Entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial career option among polytechnic students in Northwestern Nigeria: the mediating effect of creativity

• Main Author: Isah, Umar Garba
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: HB615-715 Entrepreneurship. Risk and uncertainty. Property
• Online Access: https://etd.uum.edu.my/7949/1/s95488_01.pdf; https://etd.uum.edu.my/7949/2/s95488_02.pdf; https://etd.uum.edu.my/7949/

The study's primary objective is to examine the mediating effect of creativity on the relationship between components of entrepreneurship education (EE) and entrepreneurial career option (ECO) among polytechnic students in northwestern Nigeria. Data were collected from polytechnics through cross-sectional study design. The study adopted multistage stratified sampling to select six polytechnics and used proportionate random sampling to select 505 respondents, and questionnaires were self-administered. 348 usable responses were gathered to assess 11 direct and 5 indirect hypotheses and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLSSEM) was used in the hypotheses testing. This study found that know-what (KWT), know-how (KHW), know-who (KWO), know-why (KWY), know-when (KWN), and creativity (CRT) are essential EE components of EE objectives that influence students to engage in ECO in northwestern Nigeria. The findings revealed that KWT, KHW, KWY, and KWN depends on the CRT disposition of the students. It is expected KWO and KWN would increase students' ECO, but the findings of this study ran contrary to this expectation, as the relationship between KWO, KWN and ECO was not significant. Interestingly, the findings further showed that creativity significantly mediate the relationship between KWT, KWO, KWY, KWN and ECO, but not the relationship between KHW and ECO. Higher educational institutions (HEIs) should emphasise KWT, KWO, KWY, and KWN, but it is imperative to note that overemphasis on KHW may result in lower creativity. The results of this study provides significant insights to EE stakeholders and researchers to recognise that the EE, CRT, and ECO relationships need to be examined further. The current study contributes mainly to the current literature on how CRT mediates the relationship between all of the components of EE and ECO, especially in the Nigerian context where such studies are sparse. The study recommends strategies and practical road map for effective delivery of EE courses in line with global best practice. Lastly, limitations of the current study and avenues for future research were discussed.