
To what extent can the marital status of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme?Table 3 shows the percentageanalysisof the influence of the marital status of beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme.The result shows that of the total of 1,000 evaluated, 523 of them representing 52.3% were married, 453 of them (45.3%) are single, 1 (0.1%) is widowed while 23 (2.3%) are separated.This implies that marital status can influence the establishment of beneficiaries' own enterprises after graduating from the programme to a low extent.

Research Question 4:
To what extent can the marital status of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme?Table 4 shows the percentageanalysisof the influence of the marital status of beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme.
The result shows that of the total of 573 who have employed other youths, 345 of them representing 60.2% were married, 218 (38.0%) are single, 1 (0.2%) is single while 9 (1.6%) are separated.This implies that the marital status of beneficiaries of the STEP can influence the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme to a low extent.

Research Question 5:
To what extent can the educational qualification of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme?Table 5 shows the percentageanalysisof the influence of the educational qualification of beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme.The result shows that of the total of 1,000 evaluated, 52 of them representing 5.2% had no formal education, 33 of them (3.3%) had primary education, 361 (36.1%) had secondary education while 554 (55.4%) had tertiary education.This implies that educational qualification can influence the establishment of beneficiaries' own enterprises after graduating from the programme to a high extent.

Research Question 6:
To what extent can the educational qualification of beneficiaries of the STEP influence the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme?Table 6 shows the percentageanalysisof the influence of the educational qualification of beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme.The result shows that of the total of 573 who have employed other youths, 30 of them representing 5.2% had no formal education, 25 (4.4%) had primary education, 196 (34.2%) had secondary education while 322 (56.2%) had tertiary education.This implies that the educational qualification of beneficiaries of the STEP can influence the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme to a low extent.
Hypothesis 1: There is no significant difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme.Table 7 shows the t-test analysis of the difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme.The result shows that male (M = 3.13, SD = 0.50) female (M = 3.20, SD = 0.43); t (998) = 2.45, p < 0.05 level of significance.Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected, meaning that there is a significant difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme.Female beneficiaries appear to have established their own enterprises more than male beneficiaries.

Hypothesis 2:
There is no significant difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP on their employment of other youths after graduating from the programme.Table 8 shows the t-test analysis of the difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP on their employment of other youths after graduating from the programme.The result shows that male (M = 3.32, SD = 0.44) female (M = 3.20, SD = 0.48); t (571) = 3.07, p < 0.05 level of significance.Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected, meaning that there is a significant difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP on their employment of other youths after graduating from the programme.Male beneficiaries appear to have employed other youths more than female beneficiaries.
Hypothesis 3: There is no significant difference among married, divorced, widowed and single beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme.Table 9 shows an Analysis of variance (ANOVA), which was used to compare the difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises on the basis of their marital status after graduating from the programme.The result shows that F(3, 996) = 2.368, p> 0.05 level of significance.Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted, which means there is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises on the basis of their marital status after graduating from the programme.
Hypothesis 4: There is no significant difference among married, divorced, widowed and single beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme.Table 10 shows an Analysis of variance (ANOVA), which was used to compare the difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths on the basis of their marital status after graduating from the programme.The result shows that F(3, 569) = 1.692, p> 0.05 level of significance.Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted, which means there is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths on the basis of their marital status after graduating from the programme.
Hypothesis 5: There is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme.Table 11 shows an Analysis of variance (ANOVA), which was used to compare the difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme.The result shows that F(3, 996) = 3.043, p< 0.05 level of significance.Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected, which means there is a significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme.
A post-hoc analysis, which was done to examine where the difference lies shows that a significant difference exists among beneficiaries with no formal education, those with secondary and those tertiary education; between those with secondary education and those with primary education; and between those with tertiary education and those with no formal education.The result also shows that those with no formal education had the highest mean of 3.32.This is followed by those with primary education (3.25), those with tertiary education (3.14) and lastly, those with secondary education (3.13).
Hypothesis 6: There is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on their employment of other youths on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme.Table 12 shows an Analysis of variance (ANOVA), which was used to compare the difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on their employment of other youths on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme.The result shows that F(3, 569) = 0.342, p> 0.05 level of significance.Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted, which means there is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on their employment of other youths on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme.

Discussion
The first finding revealed that sex influences the establishment of beneficiaries' own enterprises after graduating from the programme.The finding showed that of the total of 1,000 evaluated, 339 of them representing 33.9% were males while 661 (66.1%) are females.A corresponding hypothesis revealed that there is a significant difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP in the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme.The finding showed that female beneficiaries appear to have established their own enterprises more than male beneficiaries.The possible reason for this finding is that the trade area with the most beneficiaries is fashion design, which is mostly favoured by female beneficiaries.So, it is not surprising that they established their businesses more than the males.The finding agrees with Devine (2014), who recorded gender differences in occupation and industry distributions and earnings levels, for self-employed workers as well as wage-and-salary workers.She also reported that among full-time, full-year workers in 1990, self-employed women earned 73% of the annual income of female wageand-salary workers, whereas self-employed men earned 107% of the annual income of male wage-and-salary workers.The finding is also in line with Clain (2010), whose finding suggests that women place more value on non-wage aspects of self-employment than do men.herestimation focused on demographic differences rather than the economic variables usually included in self-employment studies, such as individual wealth, relative self-employment earnings, and intergenerational transfers of human capital.
The second finding showed that the sex of beneficiaries of the STEP influences the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme.The finding further revealed that of the total of 573 who have employed other youths, 230 of them representing 40.1% were males while 343 (59.9%) are females.A corresponding hypothesis revealed that there is a significant difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP in their employment of other youths after graduating from the programme.Male beneficiaries appear to have employed other youths more than female beneficiaries.The possible reason for this finding is that most of the male-dominated trade areas cannot be handled by only one person.For instance, areas like POP installation, computer repairs, block moulding, interlocking, tiling and electrical installation & repairs, are areas that cannot be handled by one person.So, there is always a need to employ people as assistants.
The finding is in line with Gupta, et al. (2009), who stated that family responsibilities and other obstacles prevent women from pursuing entrepreneurship.The finding also agrees with Budig (2006), who stated that a significant fraction of women decide to become self-employed trading off income for a more flexible work arrangement and other non-pecuniary benefits associated with self-employment.
The third finding revealed that marital status influences the establishment of beneficiaries' own enterprises after graduating from the programme.From the result obtained, it was found that of the total of 1,000 evaluated, 523 of them representing 52.3% were married, 453 of them (45.3%) are single, 1 (0.1%) is widowed while 23 (2.3%) are separated.A corresponding hypothesis however showed that there is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises on the basis of their marital status after graduating from the programme.The finding is at variance with Budig(2006), who argued that women are more prevalent in -unincorporated and non-professional self-employment because self-employment offers an opportunity to -balance work and family life, whereas men enter selfemployment to advance in their careers.
The fourth finding showed that the marital status of beneficiaries of the STEP influences the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme.The finding also revealed that of the total of 573 who have employed other youths, 345 of them representing 60.2% were married, 218 (38.0%) are single, 1 (0.2%) is single while 9 (1.6%) are separated.A corresponding hypothesis, however, revealed that there is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths on the basis of their marital status after graduating from the programme.
The finding agrees with Ozcanand Reichstein ( 2009), who argued that marriage may provide individuals with greater flexibility for job or career changes because they believe that they can trust their spouses' earning potential, whether they are in the labour market or not.The finding, however, disagrees with Aguda-Oluwo and Oni (2017), whose finding suggests that marital status has a significant influence on women's economic empowerment.
The fifth finding showed that educational qualification influences the establishment of beneficiaries' own enterprises after graduating from the programme.The finding further revealed that of the total of 1,000 evaluated, 52 of them representing 5.2% had no formal education, 33 of them (3.3%) had primary education, 361 (36.1%) had secondary education while 554 (55.4%) had tertiary education.A corresponding hypothesis revealed that there is a significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme.Those with no formal education had the highest mean of 3.32.This is followed by those with primary education (3.25), those with tertiary education (3.14) and lastly, those with secondary education (3.13).
The finding is in line with Vijayanthi (2012), who stated that education is one of the most important means of empowering individuals and of giving knowledge, skills and the self-confidence necessary to be full partners in the developmental process.The finding agrees with Cassidy and Warren (2006), who argued that women who had a lower level of education tended to support traditional gender roles and gender inequality.
The sixth finding revealed that the educational qualification of beneficiaries of the STEP influences the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme.It was further shown that of the total of 573 who have employed other youths, 30 of them representing 5.2% had no formal education, 25 (4.4%) had primary education, 196 (34.2%) had secondary education while 322 (56.2%) had tertiary education.A corresponding hypothesis however showed that there is no significant difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on their employment of other youths on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme.
The finding agrees with Ovharhe and Gbigbi (2016), whose study found that marriage and high educational status reduce the tendency of active involvement in Fadama III agricultural activities.The finding is however, at variance with Erikitola and Omoregie (2019), whose finding revealed that educational qualification hasa significant influence on women empowerment programmes as it is positively embarked on by young, married and highly educated women.

Conclusion and Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, it can be concluded that the implementation of the goals of STEP were influenced by the sex and educational qualification of beneficiaries but not their marital status.On the basis of the findings and conclusion drawn, the following recommendations were made: 1) The government should expand the empowerment programme to accommodate commerce apprenticeships.2) Government should adopt the industry-based approach towards empowerment programmes where trained beneficiaries are sent or posted to industrial hubs that specialize on their skill, trade or vocation.3) More trade areas should be introduced into the scheme to reflect changing career needs of society.4) Leaders in the study area should allow the programme to be independent in order for the coordinators or organizations to recruit the right people who are actually interested in learning a skill in order to make a living out of the programme.
5) An enhanced monitoring mechanism should be put in place to promote better monitoring and mentorship for graduates of the programme.6) Proper loan facilities should be made available to beneficiaries of the programme who have established their own businesses, for the purpose of expansion.
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Table 1 :
Percentageanalysisof the influence of sex of beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme

Table 2 :
Percentageanalysisof the influence of sex of beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme

Table 3 :
Percentageanalysisof the influence of marital status of beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme

Table 4 :
Percentageanalysisof the influence of marital status of beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme

Table 5 :
Percentageanalysisof the influence of educational qualification of beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme

Table 6 :
Percentageanalysisof the influence of educational qualification of beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme

Table 7 :
t-test analysis of the difference between male and female beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme

Table 8 :
t-test analysis of the difference between male and female beneficiaries of theSTEP on their employment of other youths after graduating from the programme

Table 9 :
ANOVAanalysis of the difference among married, divorced, widowed and single beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises after graduating from the programme

Table 10 :
ANOVAanalysis of the difference among married, divorced,widowed and single beneficiaries of the STEP on the employment of other youths after graduating from the programme

Table 11 :
ANOVAanalysis of the difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on the establishment of their own enterprises on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme

Table 12 :
ANOVAanalysis of the difference among beneficiaries of the STEP on their employment of other youths on the basis of their educational qualification after graduating from the programme