Empowering Change: Tracking Innovation Attributes among Participants of the Innovation to Transform Education Training

Abstract

Innovation is viewed as a key driver of economic and social well-being. While the majority of the population lives in developing countries, most innovative contributions emerge from developed economies, highlighting an urgent need to lift innovation capacity among youth in developing nations. The purpose of this study was to examine how one innovation program, titled the Innovation to Transform Education Training (ITET), equipped participants with innovation attributes to support their roles as leaders and changemakers in education. Improving the program requires data that describe the perceived effectiveness of the training in supporting the development of innovation attributes. Through a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, this study gathered data from participants of the training’s in-person launch in Lagos, Nigeria. A survey was designed based on the program structure and five attributes of innovation drawn from the literature. The instrument was distributed and administered to participants before and after engaging in the training to determine their perceptions of the extent to which participating in the program improved their innovation attributes. Follow-up qualitative interviews with members from this cohort (N = 10) provided a deeper understanding of participants’ conceptualization of innovation and their perceptions of the program’s impact. The quantitative findings demonstrated growth across all five attributes; however, only self-efficacy showed statistically significant increases. The qualitative findings revealed the underlying components that supported the development of these innovation attributes. Specifically, networking and role modeling emerged as key themes through which the program contributed to participants’ self-efficacy as innovators. By integrating both quantitative and qualitative data, this research contributes to the broader literature on innovation assessment and innovation education training, while providing an initial understanding of how the program under investigation is contributing to the development of innovation attributes.