The International Journal of Management Education 14 (2016) 116e132

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The International Journal of Management Education

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijme

Entrepreneurship intention among students. The antecedent

role of culture and entrepreneurship training and
development
Adewale A. Adekiya a, *, Fatima Ibrahim b
a
Department of Business Administration and Entrepreneurship, Bayero Business School, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria
b
Centre for African Entrepreneurship Research, Bayero Business School, Bayero University, PMB 3011 Kano, Kano State, Nigeria

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: With a depleting national economy which has no answer to the increasing rate of un-
Received 15 September 2015 employment put at 23.4% in the year 2012 alone and coupled with a consistent increase in
Received in revised form 15 March 2016 the number of University graduates, put at 3 million on yearly basis, out of which only 10
Accepted 15 March 2016
percent have the opportunity to join the formal sector, the federal government of Nigeria
has mandated that a compulsory entrepreneurship training program (ETP) be observed in
higher institutions of learning in order to enhance students with the skills and resources
Keywords:
that will enable them to become self employed after graduation. However, no empirical
Entrepreneurial intention
Perceived appropriateness
evidence is presently in existence regarding the ability of this program in achieving this
Perceived consistence stated objective. This study examined the influence of entrepreneurship training program
Perceived effectiveness and cultural orientation on the intention of students to engage in entrepreneurial prac-
Entrepreneurial training tices. A self administered and structured questionnaire which measures three cultural
predictors: perceived appropriateness, perceived consistence and perceived effectiveness,
entrepreneurial training and entrepreneurial intention was employed in eliciting re-
sponses from three hundred and fifty seven (357) randomly selected final year students of
Bayero University Kano. From the total 357 copies of questionnaire distributed, 310 copies
were recovered, 24 copies were excluded due to exclusion criteria, 31 copies were dis-
carded for improper completion, and the final 255 copies were used for analysis indicating
a usable response rate of 71.4%. The result from the regression analysis conducted indicates
that perceived appropriateness, perceived effectiveness and entrepreneurial training, with
the exception of perceived consistence have a positive and significant effect on entre-
preneurial intention. Based on these findings, it was recommended that school authorities
and relevant stake holders should engage the use of mass communication in disseminating
information that fosters perceived appropriateness and perceived effectiveness in addition
to improving the quality of entrepreneurial training facilities in schools. The study's lim-
itation is its focus on the students of only one higher institution of learning which makes
the results uncovered, fall short of being generalized to all the students in Nigerian higher
institutions of learning.
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: wallacetoks@yahoo.com (A.A. Adekiya), Teema_i@yahoo.com (F. Ibrahim).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2016.03.001
1472-8117/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A.A. Adekiya, F. Ibrahim / The International Journal of Management Education 14 (2016) 116e132 117

1. Introduction

The critical role being played by entrepreneurship in the economic growth and development of developed economies such
as USA, Britain, Japan, Canada and others have made most developing economies to adjust their developmental concept and
plans to accommodate entrepreneurship and thus set the stage for new enterprise development which in their opinion, will
serve as a panacea to tackling their economic problems (Nwankwo, Kanu, Marire, Balogun, & Uhiara, 2012). Put in another
way, entrepreneurship is now seen as an engine room for economic growth and important indicator in the area of job cre-
ation, revenue generation, poverty alleviation and wealth creation (Romer, 1994). For instance an entrepreneur is expected to
scan the environment for viable business opportunities (which might be in form of unsatisfied needs), arrive at an appro-
priate formula for satisfying the needs, source for the required resources: land, labor and capital, make provision for such
need, with the aim of generating profitable outcome. Hence an entrepreneur is widely considered beneficial in creating
enterprises and jobs (Gordon, 2000).
Garba, Kabir, and Nalado (2014) are of the opinion that the most difficult challenge confronting leaders in Africa and other
developing countries is the problem of poverty and high unemployment. They pointed that the unemployment trend in
Nigeria is ever increasing and that in 2012 alone, unemployment rate was 23.4% thereby creating a source of concern for the
government and policy makers on how to reverse the trend and its negative implications on the country. Within these armies
of unemployed are the young graduates who are churned out of the Universities, Polytechnics, and other tertiary institutions
yearly to join the labor market which has already become saturated and clueless in providing answers to their yearning for
economic participation (Garba et al., 2014). According to Fatelink (2007) in any given year over three million Nigerians
become qualified to join the labor market out of which about 10% of these have the opportunity to join the formal sector.
As argued by Muktar (2013) despite the fact that the country has many natural and human resources, its achievement in
entrepreneurial practices is still very low. Hence there has been growing interest in undertaking and intensifying actions to
promote and support the idea of entrepreneurship as an attractive alternative to wage unemployment particularly among
students around the globe (Gelard & Saleh, 2011). It is against this backdrop that the federal Government of Nigeria directed
tertiary institutions of learning in the country to establish centers for entrepreneurship study where courses in entrepre-
neurship should be taught in order to equip graduates with the requisite skills that can enhance their self employment after
graduation rather than looking for white collar jobs, which are not readily available. However, such gesture might not be fully
complemented if the effectiveness of this skill acquisition program is not determined. In other words, it is necessary to
investigate the role of the training program on the intentions of the students to engage in entrepreneurial practices after
graduation, in the nearest future.
Another factor that has been highlighted by Hayton and Cacciotti (2014) as a factor that can excise an influence on
entrepreneurial intention is cultural characteristics and values. Culture includes some social, moral ethical values norms and
beliefs that must be socially acceptable within a group of people (Hofstede & Geert, 1980). According to Hayton and Cacciotti
(2014) when cultural values is in supportive of uncertainty and risk taking, they are expected foster the creativity and
innovation that underlies entrepreneurial activities. To press home the effect of culture in this regard, Mitchell et al. (2002)
observed that for starting a new business many factors influences entrepreneurial intention. They highlighted the factors as
perceived desirability, feasibility, and entrepreneurial experience. As observed by them, these factors vary from culture to
culture and nation to nation. Put in another way, a widely held consensus among these authors is that culture can be a
moderator in the relationship. Within the student's population segment, startup capital, family background, gender group,
and age have been highlighted by Shane (2003) and Salami and Samuel (2007) as having effect on the intentions of students
to become entrepreneurial in nature. Further, personality traits, self-concept, and perceived opportunity have all been found
to predict this intention to some extent (Kristiansen & Indarti, 2004; Segal, Borgia, & Schoenfeld, 2005). However, to the
knowledge of the researcher, little is known on the role being played by the cultural characteristics of students on their
intention to engage in the practice of entrepreneurship after graduation and there seems to be lack of concrete empirical
evidence in this regard.
The link between intentions and behavior is very well explained in psychology (Nwankwo et al., 2012). For instance the
theory of planned behavior by Ajzen (1991) posits that intentions reflect the motivational factors that influences behavior and
are a reliable indicator of how hard a person is willing to try and how much effort he/she makes to perform a behavior.
Furthermore, intentions are widely seen as powerful predictor of behaviors especially in the case of purposive, planned, and
goal oriented behaviors (Bagozzi, Baumgartner & Yi, 1989). Thus, since the tasks involved in venture creation deals with needs
identification and making provision for such needs for profitable gains, it can be classified as a purposefully and goal directed
behavior which can be reliably predicted by entrepreneurial intention. This position is in coherence with Krueger, Reilly, and
Carsrud (2000) who maintains that entrepreneurial action can be classifies as an intentional behavior or intention is a
predictor or planned entrepreneurial behavior.
To this end, this paper is aimed at examining the effect of cultural orientation and entrepreneurship training on the
intention of students to engage in entrepreneurial behavior. The scope of the paper is narrowed to the final year students of
Bayero University, Kano who are currently observing the mandatory entrepreneurship training program (ETP) of the uni-
versity. Its findings will be of great importance for policy makers and academic institutions that are concerned with pro-
moting entrepreneurial behavior and activities. The paper is organized into five sections: introduction, literature review and
theoretical issues, methodology, results and discussion, concluding remarks and recommendations.
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2. Review of related literature

2.1. Entrepreneurship

There seems to be lack of consensus on the definition and meaning of the word “entrepreneurship”. For instance
McClelland (1961) defines it as a dynamic process created and managed by an individual who strives to exploit economic
innovation to create new value in the market toward achieving a particular need. Similarly, Kuratko (2005) gave their own
definition and pointed that it’s a process through which an individual exploit an opportunity and create value. In a related
view, the organization of Economic Cooperation and Development OECD (2006) describes entrepreneurship as a process
through which entrepreneurs create and grow enterprises to provide new products/services, or add value to products or
services. From the above definitions, one can deduce that entrepreneurs are enterprising individuals who engage in an
economic behavior with the intention of creating and adding value to meet human needs.

2.2. The link between entrepreneurial attitude, intentions and behavior

As argued by Hmieleski and Corbett (2006) entrepreneurial intention can be defined as intentions toward starting a high-
growth business. According to Bird (1988) intentionality can be defined as a state of mind directing a person's attention,
experience and action towards a specific goal or a path to achieve something. If Kniger (1993) are true in their submission,
then entrepreneurial action can also be classifies as an intentional behavior or intention is a predictor or planned entre-
preneurial behavior. Following this definition, entrepreneurial intention in this study is defined as the intentionality among
the university students to engage in entrepreneurial practices after graduation as against a crave for white collar job. Ac-
cording to Armitage and Conner (2001) meta-analyses shows that intentions are strong predictors of actual behavior in
applied settings. This is in consistency with the theory of planned behavior (TPB) of Ajzen (1991) which explains intentions by
means of attitudes, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and subjective norm. This theory posits that attitudes towards a
behavior including that of entrepreneurship predict intentions which in turn predict the actual behavior. By following this
theory, it is arguable to concur that a potential entrepreneur is expected to first develop an attitude towards new venture
creation while this attitude will lead to the intention to initiate a start up and then, if the intention for such initiative is strong
enough, the entrepreneur takes steps in transforming it into action.
Furthermore, the premise upon which this theory lies is that entrepreneurial intention is determined by the attitude one
holds about the creation of new venture, and his perception of feasibility and desirability of a new start-up. This implies that if
the attitude is favorable, and there is high feasibility/desirability of starting the business, this will tend to translate into actual
venture creation behavior. According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2009) attitude is defined as a psychological tendency that is
expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor. For Hajer and Habib (2013) an attitude is an
interior provision of a person which results in moderate emotive reactions that are learned and felt each time the person is in
the presence of an object, an idea or an activity. These emotive reactions lead to an approach of the object if it's favorable or to
move away if it's unfavorable (Morisette & Gingras, 1989). It makes sense to study attitude in any settings because strong
attitude would very likely affects a person behavior (Zimmerman, 2008). Below in Fig. 1 is a model of attitude in relation to
behavior as proposed by Fishbein and Arjen (1980).
As indicated by the diagram, the value or expectations held by an individual in relation to the individual's beliefs about an
object or event forms the basis of attitude development either positive or negative towards the object or event which is in
turn, translated into intentions and consequently, behavior towards the event or object including that of venture creation.

2.3. Factors influencing entrepreneurial intentions

A growing number of entrepreneurship researches are centered on the factors underlying the intentions to engage in
entrepreneurial ventures. For instance Nwankwo et al. (2012) have identified entrepreneurial education as an effective way to
promote and bolster an interest in entrepreneurship among university students. Similarly, Mueller and Datoon (2008) have
identified societal gender role orientation as an important factor motivating entrepreneurial intentions. In addition, self
efficacy (Boyd & Vozikis, 1994), work experience, parental role models, personality traits (Gelderen, Brand, Van Prag,
Bodewes, Poutma, Van-Gills, 2008), and culture (Reardon, 1991) have all been identified as factors that can act as pre-
cursors to this intention. Furthermore, economic and institutional factors have been pointed by Hayton and Cacciotti (2014)
while Curran (1996) have suggested that factors such as family background, neighborhood, school, peer group and general
work situation can influence career choice. However in this study, two factors: culture and entrepreneurial training, which
seems most relevant within the context of the current investigation, will be considered.

2.4. Culture and entrepreneurial intentions

Hofstede (2003) described culture as a ‘collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group
or category of people from another while Hayton and Cacciotti (2014) define the concept as the values, beliefs and expected
behaviors that are sufficiently common across people within (or from) a given geographic region as to be considered as share.
In addition, they argued that to the extent that cultural values lead to an acceptance of uncertainty and risk taking, they are
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Fig. 1. Showing a model of Attitude, intentions, and behavior. Source: Fishbein and Arjen (1980).

expected to be supportive of the creativity and innovation underlying entrepreneurial action. According to Zahra and George
(2002) entrepreneurial actions are facilitated both by socially shared beliefs and values (culture) that reward or inhibit the
necessary behaviors (e.g. innovation, creativity, risk taking). As pointed by Karayiannis (1993) the entrepreneur forms his
beliefs through his cultural heritage and direct experience of life. He observed that prior to the establishment of the firm he
has already decided to follow a specific path in his lifetime. This path is chosen under some psychological and social incentives
(Karayiannis, 1993) institutional policies (Hayton & Cacciotti, 2014) and family background (Curran, 1996) all of which are
influenced by cultural factors.
The (ACE) model of persuasion: appropriateness-consistency-effectiveness by Reardon (1991) derived; from an extensive
body of communication research in regard to entrepreneurial behavior has been highlighted as cultural factors which can act
as precursor to entrepreneurial intent. According to De Pillis and Reardon (2001) this theory proposes that the type of
messages disseminated across influences the persuasion outcome. First, perceived consistence, they argued, is the degree to
which entrepreneurship is a good fit with one's self-concept. In their opinion, a subject who has high self-consistence with
regard to entrepreneurship would agree with statements like, “an entrepreneur is someone like me,“ or”I am the entre-
preneurial type. Second, perceived appropriateness as argued by them is the degree to which entrepreneurship is perceived
to be considered proper and accepted by others in the society, as a suitable career while perceived effectiveness, they
maintained, is the degree to which a career in entrepreneurship is perceived as capable of achieving one's desired outcome or
lifetime goals. To the extent that people have internalized positive impressions about the appropriateness, consistency and
effectiveness of entrepreneurship, they are likely to convert these impressions into intention to start a business (De Pillis &
Reardon, 2001).
A great deal of learning about the world takes place through mass media and face-to-face communications with others (De
Pillis & Reardon, 2001). They insisted that for a divergent attitude to persist across culture, it must be transmitted across the
population through these means. As argued by Bandura (1986) behavior and attitudes are developed in part, by observing and
learning from others. This social learning can take place via one individual observing another, or via messages in the media
(Bandura, 1986). The implication of this is that to the extent that entrepreneurs are portrayed positively in the mass media,
and spoken of favorably by individuals in the society, such might likely have a positive influence on the beliefs, values and
attitudes toward entrepreneurship and vice versa. In support of this argument, Karayiannis (1993) reasoned and suggested
that social and cultural approval by the society contributes to the growth of entrepreneurial activity when the values of a
given society reward entrepreneurship while a disapproval of the concept impedes on this growth. Lastly, though, the
empirically supported evidence from the research by Ismail et al. (2002) uncovered that cultural predictor of appropriateness
significantly influence the decision to become seasoned entrepreneurs in Malaysia however, their research was limited to the
population of women entrepreneurs which leads us to the formulation of this first hypothesis.
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H 1a. Perceived appropriateness does not have any significant effect on student's entrepreneurial intentions.
According to De Pillis and Reardon (2001) positive portrayal of entrepreneurs in interpersonal and mass media
communication will positively predict the perceived self-image consistency of entrepreneurship. It is in their opinion that the
more positive, is a subject's' recollections of persuasive messages about entrepreneurship, the more likely they are to think of
themselves as potential entrepreneurs. As maintained by DeBono and Snyder (1985) individuals are motivated to live in a
situation which is in agreement with their values (perceived consistence). This implies that in so far, the concept of entre-
preneurship is in consonance with the personal value or self concept of an individual, he is likely to develop an intention to
become an entrepreneur. Also, Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) confirmed this by saying that when an element becomes central in
the personal identity of an individual, his/her behavioral intention becomes automatically adapted towards such element. In
the same vein, if Greenberger and Sexton (1988) were true in their observation, then an individual's personal identity is a
significant element of the intentions to create a company. While this concept of personal identity as been identified as one of
the most significant factors for entrepreneurial dynamics, Drucker (1985) however differs in their view by arguing that
entrepreneurship is a behavior and not a feature of character. To confirm or refute these submissions, we equally propose this
hypothesis.
Hypothesis 1b. Perceived consistence does not have any significant effect on entrepreneurial intentions.
Perceived effectiveness has been defined by Ismail, Ahmad & Yunus (2012) as the degree to which a potential entrepreneur
perceives that he/her involvement in entrepreneurial activities is likely to bring desired outcomes. Their position can be
better explained by adopting the hierarchy of needs theory by Abraham Maslow who identified five human needs, some of
which are inmate and inherited, while others are acquired or learned. According to Maslow (1943) man is a wanting animal in
that he does things because of his needs and directs his actions towards satisfying his needs. All of the needs are structured
into hierarchy and only once a lower level of need has been fully met, would a worker be motivated by the opportunity of
having the next need up in the hierarchy satisfied (Maslow, 1943). For example, a person who is dying of hunger will be
motivated to achieve a basic wage in order to buy food before worrying about having a secure job. Therefore, it means that as
long as a person is motivated, he will surely work hard and this will result into higher productivity (Maslow, 1943). By
following this theory, it will be reasonable to give a concesion that if a career in entrepreneurship is seen as an avenue through
which a particular desire can be met and satisfied by an individual, it is likely that such individual will choose to follow this
career path.
Furthermore, it is anticipated that the extent to which subjects recalled that a career in entrepreneurship is being por-
trayed positively in the mass media and spoken of favorably by significant individuals, would play an important part in
influencing attitudes toward entrepreneurship (De Pillis & Reardon, 2007). In other words, if a career in entrepreneurship is
communicated by the society as a befitting career, and the significant achievements by the people in this career line is
effectively communicated, such communication might likely act as a source of motivation for potential entrepreneurs and
thus, make them believe that a career in entrepreneurship would lead to the achievement of their inmate, inherited, or
learned goals, which will be translated into the intention for future entrepreneurial practices. However, this line of reasoning
is still a subject of academic debate and yet to be fully supported by substantial empirical evidence which brings us to the
need for the formulation of this hypothesis.
Hypothesis 1c. perceived effectiveness does not have any significant effect on entrepreneurial intentions.

2.5. Training/development and entrepreneurial intentions

According to Kimwolo, Saina, and Cheserek (2012) entrepreneurial training and development are those processes that
could enable individuals to acquire the necessary skill to save and to develop the confidence to explore viable business ideas
and market opportunities for their products or services. They are those sets of knowledge, skills, behaviors and attitudes that
contribute to personal effectiveness, and are very crucial to the survival and growth of small businesses (Hellriegel, Slocum,
Stuade, Klopper, Louw, & Oesthuizen, 2008). For Izquierdo and Muelins (2008) it is students' confidence in successfully
performing certain tasks such as identifying new business opportunities, creating new products, thinking creatively, and
commercializing an idea or new development. Following these definitions, the construct is defined in this study as the
compulsory training program, offered by the center for African entrepreneurship research, Bayero University Kano, to all
undergraduates’ students of the institution, which focuses on the development and promotion of entrepreneurial behavior
among the students.
According to Dyer (1994) early exposure to entrepreneurial training and education at pre-college level may be particularly
effective in increasing interest in entrepreneurial career. Gibb and Ritchie (1982) suggest family influence, education, training,
and perceived job opportunities as factors influencing the decision to become an entrepreneur. Similarly, Lee-Gosselin and
Grise (1990) opined that training and development play crucial role in intention to start business. They argued that par-
ents who train or coach their children from childhood on the values of hardworking, independence, and honesty are shaping
their entrepreneurial characteristics. Similarly, the submission by Zhao, Seibert , and Hills (2005) posits that previous research
has found that among other variables, perceptions of formal learning from entrepreneurship courses had the strongest
positive relationship with new start-up intentions through the mediation of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. This indicates that a
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sound training and education in the discipline of entrepreneurship will provide the much needed self confidence and beliefs
for venture creation and success which will be consequently translated to intentions for a start-up. This view was com-
plemented by Izquierdo and Buelens (2008) who contended that encouraging students to become active in their learning, and
giving them the opportunity to have hand on experience in realistic situations will enable them to learn for competency
building. They reasoned that offering them substantial amount of practice will enable them to get confidence in using the
acquired competencies in different situations including those associated with entrepreneurial related activities. Also,
Langowitz and Minnitti (2007) maintained that the propensity to start new businesses is positively related to alertness to
existing opportunities in addition to self-assessment of having adequate skills and knowledge. This assumption is however,
yet to be empirically tested particularly among the undergraduate students in this study. Hence to fill the identified vacuum,
this hypothesis is also put forward.
Hypothesis 2. Entrepreneurial training and development does not have any significant effect on entrepreneurship
intentions.

2.6. Theoretical considerations

According to Nwankwo et al. (2012) based on the assumption that the entrepreneurial process is consciously engaged in by
individuals, theories have been developed which explain what drives an individual to engage in this process. They posited
that these theories revolve around the notion that the entrepreneur first forms the intention to begin a business under the
influence of various socio-cultural constituents and then, if this intention is strong enough, the entrepreneur takes steps in
carrying out its actualization. For instance the anthropological theory of entrepreneurship by Bull and Willard (1993) posits
that cultural norms and beliefs can positively influence an individual's value system and help him to develop an entrepre-
neurial skill for economic vitality. Further, the theory holds that these cultural factors are however subject to personal skills
and ability to take decisions in a particular environment. From this theory we can deduce that the cultural value being held by
an individual, in conjunction with his/her skills and ability (which can be in form of entrepreneurial education) are essential
when the objective is developing intent for new venture creation.
Another theory that is relevant to the present study is the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980)
which suggests that attitudes towards a behavior (for instance, new venture creation) predict intentions and in turn predict
the actual behavior. Ajzer's model, based on the theory of planned behavior argues that intentions in general depend on
perception of personal attractiveness, social norms and feasibility. Hence, since the social norm prevalent in an environment
acts as a determinant of entrepreneurial intent, then one can reason that the intent to start a new venture is partly deter-
mined by culture since culture is a product of social norms. Other theory for instance Shapero and Sokol (1982) entrepre-
neurial event theory examined an individual's perceptions of feasibility and desirability to become an entrepreneur in
addition to his propensity to act as factors that can act as precursor to entrepreneurial intentions. The theory maintains that a
general sense of inertia guides an individual's behavior until a specific entrepreneurial event causes such inertia to be dis-
placed (Shapero & Sokol, 1982). Similar to Ajzen (1991) theory of planned behavior, it is of the notion that entrepreneurial
behavior is planned and intentional. It theory posits that beliefs, perceptions and assumptions are learned within the context
of a given environment and act as predictors of entrepreneurial intentions. Thus, by relating this theory to the issues under
consideration in this study, it is arguable that since beliefs, perception and assumptions are products of culture and educa-
tional information that is disseminated across the society, then culture and entrepreneurship training might tend to act as
predictors of entrepreneurship intention.

2.7. Conceptual framework

In the conceptual framework above, it is proposed that the construct of perceived appropriateness, perceived consistence
and perceived effectiveness are cultural predictors which in conjunction with the construct of entrepreneurial training, does
not exercise any significant effect on student's entrepreneurial intentions. (see Fig. 2).

3. Methodologies

3.1. Design/participants/sampling technique

Bergqvist and Esping (2003) are of the opinion that research designs are the procedural framework within which the
research is conducted. Research design guides the investigator as he collects analysis and interprets observation and makes it
possible to draw inferences for the purpose of generalization to a larger population (Nachmais & Nachmais, 1996). In this
research, we employ the cross-sectional survey design. In the view of Zikmund (2005) cross sectional survey is the best
method available to a researcher when the objective of his research is to sample the opinion or perception of his respondents
on issues of concern, at a particular point in time. This research seeks to determine the influence of cultural values and
entrepreneurial training on the intention of students to engage in future entrepreneurial practices and thus found the cross
sectional survey design most appropriate since the relevant research data were elicited from respondents in a single period of
time.
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Fig. 2. Proposed Model: Predicting the effect of cultural orientation and entrepreneurial training/development on Entrepreneurial Intentions based on review of
existing and related literature.

The population investigated in our study is the final year undergraduate students of the Bayero University, Kano who are
currently enrolled in the compulsory courses on entrepreneurship that is offered by the center for African entrepreneurship
research in the University. As at the time of conducting this study, the total population of the students in this category is five
thousand and ten (5010) and is adopted as the population of the study. The simple random technique, which according to
Zikmund (2005) is a sampling technique where there is a known, non zero chances of including the entire unit in the sample,
while every member of the population, has an equal chance of being selected, thus allowing for statistical inference to be
made, was adopted in picking three hundred and fifty seven students (357) out of this total population. The total sample size
for the research is determined by drawing inference from the work of Krejcie and Morgan (1970) which has been adopted by
the Universal Accreditation Board (2003) according to them, for a population that ranges from 5000 to an upward of 7499, a
sample size of 357 is appropriate. Hence this informs the decision of the researchers to employ the sample size reported
above.

3.2. The measures

A self administered and structured questionnaire that measures the three cultural predictors: perceived appropriateness,
perceived consistence, perceived effectiveness, the opinion of the students towards the courses on entrepreneurship that is
presently offered by the University, and the intentions of the students to engage in entrepreneurial venture in the nearest
future was employed in eliciting responses from the respondents. All the items were subjected to a pilot test among twenty
(20) students in a neighboring tertiary institution and were restructured and rephrased to be in line with their recom-
mendations in other to satisfy the assumption of validity and reliability. The items on perceived appropriateness, perceived
consistence and perceived effectiveness was adopted from the original work of De-Pillis and Reardon (2001); de Pillis and
DeWitt (2008), after necessary modification were made to allow for suitability to the environment in focus. Perceived
appropriateness consist of seven (7) items that asks such question as a career in entrepreneurship is an acceptable career in
my society, in this environment, entrepreneurs are looked up to as role models etc. It has a reliability coefficient Cronbach
Alpha of 0.837 and was revalidated to make it suitable for the Nigerian sample. Similarly, perceived consistency consists of six
(6) items and asks questions such as an entrepreneur is someone like me, and I am the entrepreneurial type. This instrument
has a reliability coefficient of 0.836 and was in addition, revalidated to suit the Nigerian sample. Perceived effectiveness was
measure by eight items which ranges from starting one's own business is an effective way to make a living, and if I can start
my own business then I can become whoever I want to become in the society. It has a reliability coefficient of 0.626, and was
also revalidated for suitability to the Nigerian sample.
Further, the items on student's attitude towards the school's entrepreneurship training program (ETP) was personally
adapted by the researcher after due consultation was obtained from academic experts and researchers in the area in focus. it
consist of eight questions that measures the opinion of the students regarding their satisfaction, perceived effectiveness of the
 A.A. Adekiya, F. Ibrahim / The International Journal of Management Education 14 (2016) 116e132 123

courses, professionalism of instructors, and the general learning environment. Lastly the dependent variable entrepreneurial
intentions, was measure by nine items that were adopted from the original work of Linan and Chen (2009) The EIQ focused on
the probability that the respondent will start a new business at some time in the future. It measures the core entrepreneurial
intention model events of becoming an entrepreneur. Items here consist of questions such as If I had the opportunity and
resources, I'd like to start a firm, I will make every effort to start and run my own firm etc. it has a reliability coefficient of
Cronbach Alpha 0.776 and was also revalidated to suit Nigerian sample. All items were presented in a form through which
respondents are expected to respond by showing their degree of agreement or disagreement on a five point Likert scale which
range from (1) strongly disagree (2) disagree (3) undecided (4) agree (5) strongly disagree. This range holds if the statements
are in positive form and it is reversed if it is a negative form.

3.3. Procedure

With the aid of the class representative of the final year students in this study, the researcher was able to create an
environment which fostered good rapport between the students and thus ensured their maximum cooperation. The ques-
tionnaires were distributed to the students few minutes before their lecture period. During the exercise that lasted for
30e35 min, instructions were given out for clarity purposes and after the exercise; the researcher collected the questionnaire
with the help of the class representatives before the commencement of lectures.

3.4. Statistics

After the retrieval of the questionnaires from the respondents, they were appropriately edited, coded, and serially
numbered for statistical analysis. The descriptive statistics such as mean, mode, median, and standard deviation, was
employed in processing section (A) of the questionnaire which asks questions on demographic profiles. In addition, the
inferential statistics such as Pearson r moment correlation and linear multiple regression were employed as tools of statistical
analysis for the section (B) where questions on the research main variables were asked. All data were processed by the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.

4. Results/findings

4.1. Feature of respondents

A total of 357 questionnaires were distributed to the participants and 310 questionnaires were recovered. Of the total 310
students, 24 already owned a business and as the research design is limited to the explanation of intentions, these students
were excluded from the sample. Further, 31 copies were discarded for improper completion and the final 255 copies were
used for the analysis thereby indicating a usable response rate of 71.4%.

4.2. Demographic characteristics of respondents

The respondents were classified on the basis of three demographic characteristics: gender, marital status and age. Ac-
cording to the analysis carried out, 172 or 67.5% are males while 83 or 32.5% are females. Furthermore, 172 or 67.5% of the
respondents are single, 76 or 29.8% are married, while 7 or 2.7% are divorced. Regarding the age of the respondents, it was
uncovered that 121 or 47.5% of are between the ages of 15e25 years, 114 or 44.7% are within the age range of 26e36 years, 16
or 6.3% are between 37 and 47 years old, while 4 or 1.6% are 48 years old and above.

4.3. Reliability of instrument

We evaluated the reliability of the five constructs by using Cronbach Alpha coefficient. As indicated by Sekaran (2008) a
Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.70 and above is considered reliable and acceptable. The result of the analysis is displayed
below in Table 1.

Table 1
The reliability statistics for the instrument employed in the study.

Cronbach alpha No of items

Perceived appropriateness 0.854 7
Perceived consistency 0.816 6
Perceived effectiveness 0.882 8
Training 0.907 8
Entrepreneurship intentions 0.911 8

Source: Field Survey, 2015.

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As evidenced by Table 1 the cronbach alpha for all the constructs is well above the 0.70 threshold recommended by
Sekaran (2008) hence it can be deduced that the study constructs, reasonably satisfies the assumption of reliability.

4.4. Descriptive statistics of major variables

According to Zikmund (2005) the descriptive procedure is useful for obtaining summary comparisons of approximately
normally distributed scale variables and for easily identifying unusual cases across those variables. To give a descriptive
outlook of the study constructs, a descriptive analysis of these constructs were carried out. The tables for the results are
presented below in Tables 2e7.
According to Table 2 above the mean average for the seven items for the construct of perceived appropriateness across
respondents is 3.58 which indicates that the respondents are moderately high in this construct.
In Table 3 above it is also revealed that the mean average for the six items that constitute the construct of perceived
consistence is 3.45 which indicate that respondents are moderately high in the perception that entrepreneurship is a good fit
with their self identity.
As displayed by Table 4 above, the mean average score for perceived effectiveness across items and respondents is 3.65
hence an indication that these respondents are moderately high in the perception that an endeavor in entrepreneurial
venture is capable of helping them to achieve desired goals.
According to the Table 5 above the mean average score for the suitability of entrepreneurial training to the demand of
respondents are displayed. As evidenced by the table, the mean score of this construct is 3.7 and implies that they are high in
the perception that the training program is suitable to their demand.
The Table 6 above indicates that the mean average score for the eight items on entrepreneurial intention among the
respondents is 3.76 and implies that they are well above average in this construct. Thus, to a large extent, the respondents
have the opinion that they will engage in entrepreneurial practices in the nearest future.
According to Jahanzeb, Fatima, and Khan (2011) large values of Skewness and Kurtosis indicate non-normality while
downward slides of such values indicate movements towards normality. As evidenced by Table 7 above, all the value on
Skewness and Kurtosis for the five constructs are within the range of below þ1 and 1 thereby indicating that the distri-
bution of score across respondents are neither tilted extremely to the right or left. Hence the assumption of normality in
distribution can be deduced to a large extent.

4.5. Pearson correlation of variables

Pearson's product moment correlation analysis was used to determine the nature (direct or inverse) and the degree of
association between and among variables while the multiple regressions were employed to determine the explanatory power
of the independent variables on the dependent variable. Pearson's correlation analysis was preferred for the former since in
the opinion of Zigmund (2005) it's a common measure of the relationships between numerical variables measured on likert
scale. The correlation matrix showing the strength of association among the variables is presented below in Table 8.
The table above displays a cross correlation coefficients of the major constructs in this study. As indicated by the table,
entrepreneurial intention is significantly and positively related to perceived appropriateness with correlation coefficient, put
at 0.640, p ¼ 0.01 (p < 0.01). Hence with this, we can conclude that a strong, significant and positive association exists be-
tween these two constructs. Further, the correlation coefficient between entrepreneurial intentions and perceived consis-
tence is 0.573, p ¼ 0.000, (p < 0.01). This also indicates that a strong and significant positive association exists between the
two variables. In other words, about 32.8% of the variance in entrepreneurial intentions across the students is associated with
the variance in perceived consistence among them. Similarly the correlation coefficient between entrepreneurial intention
and perceived effectiveness is 0.639, p ¼ 0.000, (p < 0.01) which implies a strong and positive association between the two
constructs. Put in another way, about 40% of the variance in entrepreneurial intention is associated with the variance in the
cultural predictor of perceived effectiveness. Lastly, a correlation coefficient of 0.739, p ¼ 0.000, (p < 0.01) was uncovered

Table 2
Descriptive statistics of perceived appropriateness.

S/ Items N Minimum Maximum Mean Standard

N deviation
1 A career in entrepreneurship is an acceptable career in my society 255 1.00 5.00 3.8 1.23722
2 Starting one own business is considered as appropriate by many in this society. 255 1.00 5.00 3.7765 1.24587
3 In this environment, entrepreneurs are looked up to as role models. 255 1.00 5.00 3.5098 1.39702
4 Being entrepreneurial, is absolutely consistent with the norm in my society 255 1.00 5.00 3.4196 1.21036
5 Entrepreneurs are held in high esteem by people in this society. 255 1.00 5.00 3.4941 1.23553
6 In this society, becoming self employed is more cherished than getting white collar job. 255 1.00 5.00 3.4588 1.36220
7 I believe I can make my parents, friend and spouse happy by choosing to be self employed after 255 1.00 5.00 3.6627 1.35884
graduation.

Mean Average 3.58.

Source: Field Survey, 2015.
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Table 3
Descriptive statistics of perceived consistence.

S/N Items N Minimum Maximum Mean Standard deviation

1 An entrepreneur is someone like me 255 1.00 5.00 3.3608 1.32631
2 Being entrepreneurial, is absolutely consistent with the norm in my society 255 1.00 5.00 3.2863 1.23611
3 I am the entrepreneurial type. 255 1.00 5.00 3.6275 1.21605
4 My personal characteristics and attributes reflects a good definition of entrepreneurship 255 1.00 5.00 3.5451 1.30600
5 For me my idea of a best friend is a successful entrepreneur 255 1.00 5.00 3.5333 1.30334
6 The genes that promotes entrepreneurship runs in my family 255 1.00 5.00 3.3804 1.21685

Mean Average: 3.65.

Source: Field Survey, 2015.

Table 4
Descriptive statistics of perceived effectiveness.

S/ Items N Minimum Maximum Mean Standard

N deviation
1 Starting one's own business is an effective way to make a living 255 1.00 5.00 3.8 1.26864
2 Starting a business is more rewarding than working for someone else 255 1.00 5.00 3.7922 1.29199
3 The best way to success is to be one's own boss. 255 1.00 5.00 3.6314 1.28797
4 Starting one's own business is an effective way to gain significant financial rewards 255 1.00 5.00 3.6863 1.27190
5 I believe I can achieve all my life time goals if I start my own business in the nearest future 255 1.00 5.00 3.7451 1.32277
6 For me working for someone is like wasting valuable talents in comparison to having one's own 255 1.00 5.00 3.4745 1.28220
business
7 If I can start my own business then I can become whoever I want to become in the society 255 1.00 5.00 3.7020 1.32116
8 The surest way to becoming a popular icon is starting a private business 255 1.00 5.00 3.4157 1.30103

Mean Average: 3.65.

Source: Field Survey, 2015.

Table 5
Descriptive statistics of entrepreneurial training.

S/ Items N Minimum Maximum Mean Standard

N deviation
1 I feel great to be part of the entrepreneurship training and development courses offered by this 255 1.00 5.00 3.8078 1.28220
University
2 This course is one of the best around here 255 1.00 5.00 3.6627 1.30866
3 I have learnt so much from this course on entrepreneurship development 255 1.00 5.00 3.7373 1.30625
4 With this course, my life will never be the same again. 255 1.00 5.00 3.6667 1.22742
5 The course instructors does everything to ensure that knowledge is adequately disseminated to 255 1.00 5.00 3.6549 1.17324
students
6 This course has equipped me with the necessary skills and expertise to start my own business 255 1.00 5.00 3.7412 1.19862
7 The introduction of entrepreneurship development courses in this University is highly 255 1.00 5.00 3.8431 1.19994
commendable
8 Overall I am satisfied with the entrepreneurship development courses in this University 255 1.00 5.00 3.6667 1.29910

Mean Average: 3.70.

Source: Field Survey, 2015.

Table 6
Descriptive statistics of entrepreneurship intention.

S/ Items N Minimum Maximum Mean Standard

N deviation
1 I am ready to make any form of sacrifice to become an entrepreneur 255 1.00 5.00 3.6941 1.25199
2 It is in my plan to start my own business within five years after graduating from the university 255 1.00 5.00 3.4980 1.24190
3 My professional goal is to become an entrepreneur 255 1.00 5.00 3.7412 1.22139
4 I will make every effort to start and run my own firm 255 1.00 5.00 3.7765 1.28630
5 I am determined to create a firm in the future 255 1.00 5.00 3.8471 1.23121
6 I have very seriously thought of starting a firm 255 1.00 5.00 3.8235 1.21516
7 I have the firm intention to start a firm some day 255 1.00 5.00 3.8627 1.09795
8 If I had the opportunity and resources, I'd like to start a firm 255 1.00 5.00 3.8745 1.19708
9 Among various options, I would rather be an entrepreneur

Mean Average: 3.76.

Source: Field Survey, 2015.
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Table 7
Statistics on skewness and kurtosis of major variables.

N Skewness Kurtosis

Statistic Statistic Std. error Statistic Std. error

Perceived appropriateness 255 0.677 0.153 0.222 0.304
Perceived consistency 255 0.414 0.153 0.081 0.304
Perceieved effectiveness 255 0.691 0.153 0.049 0.304
Training 255 0.855 0.153 0.083 0.304
Enterpreneuship intentions 255 0.811 0.153 0.181 0.304
255

Source: Field Survey, 2015.

Table 8
Correlation matrix of major variables.

1 2 3 4 5
1 Perceived appropriateness 1
N 255
2 Perceived consistence 665** 1
N 255 255
3 Perceived effectiveness 653** 0.563** 1
N 255 255 255
4 Entrepreneurial training 656** 0.510** 0.551** 1
N 255 255 255 255
5 Entrepreneurial intentions 640** 0.573** 0.639** 0.739** 1
N 255

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Source: Field Survey, 2015.

between entrepreneurial training and entrepreneurial intentions thereby indicating that those students who says that the
training program highly satisfies their demands and aspirations, equally tends to admit to having higher intention to engage
in future entrepreneurial behavior.

4.6. Regression analysis

According to Hair, Black, Babin, and Anderson (2010) among the major statistical assumptions that should be satisfied in
any multiple linear regression models are the assumption of collinenearity, linearity and homoscedasticity. These assump-
tions apply to the independent variables, dependent variable and to the relationship as a whole (Hair et al., 2010). To ensure
that the data set in this study are suitable for a multiple linear regression analysis, they are subjected to these tests. The results
of the tests are displayed below in Table 9 and Fig. 3.
Muticollinearity is a problem that arises in a regression model if some or all of the explanatory variables are highly
correlated with one another (Koop, 2005). In his opinion, if it is present, the model has difficulty in explaining which
explanatory variables are influencing the dependent variable. In Table 9 above, the collinearity statistics of the major variables
in this study are displayed. As opined by Cooper and Schindler (2003) a tolerance value that is less than 10% indicates the
presence of multicollinearity problem. As indicated by the table, the tolerance value of the four predictor variables are well
over 0.4 which indicates that over 40% of the variance in the dependent variable can be individually explained by each
predictor variable with the exception of others. Hence, it can be reasonably concluded that there is no serious multi-
collinearity problem in the model. Further, Cooper and Schindler (2003) pointed that a condition index that is greater than 30
indicates a serious multicollinearity problem. Thus, with the largest condition index value at just 15.989, one can imply the
absence of this problem. Lastly, with the submission that Eugen values less than 0.010 indicate a serious multicollinearity

Table 9
Statistics on tolerance, eugen value, and condition index.

Predictor variables Collinearity statistics

Tolerance Condition index Eugen value

Perceived appropriateness 0.415 10.832 0.042
Perceived consistence 0.452 12.310 0.032
Perceived effectiveness 0.421 14.403 0.024
Training 0.499 15.989 0.019
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Fig. 3. Normal P-P plot of regression standardized residual.

problem, since all the eugen values for the four variables is above 0.010, an absence of any serious multicollinearity problem
can be equally implied.
Homoscedasticity implies that the variance in the distribution of the dependent variable should be constant for all values
of the independent variable. As argued by Zigmund (2005) a data set is free from heteroscedasticity when there is no pattern
to the data distribution and residuals are scattered randomly around the horizontal line through zero of the residual plots. To
satisfy this assumption, the residual scores of the independent variable were examined through the normal p-p residual plot,
displayed in Fig. 3 above. As indicated by the table, the residual scores of the dependent variable are concentrated at the
center along zero (0) point along the diagonal line, thereby indicating that the model is free from any serious hetero-
scedasticity and that the assumption of homoscedasticity is satisfied to a large extent. Similarly, the assumption of linearity is
achieved when the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable is linear. In the opinion of Hair
et al. (2010) if the analysis of residual does not exhibit any non linear pattern to the residuals, it is assumed that the overall
equation is linear and can be examined through residual plot. In other word, the points should be symmetrically distributed
around a diagonal line in the p-p plot. Thus in the figure above, this assumption seems to be met in that the analysis of the
residual does not exhibit any non linear pattern.
Now that the assumption of multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity, and linearity has been satisfied, the nature of the
relationship between the independent and dependent variables can investigated in a more hypothetical way by subjecting
them to a linear multiple regression. The mathematical equation in any regression model is:
Yt ¼ b0 þ b1x1 þ b2x2 þ b3x3 þ b4x4 Where yt is the dependent variable i.e. entrepreneurial intentions, b0 is the intercept. It is
constant and will measure entrepreneurial intention when perceived appropriateness, perceived consistency, perceived
effectiveness and training are zero. x1, x2, x3 and x4 are the independent variables, they stand for perceived appropriateness,
perceived consistence, perceived effectiveness and entrepreneurial training where b1 b2 b3 and b4 are the slope coefficients
and they measure the change in dependent variable (Y) if there is a unit change in independents variables (x1, x2, x3 and x4).
Further, it is not expected that all the 255 responses will exactly on the straight line of the equation. This is because the

Table 10
Model summary.

Model R R square Adjusted R square Std. error of the estimate

1 0.785a 0.616 0.609 4.89954
a
Predictors: (Constant), TRAINING, PERCEIVED CONSISTENCY, PERCEIEVED EFFECTIVENESS, PERCEIVED APPROPRIATENESS.
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Table 11
ANOVA statistics of regression.

Model Sum of square Df Mean square F Sig

1 Regression 9610.375 4 2402.594 100.085 0.000
Residual 6001.366 250 24.005
Total 15611.741 254

a. Dependent Variable: ENTERPRENEUSHIP INTENTIONS.

b. Predictors: (Constant), TRAINING, PERCEIVED CONSISTENCY, PERCEIEVED EFFECTIVENESS, PERCEIVED APPROPRIATENESS.
Source: Field Survey, 2015.

research is based on sample selection which may encourage other extraneous factors to have influence on the result. This can
be seen from the statement of statistical model of the hypothesis in the equation below:
y ¼ b0 þ b1x1 þ b3x2 þ b4x3 þ e1 þ e2 þ e3 þ e4 where e1 þ e2 þ e3 þ e4 can be classified as disturbance, random variables,
stochastic or error term. This can cover all those factors that affect entrepreneurial intentions which are not taken into ac-
count explicitly. This equation represent linear model which says dependent variable (entrepreneurial intention) is linearly
related to the explanatory variables i.e. x1 þ x2 þ x3 þ x4 (perceived appropriateness, perceived consistency, perceived
effectiveness and training). We displayed the output from the linear multiple regression below in Tables 10e12.
In Tables 10e12 above, the table for the linear multiple regression analysis is displayed. As evidenced by the coefficient
statistics in this table, perceived appropriateness has a significant and positive effect on entrepreneurial intention at the 0.05
confidence level with T statistics at 2.384, p ¼ 0.018 (p < 0.05). Hence we reject the null hypothesis (1a) which proposed that
perceived appropriateness does not have any significant effect on entrepreneurial intention. In addition, the standardized
beta coefficient is 0.145 which implies that every unit or 100% increase in perceived appropriateness will lead to about 14.5%
increase in entrepreneurial intention. Thus, when a career in entrepreneurship is perceived by the respondents as an
appropriate career path, the intentions of the students to engage in future entrepreneurial Endeavors will become signifi-
cantly higher.
Second, it was discovered that perceived consistence has a positive but insignificant effect on entrepreneurial intention
with T statistics at 1.669, p ¼ 0.096 (p > 0.05) which makes us to accept the proposition by hypothesis (1b) that perceived
consistence does not have any significant effect on entrepreneurial intention. Though a beta coefficient of 0.097 is associated
with every unit increase in this construct however, such increase is insignificant. Thus, having an entrepreneurial self identity
seems not to be a condition for the respondents in this study to engage in future entrepreneurial activities.
Third, the table revealed that perceived effectiveness have a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial intention at
the 0.05 significant level with T statistics at 2.907, p ¼ 0.004 (p < 0.05). With such result, we can reject hypothesis 1(c) which
predicted that perceived effectiveness does not have any significant effect on entrepreneurial intention. Also, the stan-
dardized beta coefficient for these two constructs is 0.176 which implies that for every unit or 100% increase in perceived
effectiveness, there is an association of about 0.176 or 17.6% increase in entrepreneurial intention. In other words, if students
feel that their desires and life time aspiration can be achieved by being an entrepreneur; these feelings will tend to be
supported by a corresponding increase of an intention to engage in future entrepreneurial practices.
Lastly, the table revealed that training has a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial intention at the 0.01 sig-
nificant level with T statistics at 8.651 p ¼ 0.000 (p < 0.01) thereby implying a rejection of hypothesis (2) which predicted an
absence of any significant relationship between the two constructs. Put in another way, the act of training and development in
entrepreneurial practices has been uncovered as a precursor to student's entrepreneurial intention. With the beta value of
0.480 uncovered between the two variables, it can be projected that every unit or 100% increase in entrepreneurship training
will lead to about 0.480 or 48% increase in entrepreneurial intention. Thus, schools can improve the intention of students to
engage in future entrepreneurial venture by focusing on improving the quality of training facilities and class-room
instructors.
Further, the R2 value of 0.616 that is displayed in Table 10 indicate that about 61.6% of the variance in entrepreneurial
intention is collectively predicted by the independent variables. Hence the model can be said to have done a good job in
predicting entrepreneurial intention among the students in this study. Finally, the ANOVA table in 11 shows a large and
significant F statistics indicating a highly significant relationship between the independent variables on one side and the
dependent variable on the other side.

4.7. Discussion

The objectives of this study are based on the development of four hypotheses. Three cultural predictors/dimensions:
perceived appropriateness, perceived consistence, perceived effectiveness and entrepreneurial training and development
were identified and proposed as constructs which exercise no significant effect on entrepreneurial intention among the
students in the study. The first hypothesis which proposed that there is no significant relationship between perceived
appropriateness and entrepreneurial intentions was rejected due to the positive and significant relationship that was un-
covered between these two constructs. In other words, the intention for future entrepreneurial activities can be promoted by
 A.A. Adekiya, F. Ibrahim / The International Journal of Management Education 14 (2016) 116e132 129

Table 12
Regression coefficients.

Model Unstandardized Standardized coefficients t Sig.

coefficients

B Std. error Beta

1 (Constant) 4.235 1.359 3.117 0.002
PERCEIVED APPROPRIATENESS 0.172 0.072 0.145 2.384 0.018
PERCEIVED CONSISTENCY 0.134 0.081 0.097 1.669 0.096
PERCEIEVED EFFECTIVENESS 0.172 0.059 0.176 2.907 0.004
TRAINING 0.469 0.054 0.480 8.651 0.000

a. Dependent Variable: ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS.

Source: Field Survey, 2015.

disseminating information that will encourage students to imbibe the attitude that a career in entrepreneurship is an
acceptable and appropriate career path to embrace after graduation. This finding seems to agree with the submission by
Karayiannis (1993) who suggested that social and cultural approval by the society can contributes to the growth of entre-
preneurial activity when the values of a given society reward entrepreneurship while disapproval impedes it. Empirically, it is
in line with the research by Ismail et al. (2002) where it was uncovered that the perception of entrepreneurship appropri-
ateness significantly influenced entrepreneurial intention among 170 selected Malaysian entrepreneurs.
Similarly, the second hypothesis which says there is no significant relationship between perceived effectiveness and
entrepreneurial intentions was also rejected due to the positive and significant relationship that was uncovered between the
perception that a career in entrepreneurship can be employed in achieving a desired goals on one side, and the tendency to
engage in future entrepreneurial activities, on the other side, among the students in this study. In other words, the students
will have a tendency towards a significant entrepreneurial intention if they have the opinion that an involvement in this
practice is capable of giving them their most important goals and aspirations. This finding is in coherence with the reasoning
behind Abraham Maslow theory of needs which pointed that in so far that an individual have the beliefs that his involvement
in certain task can lead to the satisfaction of an immediate needs, he is more likely to be involved in the task in order to satisfy
the pending needs. Thus, if students are made to believe through information dissemination and classroom instructions that
an engagement in entrepreneurial activities can make provision for career success, they are likely to develop an intention for
entrepreneurial activities after graduation.
Divergently, the students with a higher level of perceived consistence did not exhibit any significant tendency to engage in
future entrepreneurial endeavor when compared to their counterparts who are lower in the construct. This implies the
acceptance of the third hypothesis which says that a significant relationship does not exist between perceived consistence
and entrepreneurial intentions. Thus, having the self schema or mind-set of an entrepreneur will not lead to any significant
entrepreneurial intention. While this finding is in line with the observation by Drucker (1985) who pointed that entrepre-
neurship is a behavior and not a feature of character, it is in absolute contrast with the cross cultural sample study by De Pillis
and Reardon (2007) where it was empirically uncovered that there is a meaning linear and significant relationship between
the two constructs. Moreover, our finding might not be unconnected with the collectivist orientation prevalent among the
individuals in the society under focus in this study, which ascribes more importance to decision making on the basis of
societal/group consideration as against self beliefs or individual consent.
Further, it was discovered that the entrepreneurship training program being offered by the institution exert a significant
effect on the tendency of the students to engage in future entrepreneurial intentions. Put in another way, the third hypothesis
which predicted that a significant relationship does not exist between these two constructs is hereby rejected. This is in
consistence with the submission by Zhao, Seibert, and Hills (2005) where it was noted that previous research has found that
among other variables, perceptions of formal learning from entrepreneurship related courses had the strongest positive
relationship with new start-up intentions. It is also in consonance with the argument by Lee-Gosselin and Grise (1990) where
it was indicated that training and development play crucial role in intention for new venture creation.
Finally, it is noteworthy that among the three identified precursors of entrepreneurial intention in this study, training has
the highest beta coefficient at 0.480 and closely followed by perceived effectiveness which has a beta coefficient of 0.176. Also,
perceived appropriateness has a beta value of 0.145. Thus, having the necessary socio cultural factors that support entre-
preneurship appropriateness and effectiveness: mass media, group influence and institutional policies, without the
involvement of students in those training and education that fosters careers in entrepreneurship might not translate into a
desired level of entrepreneurial intentions.

5. Conclusion/implication

Following the review of literature, the data analysis and testing of hypothesis, we henceforth arrive at these conclusions:
perceived appropriateness, perceived effectiveness and entrepreneurial training can be used as a precursor to student's
entrepreneurial intention. For instance if perceived appropriateness is encouraged by ensuring that the prevailing social-
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cultural norm in the society is such that gives recognition and credence to entrepreneurship as an appropriate career, such
will translate into a favorable attitude towards entrepreneurial endeavor and will consequently lead to entrepreneurial
intention and behavior. Regarding perceived effectiveness, if students are made to believe that a career in entrepreneurship
can give them the impetus for self fulfillment, this belief is likely to be translated into a significant intention to engage in
entrepreneurial venture after graduation. In addition, if qualitative and efficient manpower and material resources are made
available to aid in facilitating the entrepreneurship training and development program that is being offered by Universities,
such gesture will help in equipping students with the knowledge of the benefits associated with a career in entrepreneurship
in addition to aiding in improving their self efficacy, by giving them the required technical and managerial skills that is needed
to survive as an entrepreneur which will consequently lead to a favorable attitudinal disposition towards private ownership of
business and an intention to engage in such task.

6. Recommendations

 Regarding perceived appropriateness, efforts should be made to initiate and implement a national orientation program
that favors engagement in entrepreneurship career. Specifically, messages that promote the perception of entrepre-
neurship as an acceptable career option should be encouraged and disseminated on consistent basis through the mass
media, social networks, educational institutions, family units and religious institutions. In addition, successful entrepre-
neurs should be given due recognition and projected as role model. Thus, it is anticipated that this will lead to a national
re-orientation, attitude change and a drift towards a culture that favors entrepreneurial practices.
 Regarding perceived effectiveness, various means of information dissemination such as newspapers, public enlightenment
campaigns, television, mobile telecommunication and social network should be employed to educate students on the
viability of careers in entrepreneurship when the objective is getting to important positions in the society. The success
story of renowned entrepreneurs world-wide should be disseminated across this segment for their learning benefits, and
as a source of motivation to enhance their personal entrepreneurial ambitions. It is anticipated that if the prevailing
cultural orientation is such that a career in entrepreneurship can lead to the achievement of great success, this will
translate into a drive to engage in future entrepreneurial endeavors.
 Regarding entrepreneurial training, school management should ensure that provisions are made to acquire efficient and
capable instructors who have the ability to equip the students with the necessary knowledge and technical/managerial
skills to achieve entrepreneurial success. Also, an ability for better understanding of the cultural variation among the
students, coupled with the knowledge on how to influence these diverse cultural values to achieve an entrepreneurial
driven orientation among them, should serve as a criterion when carrying out recruitment exercise for these instructors.
 Overall, we recommend that appropriate intangible infrastructures such as favorable lending policies, social capital,
supportive legal framework, coupled with tangible assets such as electricity, good road network should be made available
to further enhance the interest of students on the intention to start and build an owned business rather than seeking for
non-readily available white collar jobs.

7. Suggestion for further research

Theoretically, it has been argued by Zhao, Seibert, and Hills (2005) that the relationship between the constructs of
entrepreneurship training and development on one side, and that of an intention for future entrepreneurial practices on the
other side is indirect, and borders on the presence of the mediating power of self efficacy. Hence, it is suggested that an
important area of study for potential researchers will be the determination of the mediating nature of the later in this
relationship.

Acknowledgement

An appreciation is extended to the Center for African Entrepreneurship Studies and Research, Bayero University, Kano for
partaking in the funding of this research in addition to ensuring that research questionnaire was properly administered on the
students who are respondent of the research.

Appendix

1 Please indicate your sex.

(A) Male [ ] (B) Female [ ]
2 Please indicate your marital status.
(A) Single [ ] (B) Married [ ] (C) Divorced [ ]
3 Please indicate your age range (A) 15e25yrs [ ] (B) 26e36yrs [ ] (C) 37e47yrs [ ] (D) 48yrs and above [ ]
 A.A. Adekiya, F. Ibrahim / The International Journal of Management Education 14 (2016) 116e132 131

S/ Statement Strongly Disagree Not Agree Strongly

N disagree sure agree
5 Perceived appropriateness
a. A career in entrepreneurship is an acceptable career in my society
b. Starting one own business is considered as appropriate by many in this society.
c. In this environment, entrepreneurs are looked up to as role models.
d. Being entrepreneurial, is absolutely consistent with the norm in my society
e. Entrepreneurs are held in high esteem by people in this society
f. In this society, becoming self employed is more cherished than getting white collar job.
g. I believe I can make my parents, friend and spouse happy by choosing to be self employed
after graduation.
6 Perceived consistence
a. An entrepreneur is someone like me
b. People from my country are very entrepreneurial.
c. I am the entrepreneurial type.
d. My personal characteristics and attributes reflects a good definition of entrepreneurship
e. For me my idea of a best friend is a successful entrepreneur
f. The genes that promotes entrepreneurship runs in my family
7 Perceived effectiveness
a. Starting one's own business is an effective way to make a living.
b. Starting a business is more rewarding than working for someone else
c. The best way to success is to be one's own boss.
d. Starting one's own business is an effective way to gain significant financial rewards
e. I believe I can achieve all my life time goals if I start my own business in the nearest future
f. For me working for someone is like wasting valuable talents in comparison to having one's
own business.
g. If I can start my own business then I can become whoever I want to become in the society
h. The surest way to becoming a popular icon is starting a private business
8 Entrepreneurship training
a. I feel great to be part of the entrepreneurship training and development courses offered by
this University
b. This course is one of the best around here
c. I have learnt so much from this course on entrepreneurship development
d. With this course, my life will never be the same again.
e. The course instructors does everything to ensure that knowledge is adequately disseminated
to students
f. This course has equipped me with the necessary skills and expertise to start my own business
g. The introduction of entrepreneurship development courses in this University is highly
commendable
h. Overall I am satisfied with the entrepreneurship development courses in this University.
9 Entrepreneurship intention
a. I am ready to make any form of sacrifice to become an entrepreneur
b. It is in my plan to start my own business within five years after graduating from the university
c. My professional goal is to become an entrepreneur
d. I will make every effort to start and run my own firm
e. I am determined to create a firm in the future
f. I have very seriously thought of starting a firm
g. I have the firm intention to start a private business some day
h. If I had the opportunity and resources, I'd like to start a firm
I. Among various options, I would rather be an entrepreneur

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