“Gender differences in entrepreneurial interest and practice among
undergraduate students in Nigeria”
Caleb Adelowo
AUTHORS
Yusuf Akinwale
ARTICLE INFO
Caleb Adelowo and Yusuf Akinwale (2023). Gender differences in
entrepreneurial interest and practice among undergraduate students in Nigeria.
Problems and Perspectives in Management, 21(2), 482-492.
doi:10.21511/ppm.21(2).2023.45
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.21(2).2023.45
RELEASED ON
Monday, 12 June 2023
RECEIVED ON
Wednesday, 01 March 2023
ACCEPTED ON
Thursday, 11 May 2023
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"Problems and Perspectives in Management"
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1727-7051
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© The author(s) 2023. This publication is an open access article.
businessperspectives.org
Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2023
Caleb Adelowo (South Africa), Yusuf Akinwale (Saudi Arabia)
BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES
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Gender differences in
entrepreneurial interest
and practice among
undergraduate students
in Nigeria
Abstract
Received on: 1st of March, 2023
Accepted on: 11th of May, 2023
Published on: 12th of June, 2023
© Caleb Adelowo, Yusuf Akinwale,
2023
Caleb Adelowo, Ph.D., Postdoctoral
Research Fellow, Department of
Management, Faculty of Economic
and Management Sciences, NorthWest University, South Africa.
(Corresponding author)
Yusuf Akinwale, Ph.D., Associate
Professor, Department of Economics,
College of Business Administration,
Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal
University, Saudi Arabia.
The economic turbulence in the last two decades and the Covid-19 pandemic have
impaired several economies, heightened unemployment, and worsened job loss and
socio-economic hardships. Promoting entrepreneurship inclusiveness has become
a critical strategy to revamp the economy. Meanwhile, the global economy has been
projected to grow faster with an increase in women entrepreneurs. However, there
seems to be a gender gap and differential in start-ups, which draws down women’s
inclusion in the business environment. This study examines the gender differential in
entrepreneurial interest and practice among 12,485 university students in Nigeria. The
results reveal that 88% of male and 84% of female students want to start their own businesses. Both males (66%) and females (65%) reported high entrepreneurial interest,
with no statistically significant difference between both genders. The logistic regression analysis shows that entrepreneurship education, relational support, risk-taking,
self-efficacy, university ecosystem, and attitudes toward behavior are the main drivers
of entrepreneurial interest among male and female students. However, the university
ecosystem is found to not significantly affect entrepreneurial interest among male students. Similarly, all factors except for the university ecosystem significantly influence
entrepreneurial practice among male and female students. However, relational support
is not statistically significant for female students. The study concludes with appropriate policy suggestions that could improve and sustain entrepreneurship interest and
practice in both male and female students.
Keywords
gender, entrepreneurial interest, undergraduate students,
female entrepreneurship, Nigeria
JEL Classification
L26, J16, A22, I24
INTRODUCTION
This is an Open Access article,
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International license, which permits
unrestricted re-use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided
the original work is properly cited.
Conflict of interest statement:
Author(s) reported no conflict of interest
482
Entrepreneurship has been a conduit of global development in the last
few decades (Bergner et al., 2021; Alene, 2020). This has brought much
attention from academia and practice professionals in an ever-dynamic, innovative, and increasingly changing business environment
(Schumpeter, 1942). Therefore, entrepreneurial intention is recognized
as a critical determinant of entrepreneurial activity (Kong & Choo,
2022; Ajzen, 2011; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). Entrepreneurship has
been male-dominated for many decades until recent times (Muntean
& Ozkazanc-Pan, 2015). Women account for approximately half of the
working-age population, yet they are underrepresented in virtually all
fields of the economy (Strawser et al., 2021). Meanwhile, if these narratives were changed by appropriate policy and a sound enabling environment for women, they could contribute approximately USD 28
trillion to the global GDP by 2025 (Desjardins, 2018). According to the
2016/2017 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report, the gap in
the rate of female entrepreneurship in developed economies remains
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Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2023
wide, while that of developing economies is closing up due to a large number of women establishing and
thriving in necessity-driven ventures (Kelley et al., 2017).
The rate at which female-owned businesses close down is higher (Strawser et al., 2021), and there are almost no female entrepreneurs in digital and technology businesses (OECD/The European Commission,
2019). This could be attributed to the constraints that deprived women of their maximum potential to
launch their businesses, such as the required skills, access to finance, socio-economic factors, cultural,
mentorship, and networking, among others (Ogundana et al., 2021; OECD/The European Commission,
2019). Social norms and perceptions of families greatly influence female entrepreneurship opportunities. However, a more enabling environment could support female-owned businesses to grow in many
less-developed countries (Ogundana et al., 2021).
While an increased number of women started their own businesses in 2021/2022 compared to 2019,
there is still a gender gap as women globally represent one in every three established business owners
(Macmillan & Rajewski, 2021). Besides human capital diversity in the entrepreneurial process, promoting female entrepreneurship and women’s businesses reduces unemployment and contributes to
inclusive economic growth (Rietveld & Patel, 2022; Hechavarria et al., 2019). The young generations of
males and females have been recognized as the future of any country; therefore, innovative and entrepreneurial-minded youth would likely create wealth and sustainable businesses (Akinwale & Adelowo,
2022; Mahadea et al., 2011).
Hence, developing the entrepreneurial capabilities of female students is likely to boost the establishment
of sustainable businesses (Akinwale, 2018). There is a need to unpack specific factors, such as social norms,
self-efficacy, training, and entrepreneurship education, that drive entrepreneurial interest and practice in
both female and male students to determine appropriate policy intervention that could foster female entrepreneurship (Kong & Choo, 2022; Tsyganova & Shirokova, 2010; Yordanova & Tarrazon, 2010).
1. LITERATURE REVIEW
Entrepreneurship has been recognized as an important mechanism for injecting innovation, productivity, and growth into the national economy
(Akinwale, 2018). Entrepreneurship fuels economic growth through the creation and acceleration of
new business start-ups and jobs and improvement
in national competitiveness (WIPO et al., 2022).
Governments and policymakers across the globe
are constantly reviewing and revising their policy strategies to improve entrepreneurship ecosystems and further harness their economic potential.
For instance, the introduction of entrepreneurship
education in the tertiary education system was
born out of the understanding that when young
people in universities and colleges are exposed to
the nitty-gritty of entrepreneurship, the likelihood
of career choice in self-employment will improve
(Olofinyehun et al., 2018). Therefore, entrepreneurship education has become one of the main
processes of instilling entrepreneurial mindsets in
students.
http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.21(2).2023.45
Also, attention has been paid to the establishment
of entrepreneurship infrastructures such as business incubators, science parks, accelerators, and,
more recently, co-working spaces and technology
hubs to speed up venture creation among youth
(Olofinyehun et al., 2018). A recent analysis of venture capital across the globe also shows an upsurge
in this investment in both developed and developing countries, and more importantly, in countries
where none existed in the last decade (WIPO et
al., 2022). Countries now attach more seriousness
to virile entrepreneurship ecosystems in addressing devastating global problems, such as unemployment and global warming. All countries need
more entrepreneurs to bounce back better after
the debilitating effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, governments need to ensure that the
policy environment is suitable and inclusive for
both male and female gender to exploit available
entrepreneurial opportunities. For this to happen,
government interventions must be inclusive, considering critical factors that spur entrepreneurial
spirit in males and females.
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Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2023
Studies have shown that males are naturally more
inclined to entrepreneurship than their female
counterparts (Thebaud, 2015; Liñán & Fayolle, 2015;
Olofinyehun et al., 2018). A recent global university
entrepreneurial spirit student survey reveals a wide
gender gap among the surveyed participants as the
intentional, nascent, and active entrepreneurs are
smaller among females (Sieger et al., 2021). A study
conducted among 1400 university students in Spain
shows that women are less likely to start an entrepreneurial business due to their fear of failure (Sánchez
Cañizares & Fuentes García, 2010). Meanwhile, female participation in entrepreneurship or economic activities has been perceived as a great economic
gain for any nation, mainly because women’s workforce share was responsible for 11% of America’s
GDP in 2012 (Kauffman Foundation, 2015). The
cultural shift in the Arab countries, where women
are now allowed to work or pursue entrepreneurial ventures, clearly recognizes women’s potential
in economic development. Kauffman Foundation
(2015) also reported that despite women’s readiness
to engage in economic activities, their participation
as entrepreneurs was uneven, indicating that fewer
women become entrepreneurs and their potential
contributions to job creation, innovation, and economic growth became unrealized.
To create a critical pool of quality entrepreneurs in
sub-Saharan Africa, government and development
planners should pay adequate attention to gender
equality in their interventions for maximum socio-economic benefits. Although some of the factors
that put women at a disadvantage when it comes to
entrepreneurship have been studied in both developed and developing countries, which include cultural tendencies, roles, societal bias, inadequate access
to business mentorship and capital, and masculinity
perception of entrepreneurship (De Vita et al., 2014;
Thebaud, 2015; Liñán & Fayolle, 2015; Kauffman
Foundation, 2015; Moreira et al., 2019). However, the
gender difference in factors influencing entrepreneurial intention and practice among undergraduates in universities remains largely underexplored.
control (Ajzen, 1991, 2011). These factors and others
have been studied extensively in recent times to provide a better understanding of how entrepreneurship
behaviors could be developed and sustained among
undergraduates in Nigeria (Olofinyehun et al., 2018).
The perception of national support for male and female entrepreneurship in developing countries differs significantly when the number of females in
public positions is critically assessed. For instance,
while some state governors in Nigeria have women
as deputies, the country has not had a female vice
president. That said, in the National Assembly, where
laws are legislated and critical national decisions are
taken, only some females are elected to the Chamber
to make decisions, even though women constitute
about 50% of the national population (NACETEM,
2021). This shows the need to design an appropriate
gender framework that could allow females to aspire
and attain their full potential in any field of endeavor.
Although there are few successful female entrepreneurs in Nigeria, including those participating in oil
and gas, information and communication technologies (ICTs), agriculture, and other critical economic
sectors, they are always outnumbered by their male
counterparts considering some of the challenges
they face as women (De Vita et al., 2014; Thebaud,
2015; Kauffman Foundation, 2015; Moreira et al.,
2019). Critically, motherhood is an essential factor
that limits the potential of women entrepreneurs,
particularly in developing countries where they
need to cater to the children and the family. In most
cases where they engage in entrepreneurial activities, it is mostly in a flexible way to accommodate
family commitments (Institute for Women’s Policy
Research, 2016). Therefore, the motherhood mindset
and gender roles tend to dictate the breath of women
in entrepreneurship.
To address the challenges going forward, particularly
among undergraduates, providing appropriate motivation for young women to stimulate and sustain
their interest in entrepreneurship requires that crucial determinants of entrepreneurial propensity are
unpacked, and appropriate interventions are provided. Moreover, establishing the differences in key deEntrepreneurial intention is a precursor to entrepre- terminants of the entrepreneurial propensity among
neurial behavior, considering the Ajzen theory of male and female university students is useful to help
planned behavior and the theory of reasoned action design appropriate evidence-informed interventions
(Ajzen, 2011). Intention or behavior is driven by sev- needed to improve their chances of becoming entreeral factors, particularly individual perception of the preneurs. Earlier studies have shown that Nigerian
behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral undergraduates engage in entrepreneurial activities
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Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2023
in school (Olofinyehun et al., 2018). However, the
data were not gender disaggregated to see the proportion of females concerned. A recent survey of
entrepreneurial spirit among students in fifty-eight
nations also shows that the gender gap persists, as
more males indicate higher intentional, nascent, and
active entrepreneurial propensity than their female
counterparts (Sieger et al., 2021).
Yordanova and Tarrazon (2010) assessed the effects
of gender on entrepreneurial intentions by highlighting the cause of the gender gap in entrepreneurial intentions among Bulgarian university students. The
results revealed that women have lower entrepreneurial intentions than men. In addition to this, the
gender effect on entrepreneurial intentions is mediated by perceived behavioral control and partially mediated by perceived subjective norms and attitudes
toward entrepreneurship (Yordanova & Tarrazon,
2010). Thus, appropriate policy actions to encourage female start-ups should be directed at attitudes,
subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and
the link between entrepreneurial intentions and behavior among women. To address specific gender-related issues in the policy, clear evidence is required.
Therefore, this study aims to provide information on
entrepreneurial interest and practice and their correlates along the gender dimensions in Nigeria.
(NUC) to ingrain entrepreneurship mindset and
culture in students to stimulate their potential
for start-up creation. In addition, the government
proposed to use the policy to turn students into
job creators after graduation rather than job seekers. The curriculum is in two parts: theory and
practice; both have moved beyond optional and
elective courses to compulsory ones. To strengthen and appropriately coordinate the teaching of
the course in all tertiary institutions, each university now has a Centre for Entrepreneurship
Development (CED). These centers and stakeholders in the education sector are responsible for reviewing the entrepreneurship curriculum, selecting faculties for facilitating the course, and organizing practical sessions in diverse areas.
Earlier studies have established that entrepreneurship education significantly influenced entrepreneurial intention and practice among undergraduates (Olofinyehun et al., 2018). Exploring the
gender dimension of this dataset is necessary to
unearth critical factors that could improve gender parity among students in entrepreneurship
activities.
Based on Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior, the
intention is a function of attitude toward a behavior,
subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control
(Ajzen, 2011). Therefore, the dataset variables allow
2. METHODOLOGY
for analysis along Ajzen’s perspective. These variables include the general measure of self-efficacy,
The study utilizes a cross-sectional dataset collect- risk-taking, and attitude toward entrepreneurship
ed from undergraduates in six universities across behavior. Other important variables captured in
Nigeria. These universities were selected through the dataset are the relational support from famicluster sampling to cut across the six geopoliti- ly and friends and items measuring the university
cal zones in the country. Furthermore, the selec- ecosystem. The items were captured in two separate
tion is also based on the alignment of the dataset sections of the questionnaire used for data collecwith the previous surveys for proper comparison tion (Olofinyehun & Egbetokun, 2022). The items
and consistency. The entrepreneurship ecosystem used to capture the variables were measured on a
questions were introduced into the questionnaire five-point Likert scale of ‘0’ never to ‘4’ always.
only for the year 2020/1, and this justifies why this
paper focuses on that year. The dataset contained For the risk-taking, variables PEC 27, 38, and 49
important entrepreneurial characteristics of un- were used as they revolved around questions redergraduates, as the data were meant to evalu- lating to the risk propensity of the undergraduate entrepreneurship education policy in Nigeria ates. For instance, “I do things that are risky,” “I
(Olofinyehun et al., 2022).
do things that others consider risky,” and “I weigh
my chances of succeeding or failing before I deThe compulsory entrepreneurship education pol- cide to do something” were the questions raised.
icy was introduced in 2006 by the government For self-efficacy, which defines the confidence stuthrough the National Universities Commission dents have in their capacity to undertake entre-
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Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2023
preneurship ventures, PEC 10, 23, and 32 of the
datasets were used. The questions are “I feel confident that I will succeed at whatever I try to do; I
like challenges and new opportunities and trying
something difficult or challenging; I feel confident
that I will succeed.”
Three items were selected for attitude toward entrepreneurship behavior (PEC 8, 30, and 45) because they revolved around students’ attitudes to
entrepreneurship. Questions like “I plan a large
project by breaking it down into smaller tasks; I
try to think of all the problems I may encounter
and plan what to do if; and I try things that are
very new and different from what I have done before” were raised in the questionnaire.
3. RESULTS
The descriptive analysis of the respondents is presented in Table 1. Most students (86.5%) are between the ages of 16 and 25, while the least (0.2%)
are above 40. Also, 62% of the sampled students are
male, while 38% are female. The major specializations of the students are also queried: 40% of the
students are studying science-based major, 30%
are studying tech-based major, 25% are studying
social science/management-based major, and 5%
others. This reflects that most of the students are in
STEM-based disciplines, which indicates potential
technology innovation products and services in the
future. Table 1 also shows that 80% of the students
claimed that their parents have previously initiated
or run a business. This could signify that they might
be familiar to running a business as their parents’
involvement in a business could directly or indirectly spill over to them. Table 1 also shows the students’ academic level, which ranges from 200 level
(year 2) to 500 (year 5). While the highest number
of respondents (31%) are in the 300 level, the least
(21%) are in the 200 level. This shows that the sampled students are almost evenly distributed across
the levels, except year 1, which is excluded from the
study due to their newness in the university.
The variables PEC 13, 18, and 31 were considered
for relational support. These variables defined the
influence of family and friends’ support for entrepreneurship among the students. Relational
support has been established to influence entrepreneurial intention among undergraduates in a
Nigerian university (Olofinyehun et al., 2018). The
questions raised are “I try several times to get people to do what I would like them to do; I seek the
advice of people who know a lot about the tasks I
am working on; and I get important people to help
Table 1. Characteristics of the respondents
me accomplish my goals.”
Characteristics
Finally, the university ecosystem was captured by
items in variables 26i, 26ii, and 26iii, as contained
in the dataset. The study adopted the Global
University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey
(GUESSS) framework to elicit information on the
university entrepreneurship ecosystem and the
degree to which they support students’ entrepreneurial inclinations (Sieger et al., 2021).
The undergraduates were asked about their intention to engage in entrepreneurship as a career
option (var18). This variable represented the entrepreneurial intention of the undergraduates and
was used as a dependent variable for the regression analysis. Their level of entrepreneurship interest was also captured in variable var19 and was
ranked on a five-point Likert scale of ‘1’ very low to
‘5’ very high. A total of 12,485 students responded
to the questionnaire. The data were prepared and
analyzed using both descriptive (SPSS) and inferential analysis with an E-views statistical package.
486
Age (in years)
Gender
Present academic
level
Field of
specialization
(Major)
Description
Below 16
16-20
21-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
Above 40
Female
Male
500 Level
400 Level
300 Level
200 Level
Science-based
Tech-based
Social sciences/
Management-based
Others
Frequency
%
34
4162
6374
1458
80
44
26
4753
7732
2645
3303
3823
2571
4935
3711
0.3
34.2
52.3
12.0
0.7
0.4
0.2
38
62
21.4
26.8
31.0
20.8
39.7
29.9
3136
25.2
639
5.1
It could be deduced from Table 2 that most (86%) of
the students are interested in starting their own business, depicting a great interest of Nigerian students
in entrepreneurship. This could be a result of their
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Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2023
parents’ involvement in business, their exposure to
entrepreneurship education in school, and/or an increasing lack of white/blue-collar jobs in the Nigerian
labor market. Meanwhile, 66% of the students rated
their entrepreneurial interest as high, while 30% and
4% rated it as moderate and low, respectively. From a
gender perspective, 88% of the male students are interested in starting their own business, and 67% rated their interest as high. However, 84% of the female
students are interested in starting their own business,
and 65% rated their interest as high. The figures from
both males and females show that though males are
higher, they are in the same category, which is very
close.
Furthermore, the Chi-square result shows no statistical difference in male and female students’ entrepreneurial interest (ꭓ2 = 54.37; P-value = 0.000). This signifies that both male and female students perceived
entrepreneurial interests similarly. This further corroborates the percentage of male and female students
interested in entrepreneurship, as these figures are
within the same percentage range of 80s in Table 2.
Table 2. Descriptive analysis of entrepreneurial
interest among male and female students
Characteristics
Interest in starting own
business (All)
Level of entrepreneurial
interest (All)
Entrepreneurial interest
among male students
Level of entrepreneurial
interest among male
students
Entrepreneurial interest
among female students
Level of entrepreneurial
interest among female
students
Description
Frequency
%
Yes
9888
86.5
No
1545
13.8
Very high
3534
34.8
High
3174
31.3
Moderate
3067
30.2
Low
288
2.8
Very low
85
.8
Yes
6216
88
No
817
12
Very high
2262
35.5
High
1994
31.3
Moderate
1878
29.5
Low
185
2.9
Very low
49
0.7
Yes
3602
84
No
711
16
Very high
1254
33.8
High
1151
31.0
Moderate
1164
31.4
Low
102
2.8
Very low
36
1.0
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Logistic regression was conducted to examine
the factors influencing entrepreneurial interest
among the students, including the gender dimension. Table 3 shows the results of the factors
that influence entrepreneurial interest after dissecting the gender into male (Panel A) and female (Panel B) independently and, at the same
time, taking them jointly as one (Panel C). The
six factors that are considered to influence entrepreneurial interest among the students are entrepreneurship education (EE), relational support
(ReS), risk-taking (RT), self-efficacy (SE), university ecosystems (UC), and attitudes toward
behavior (ATB). The results in Panel A for males
reveal that all the factors are highly likely and
statistically significant to influence the level of
entrepreneurial interest of students, except the
university ecosystem (odd ratio = 0.98, P-value
= 0.6808). The result of Panel B for female students indicates that the six factors are highly
likely and statistically significant to influence
their entrepreneurial interest. The odd ratios of
the six factors are greater than 1, with that of the
university ecosystem being the least (1.065), and
the p-values are less than 10% significant level.
Meanwhile, Panel C, the joint logistic regression
result of male and female genders, reveals that
all factors except the university ecosystem are
statistically significant at 10%.
The logistic regression results of gender differential in entrepreneurial practice are also presented in Panel A (male) and Panel B (female) in
Table 4. Except for the university ecosystem and
attitudes toward behavior, the six factors are significant and highly likely to influence male students’ entrepreneurship practice. However, this
occurs at a 10% level of significance in Panel A.
However, all the factors except university ecosystem and relational support influence female
students’ entrepreneurship practice at a 10%
level of significance in Panel B. This shows that
there are four main factors out of six that significantly influence entrepreneurship practice
among students. Specifically, entrepreneurship
education, relational support, risk-taking, and
self-efficacy influence entrepreneurship practice
among males, while entrepreneurship practice
among females is influenced by entrepreneurship education, risk-taking, self-efficacy, and attitudes toward behavior.
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Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2023
Table 3. Ordered logistic regression analysis of factors influencing entrepreneurial interest
in male and female students
Variables
Entrepreneurship education (EE)
Relational support (ReS)
Risk-taking (RT)
Self-efficacy (SE)
University ecosystem (UC)
Attitudes toward behavior (ATB)
Panel A (Male)
B Coefficient Odds ratio
0.2439*
0.1349*
0.2594*
0.2882*
–0.0121
0.1965*
1.276
1.144
1.296
1.334
0.988
1.217
Panel B (Female)
B Coefficient Odds ratio
0.5501*
0.1108*
0.1775*
0.4900*
0.0637*
0.1459*
1.734
1.117
1.194
1.632
1.066
1.157
Panel C (Both)
B Coefficient Odds ratio
0.3422*
0.1150*
0.2234*
0.3652*
0.0226
0.1816*
1.408
1.121
1.250
1.440
1.022
1.199
Note: * Signifies 10% level of significance.
Table 4. Ordered logistic regression analysis of factors influencing entrepreneurial practice in male
and female students
Variables
Panel A (Male)
B Coefficient
Odds ratio
Panel B (Female)
B Coefficient
Odds ratio
Entrepreneurship education (EE)
0.3891*
1.476
0.2380*
1.269
Relational support (ReS)
0.1342*
1.144
–0.0140
0.986
Risk-taking (RT)
0.1908*
1.210
0.2334*
1.263
Self-efficacy (SE)
0.1166*
1.124
0.2072*
1.230
University ecosystem (UC)
–0.0323
0.968
0.0123
1.012
Attitudes toward behavior (ATB)
0.0535
1.055
0.1774*
1.194
Note: * Signifies 10% level of significance.
4. DISCUSSION
There had been much concentration on male entrepreneurship in the past, with little or no focus
on female entrepreneurship until the recent period (Rietveld & Patel, 2022). However, female entrepreneurship has recently increased over time
in many countries but still lags behind males
(GEM, 2022). Studies have shown that increasing
women’s participation in entrepreneurship would
improve gender equality and social and economic growth of the country (Adelowo & Akinwale,
2018; Rietveld & Patel, 2022). Since universities are
considered a center for knowledge spillovers that
is instrumental to socio-economic development
(Ward et al., 2019), it becomes pertinent to assess
factors driving entrepreneurial interest and practice among female and male students to determine
differences in both genders.
dents in their respective universities (Akinwale &
Adelowo, 2022). The descriptive analyses show that
both males and females are interested in entrepreneurship, and their interest levels are moderately
high. Yet, that of males is slightly higher than that
of females. This is similar to the study of Rietveld
and Patel (2022), who also confirmed that gender
inequality in entrepreneurship is rapidly closing
up. This is further corroborated by the result of the
chi-square, which rejects that there is a significant
difference in entrepreneurial interest and gender.
Also, Wasilczuk and Karyy (2022) spotted slightly
higher entrepreneurial intention among students
in selected European countries. Hence, the results
clearly show no statistical difference between the
entrepreneurial intention and gender of both males
and females. This implies that both male and female students fall within the same category regarding their entrepreneurial interests though that of
The results indicate that most Nigerian students males is slightly higher than females. The result of
are interested in entrepreneurship, and this could this study is in line with Shneor and Jensson (2014)
be because entrepreneurship course is a compul- and Brush (2008) but differs from Sieger et al. (2021)
sory course across Nigerian universities, which is and Yordanova and Tarrazon (2010).
an indication of the directive of the Nigerian government that has mandated all university admin- The study found that entrepreneurship education,
istrations to offer entrepreneurship courses to stu- relational support, risk-taking, self-efficacy, and at-
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Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2023
titudes toward behavior significantly influence the
entrepreneurial interest of both male and female
students. Training through proper entrepreneurship education courses has also been acknowledged
by Rietveld and Patel (2022) and Tsyganova and
Shirokova (2010) to foster the entrepreneurship interest of females. The support from friends and families and their willingness to take risks in business
also influence the entrepreneurial interest of female students as well as that of males. Youths tend
to develop interests in a business their families and
friends are involved in, and they quickly get relative support (Akinwale, 2018; Manolova et al., 2008).
This enhances the pursuit of self-realization goals of
both genders, especially females, and develops their
attitudes and confidence toward starting a business
(Manolova et al., 2008). This deviates from Ward et
al. (2019), who found that social norms and relational supports are more likely to influence males’ entrepreneurial interest than females.
Ward et al. (2019) aligns with these results regarding
males and females having similar risk-taking appetites in driving entrepreneurial interest. In contrast,
Westhead and Solesvik (2016) and Grilo and Irigoyen
(2006) revealed that males have higher risk-taking
than their female counterparts. This study also indicates that females have self-efficacy and confidence
toward starting their businesses similar to that of
males, which deviates from the related studies (CaroGonzález et al., 2017; Dabic et al., 2012), which opined
that females display low confidence in becoming successful future entrepreneurs than males. All these
factors are also significant in driving entrepreneurial
practice for the two genders, except university ecosystem for both, relational support for females, and
attitudes for males. The university ecosystem has a
lower likelihood and is insignificant in influencing
the entrepreneurial interest of male students, but it
is significant in influencing female entrepreneurial
interest, though low. In addition, the university ecosystem is not significant in driving entrepreneurial
practice for both genders. It could be deduced that
while entrepreneurship education plays a significant
impact in driving entrepreneurial interest and practice of both male and female students in Nigeria, the
university ecosystem is lagging despite the availability of entrepreneurship centers in most universities.
This is not in line with Butkouskaya et al. (2020) and
Saeed et al. (2015), who asserted that the university
ecosystem influences students across the genders.
These results could be due to female students realizing the great challenges of being employed in government institutions, as the Nigerian government
is reducing the number of civil servants by privatizing some of the institutions and scrapping others
to reduce the cost of governance. More so, there is a
gradual cultural change of women in Nigeria deviating from their initial mindset of staying at home as
full housewives as many young men are only getting
married to the women that could support them in
meeting some of the financial responsibilities of the
household.
The policy implication in this study includes the university administration ensuring that both female and
male students are equally well exposed to starting a
business and well informed of all the prerequisites
involved in start-ups. This might require the university administration to reassess the entrepreneurship
and incubation centers in their respective universities and ensure that they are functioning according
to the expectation to create a sound university ecosystem that supports practical businesses for the students. More so, entrepreneurship courses (a critical
element of entrepreneurship education) should continually be improved to meet up with the dynamic
reality of the world to properly train female students
on entrepreneurship. This would instill confidence
and entrepreneurship attitudes in female and male
students toward becoming entrepreneurs before
graduation. The parents should also be sensitized
and encouraged to support their female children in
starting a business while in school, as this relational
support is relatively lower for female students.
CONCLUSION
This study sets out to explore the gender differential in entrepreneurial interest and practice among undergraduate male and female students in Nigeria. It also examines differences in the factors influencing
entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurship practice between male and female students using largescale cross-sectional data collected in 2020/1.
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Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2023
The descriptive results demonstrate that the majority of students, including males and females,
are interested in entrepreneurship, and their interest is high. The entrepreneurial interest of males
is slightly higher than that of female students, but this is not statistically significant. The logistic
regression results indicate that entrepreneurship education, relational support, risk-taking, self-efficacy, and attitudes toward behavior significantly influence male students’ entrepreneurial interest. Similarly, the five factors, including the university ecosystem, significantly influence female
students’ entrepreneurial interests. The odd ratio for the university ecosystem is observed to be low
for both genders, though that of female is slightly higher.
Meanwhile, the male students’ entrepreneurial practice is influenced by entrepreneurship education, relational support, risk-taking, and self-efficacy. In contrast, the female students’ entrepreneurial practice is influenced by entrepreneurship education, risk-taking, self-efficacy, and attitudes toward behavior. Entrepreneurship education is highly significant to the entrepreneurial
practice of both male and female students, but the university ecosystem has no effect. This result
suggests that the university ecosystem needs to be improved to support the entrepreneurship activities of students, particularly among females.
Based on the results of this study, the main recommendations are drawn as follows. The university administration should ensure that the entrepreneurship centers are managed more effectively
to drive entrepreneurial interest in both male and female students, with specific provisions that
could further unleash entrepreneurship potential in female students. Furthermore, the government should popularize the recently promulgated Start-up Act of 2022 and reduce the regulatory
requirements of starting a business for university students. More entrepreneurship training and
apprenticeship are needed to further boost students’ self-efficacy and enhance their entrepreneurship tendencies. Establishing entrepreneurship infrastructure and facilities such as business incubators, innovation hubs, and competitive business grants is vital for the students to transition
their entrepreneurial intention to entrepreneurship practice. Creating more awareness regarding
start-ups encourages students of both genders to start a business, and female students are better at
starting a business than male students. Also, parents and relatives should support their daughters
appropriately and encourage them to start their own businesses.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Conceptualization: Caleb Adelowo, Yusuf Akinwale.
Data curation: Caleb Adelowo.
Formal analysis: Yusuf Akinwale.
Investigation: Caleb Adelowo, Yusuf Akinwale.
Methodology: Caleb Adelowo.
Project administration: Caleb Adelowo.
Resources: Caleb Adelowo, Yusuf Akinwale.
Software: Yusuf Akinwale.
Supervision: Caleb Adelowo.
Validation: Caleb Adelowo, Yusuf Akinwale.
Writing – original draft: Caleb Adelowo, Yusuf Akinwale.
Writing – review & editing: Caleb Adelowo, Yusuf Akinwale.
490
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Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2023
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