INFLUENCE OF GENDER AND PARENTAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP STATUS ON THE ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS OF BUSINESS EDUCATION UNDERGRADUATES IN SOUTH-WEST, NIGERIA

This study examined the influence of gender and parental entrepreneurship status on the entrepreneurial intentions of business education undergraduates in South-West Nigeria. To accomplish the primary objective of the study, two purposes, two research questions and two hypotheses were put forward to provide direction for the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The populations of the study consist of 1,282 undergraduate students studying business education at 400 from six universities in South-West. A group of 642 undergraduate students were chosen from six universities in South-West, Nigeria as sample. The selection process utilized proportionate sampling technique. Data were collected by administering a-30 item questionnaire titled "Questionnaire on the Influence of gender and parental entrepreneurship status on Entrepreneurial Intention of Business Education Undergraduates (QIGPESEIBEU)." Three experts from the Department of Business and Entrepreneurship Education, Kwara State University, Malete, Kwara State, scrutinized the questionnaire to confirm its face and content validity. Cronbach Alpha reliability technique was employed to validate the internal consistency of the instrument. The analysis produced reliability coefficient of 0.80. Data were analysed using mean, standard deviation, and t-test statistics. The research questions were answered employing mean and standard deviation. Hypotheses were tested using t-test at a significance level of 0.05. The findings of the study revealed that there was no influence of gender on the entrepreneurial intention of business education undergraduate, there was no influence of parental entrepreneurial status on entrepreneurial intentions of business education undergraduates, and there was no significant difference on the entrepreneurial intention of business education undergraduates based on gender and parental entrepreneurial status. Based on the findings, it was recommended that educators and successful entrepreneurs should teach young entrepreneurs not to be gender biased when embarking on or pursuing business aspirations. Government policies and institutions should also encourage equity in gender performance in entrepreneurship.