Managerial Skills in Intercultural Higher Education: Evidence from Awajún and Wampis University Entrepreneurs in the Peruvian Amazon
Keywords:
intercultural higher education; management skills; Indigenous entrepreneurship; Awajún; WampisAbstract
Managerial skills are widely recognized as essential capabilities for fostering entrepreneurship, organizational sustainability, and community development. However, in intercultural higher education, quantitative evidence on how managerial skills manifest among Indigenous university students remains limited, particularly in Latin American contexts. This study examined managerial skills among Awajún and Wampis university students involved in productive community activities in the Peruvian Amazon, providing empirical evidence from an intercultural higher education context. A quantitative, cross-sectional, non-experimental design was employed, using a convenience sample of 300 Indigenous university students involved in traditional crafts, family farming, and cooperative enterprises. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire measuring four dimensions of managerial skills: leadership, decision-making, communication, and strategic planning. After confirming the non-normal distribution of the data, descriptive statistics, Spearman’s rank correlation, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression were carried out. The findings indicated that participants generally reported moderate-to-high levels of managerial skills, while sociodemographic characteristics showed limited explanatory power with regard to competency levels. The analyses suggest that managerial skills manifest themselves in culturally embedded business practices; however, the study does not imply causal educational effects, nor does it attribute these competencies exclusively to intercultural higher education. These findings contribute empirical evidence to the literature on Indigenous entrepreneurship and support the design of culturally sensitive educational strategies aimed at strengthening managerial skills in intercultural university contexts.
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.25.8.20
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