Influence Of Mentorship On Career Advancement Of Small-Scale Businesses Operators In Calabar Municipality

Abstract

This study determined the influence of mentorship on career advancement of small scale businesses in Calabar Municipality. The study adopted descriptive survey design using 982 small scale business operators with a sample size of 98 selected using simple random sampling techniques. Questionnaire was used for data collection and was structured on a four point rating scale of Very High Influence (VHI), High Influence (HI), Moderate Influence (MI) and Low Influence (LI). The instrument which was validated by 3 experts from the Department of Business Education yielded a reliability coefficient of .75 with test retest and PPMC statistics.  Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation for answering research questions and simple linear regression for testing the null hypotheses at .05 levels of significance. Findings of the study revealed that technical skills development, leadership development and networking as mentorship variables highly influence career advancement of small scale businesses. In addition, findings indicated that there is significant influence of technical skills development, leadership development and networking on career advancement of small scale businesses in Calabar Municipality. It was recommended among others that Small and Medium-Scale Entreprise Development Agency of Nigeira  in collaboration with business experts should provide training and support for business owners that will aid the development of leadership skills for enhanced business relationship.