Psychological factors as predictors of business education undergraduates entrepreneurial aspiration in Southwest Nigerian Universities

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is a major tool to facilitate economic growth, create job opportunities, reduce importation and decrease the trade deficits resulting from such importations and unemployment with attendant social consequences. Hence, this work investigated the vocational, psychological and socio-economic factors as predictors of entrepreneurial aspirations of Business Education undergraduates in Southwest, Nigeria. The descriptive research design of the expost facto type was used in carrying out the study. All the variables were studied as they exist without manipulating any of them. The sample consisted of 1,224 Business Education students randomly selected from six tertiary institutions in the Southwest, Nigeria. Seven instruments were used for data collection. These are (i) Biographical Data Inventory (BDI), (ii) Entrepreneurial Aspiration Inventory (EAI; α = .081); (iii) General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES; α = .075); (iv) Self-Interest Inventory (SII; α = .079); (v) Self-Description Questionnaire II (SDQ II; α = .085); The Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) was used in the analysis of data to test hypothesis one to hypothesis three. All the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 levels of significance. The findings revealed significant contribution of psychological factors on Business Education undergraduates’ entrepreneurial aspiration. This means that entrepreneurial aspiration among Nigerian undergraduates is sensitive to various psychological factors especially self-interest, self-efficacy and self-concept. The study however recommended that efforts should be made to increase students’ desirability for entrepreneurial aspiration through self-concept, self-efficacy and self-interest.

Key words: Psychological factors, Entrepreneurial Aspiration, Business Education.