Thesis Abstract

Abstract
Entrepreneurship has increasingly become a vital aspect of economic development globally, and Nigeria is no exception. This research project aims to explore the determinants of entrepreneurship among graduates in Nigeria. The study will focus on identifying the factors that influence graduates' decisions to venture into entrepreneurship rather than seek traditional employment opportunities. The research will employ a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys with qualitative interviews to gather comprehensive data. The quantitative surveys will target a diverse sample of recent graduates across various disciplines and institutions in Nigeria. These surveys will assess factors such as personal motivation, access to resources, educational background, and perceived barriers to entrepreneurship. In parallel, qualitative interviews will be conducted with successful graduate entrepreneurs to gain insights into their experiences, challenges faced, and strategies employed to establish and grow their businesses. These interviews will provide a nuanced understanding of the personal and external factors that have contributed to their entrepreneurial success. The data collected will be analyzed using statistical tools and thematic analysis to identify key determinants of entrepreneurship among graduates in Nigeria. The findings will contribute to the existing body of knowledge on entrepreneurship and provide valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and aspiring entrepreneurs. This research project is significant as it addresses a gap in the current literature on entrepreneurship in Nigeria, particularly focusing on graduates. By understanding the determinants of entrepreneurship among this demographic, stakeholders can develop targeted interventions to support and promote entrepreneurial activities among graduates. Overall, this study aims to shed light on the factors that drive graduates in Nigeria to pursue entrepreneurship, offering valuable insights for fostering a more vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. By identifying and understanding these determinants, policymakers and educators can better support and empower the next generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs, ultimately contributing to economic growth and job creation in the region.

Thesis Overview

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In recent years, entrepreneurship education has been developing steadily but unevenly in most countries. In the United State for example, which has been a trailblazer and leader in the field, the last decade has been described as an important era, with a significant increase in student interest (Fiet 2001a) the figure tend to support this statement.

In 1971, only 16 colleges and universities in U.S. offered entrepreneurship education program, while today, there are more than 800.

Entrepreneurship is an under search topic in the social sciences and especially in economics. It was not always so, Schumpeter discusses the role of the entrepreneurship in the process of economic development at length. He imagine the entrepreneur as a creative driven individual who find new combination of factors of production” to discover and develop a new product, to apply strategy for a new market or design a new technology.

The United States have a comparatively long tradition of fostering entrepreneurs at universities and business schools. While the first entrepreneurship courses were taught at Harvard Business School as early as the 1930s, this field has seen increasing attention since the 1970s. By 1990, 400 universities in America were already estimates exceed 700 (Vesper and Macmillan 1988: Hills and Morris 1988, Fiet 2001) progress in this field has thus been extremely impressive.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Throughout the world, student in entrepreneurship as a career choice is growing Brenneret 1991, Hart et Harrison, 1992, while interest in traditional professional employment in big business is gradually declining (Kovereld 1996), the orientation and behaviours of student and young graduates are influenced by a number of personal and environmental factors.

Under uncertainly, out came may be characterized by an expected value which summarizes the potential out comes of the probability of their occurring. Business profits are typically an uncertain function of the work effort extended by the entrepreneur, with an expected profit level for each effort level surrounded by a variance of profit outcomes due to the impact of unexpected changed in consumer preferences competition price and product offerings, macro-economic variables and so on.

This profit variance introduces the role that additional remuneration for that effort profit variance is considered by potential entrepreneurs who asses stability (certainty of ensuring a pay check every month avoiding rise, maintaining current life style) before making a decision to set up a new venture (Amit, et al 1996) given the myriad of factors that surrounds the decision making frame of a young Nigeria graduate who intends to put a career in entrepreneur, it is imperative that answers be found to the following questions. What are the attitudes influences, their intention toward becoming entrepreneurs? What are the subjective norms underlying their intention of becoming entrepreneur? What control beliefs influence their intentions