GENDER AS A DETERMINANT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION AMONG BUSINESS EDUCATION UNDERGRADUATES IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined gender as a determinant of entrepreneurial intention of Business Education undergraduates in Southwest Nigeria. One research question and hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. A descriptive research design was utilized, with the population comprising 428 business education undergraduates from Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State. A sample of 214 respondents was selected using simple random sampling. Data was collected using a questionnaire titled “Gender Determinant of Entrepreneurship Intention among Business Education Undergraduates Questionnaire (GDEIABEUQ)”. The questionnaire was validated by three Business and Entrepreneurship Education experts from Kwara State University, Malete, Ilorin. The reliability was established using Cronbach alpha statistics which yielded a 0.80 reliability coefficient. The research question was answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypothesis was tested using t-test analysis at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings indicated that gender does not influence the entrepreneurial intention among business education undergraduates in Southwest Nigeria. Also, there was no significant influence of gender on the entrepreneurial intention of business education undergraduates in Southwest Nigeria (t₍₂₁₂₎ = 0.08, p > 0.05). The study recommends that young entrepreneurs should not be biased by gender when pursuing business aspirations. Additionally, government policies and institutions should promote gender equity in entrepreneurship to ensure equal contributions to the nation’s economy.