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Influence of Entrepreneurship Education on Business Start-Up Intentions among Accounting Students in Nigerian Universities

Abstract

The changing nature of the Nigerian labour market and the growing need for self-employment have increased the importance of entrepreneurship education within higher education. Accounting graduates possess financial, analytical, budgeting, record-keeping, and business management knowledge that can support entrepreneurial activities, yet many accounting students may primarily view their future careers through the lens of paid employment rather than business ownership or self-employment. Entrepreneurship education provides students with knowledge and skills relating to opportunity identification, business planning, financial management, innovation, risk assessment, resource mobilization, and enterprise development, which may strengthen their willingness to establish businesses after graduation. In Nigerian universities, strengthening entrepreneurial competencies among accounting students may contribute to graduate employability, self-reliance, and enterprise development. Against this background, this study investigates the influence of entrepreneurship education on business start-up intentions among accounting students in Nigerian universities. The study will be anchored on the Theory of Planned Behavior, Human Capital Theory, and Social Cognitive Theory. The Theory of Planned Behavior explains how students' attitudes toward entrepreneurship, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and entrepreneurial intentions may influence their willingness to establish businesses. Human Capital Theory explains how investment in entrepreneurship education and business-related competencies can enhance students' knowledge, skills, productivity, and capacity to identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes self-efficacy, observational learning, behavioural modelling, reinforcement, and environmental influences in shaping students' entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how entrepreneurship education may influence business start-up intentions among accounting students in Nigerian universities. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise undergraduate accounting students enrolled in selected public and private universities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, universities, faculties or departments, levels of study, and eligible accounting students. Entrepreneurship education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to entrepreneurship courses, frequency and duration of entrepreneurial training, opportunity identification, business idea development, business planning, financial management, accounting for small businesses, marketing, innovation, risk management, access to entrepreneurial mentors, practical enterprise projects, entrepreneurial competitions, business simulations, and exposure to successful entrepreneurs. Business start-up intentions will be assessed using indicators such as intention to establish a business after graduation, willingness to pursue self-employment, readiness to develop a business idea, intention to prepare a business plan, willingness to invest personal or borrowed resources in a business, confidence in starting a business, commitment to entrepreneurial activities, and plans to establish an accounting-related or other business venture. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized entrepreneurial-intention assessment instruments, entrepreneurship-knowledge tests, business-plan exercises, scenario-based questions, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental intervention is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, exposure to entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial knowledge, previous business experience, and start-up intentions. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired and independent t-tests, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the influence of entrepreneurship education on business start-up intentions. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, entrepreneurial-intention scores before and after the educational intervention may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that entrepreneurship education has a significant positive influence on business start-up intentions among accounting students in Nigerian universities. Students exposed to practical, industry-relevant, and experiential entrepreneurship education are expected to demonstrate stronger intentions to establish businesses than students with limited exposure. Entrepreneurship education may improve students' ability to identify business opportunities, develop viable business ideas, prepare business plans, manage finances, assess risks, mobilize resources, and understand the financial requirements of establishing and sustaining an enterprise. Practical activities such as business simulations, enterprise projects, mentorship, and interaction with successful entrepreneurs may strengthen students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy and confidence. Accounting students may also be able to apply their existing knowledge of bookkeeping, taxation, budgeting, financial reporting, and cost management to entrepreneurial activities. However, limited access to start-up capital, fear of business failure, economic uncertainty, inadequate entrepreneurial support, limited access to mentorship, regulatory challenges, and preference for salaried employment may weaken the influence of entrepreneurship education on students' start-up intentions. The study therefore expects practical, experiential, adequately supported, and industry-oriented entrepreneurship education to contribute significantly to stronger business start-up intentions among accounting students in Nigerian universities. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial intentions, accounting education, graduate employability, self-employment, enterprise development, business start-up intentions, and higher education in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Universities Commission, universities, faculties of management sciences, accounting departments, entrepreneurship development centres, accounting educators, professional accounting bodies, entrepreneurs, employers, development partners, curriculum developers, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening entrepreneurial competencies among accounting students. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for improving practical entrepreneurship education, integrating accounting-specific entrepreneurial activities into university curricula, strengthening university-based enterprise development centres, expanding mentorship and business-incubation opportunities, promoting access to entrepreneurial competitions and practical business projects, and developing stronger university-industry partnerships that can support accounting graduates who intend to establish and manage businesses in Nigeria.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship education, business start-up intentions, accounting students, entrepreneurial intentions, accounting education, self-employment, enterprise development, graduate employability, entrepreneurship, Nigerian universities, higher education, Nigeria.