INTERNSHIP AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS ENTREPRENEURSHIP: STUDY OFFEDERAL UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

Abstract

Skill acquisition in entrepreneurship is a derivative of entrepreneurial learning which promotes functional
unemployment reduction through university education. However, universities have turned to producers of
unemployed graduates instead of job creators in the face of high rate of global unemployment. This is due to the
exhibition of negative attitude towards entrepreneurship which originated from low exposure to internship. This
study investigated the effect of internship on attitude towards entrepreneurship among students of Federal
universities in South-West, Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design. The population comprised
24,282 four hundred level undergraduates in six (6) Federal Universities in South-West, Nigeria. The sample
size of 1,673 was obtained using Krejcie and Morgan formula. Stratified random sampling technique was
adopted in selecting the respondents. A validated structured questionnaire with Cronbach’s alpha reliability
coefficients for the constructs ranging from 0.73 to 0.95 was employed in the study. Data were analyzed using
descriptive and inferential (Linear) statistics. Findings revealed that internship had a significant effect on
attitude towards entrepreneurship skill acquisition (R
2 = 0.194, t(1671) =20.043, β = 0.829, p<0.05). The study
concluded that positive attitude towards entrepreneurshipwas promoted through internship. The study suggest
that government, academia and the society should focus on measures that would promote undergraduates’
internship and the use of appropriate pedagogy in teaching entrepreneurship.