MARKETING EDUCATION PROGRAMME AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between marketing education programmes and entrepreneurial skills development among undergraduates in Rivers State-owned tertiary institutions. The study was anchored on the psychological theory of entrepreneurship. A correlational research design was used to carry out the study. The population of the study consisted of 729 students from three tertiary institutions in Rivers State.  A simple random sampling technique was used to draw a sample size of 248 undergraduates, which was informed by the Krejcie and Morgan sampling table. Out of the total copies of 248 questionnaires distributed, 238 copies of the questionnaire retrieved were used for further analysis to achieve the specific objectives of the study. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions, while the null hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation at the 0.05 significance level. The findings of the study revealed, among other things, that there is a significant relationship between marketing education and entrepreneurial skills development among undergraduates in Rivers State-owned tertiary institutions. The study concluded that the level of entrepreneurial skills developed among undergraduates in Rivers State-owned tertiary institutions can be used to enhance the sustainability of business education programmes and contribute to strengthening industrialization as well as the diversification of economic growth. The study, therefore, recommended, among others, that the management of tertiary institutions in Rivers State ensures that the business management programme should focus on the development of entrepreneurial skills that will strengthen the quality of undergraduates and their ability to develop and manage their businesses, and  lecturers of entrepreneurship education in tertiary institutions in Rivers State.