Evaluation of vocational and technical education programs in developing students' entrepreneurial skills ,CIPP model (Case of study: Zabadasht Karaj technical and vocational center)

Introduction: Integrating technical and vocational education with entrepreneurial skills allows graduates of these programs to benefit from creativity, innovation, and better career development. The present study aimed to evaluate technical and vocational education programs in developing entrepreneurial skills based on the CIPP model.

Methodology: The research is applied in purpose and descriptive-correlational in nature. The research population consisted of trainers, trainees, and graduates of the Zibadasht Technical and Vocational Center in Karaj, which was sampled using a census method from 7 trainers and a convenience sampling method from 166 trainees and graduates. The reason for using the convenience sampling method was that during sampling, an attempt was made to survey graduates and trainees who had participated in similar courses and received training under the supervision of the same trainers.

The tools used in the study included three questionnaires: one for evaluating technical and vocational training courses from the perspective of trainees, one for trainers, and one for assessing the outcomes of these courses and the development of entrepreneurial skills from the perspective of graduates. The content validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by experts, and their reliability was verified using Cronbach's alpha (more than 0.7 for all three questionnaires). Data analysis was conducted using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, binomial, and linear regression tests.

Findings: According to the results, the environmental factors in the context domain, facilities and equipment in the input domain, and support and communication in the process domain are not in an optimal condition. The components of entrepreneurial knowledge and attitude in the output domain are at a desirable level. Among entrepreneurial skills, business startup and communication skills are at a desirable level, but other skills are not. The context, input, and process of technical and vocational education at the Zibadasht Center do not significantly affect the entrepreneurial skills of the learners, but the output does have an impact on the development of their entrepreneurial skills.

Conclusion/ Implications: The results of the study indicate that technical and vocational centers can play an effective role in the development of learners' entrepreneurial skills.