Effect of psychological and institutional factors on student's entrepreneurial intention: an application of TPB, CSE and TT

Unemployment and poverty are seriously issue of concern globally, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Unemployment and poverty among university graduates in Nigeria, the trends on rising every year, major corporations are cutting down jobs and graduates who were interested to work can’t seem to find a job. However, entrepreneurship and business formation have been recognised around the World as a remedy for unemployment and pivotal for economies to grow. Therefore, promotion of entrepreneurial activity becomes the most top priority on the government agenda. Despite the unique role played by entrepreneurship to the economy as a whole and to the person that established business, in Nigeria, the rate of university graduates in entrepreneurship is far below expected. This led to many research efforts on factors that are having an effect on student’s entrepreneurial intentions. This review paper proposed the intention to be an entrepreneur can be explained by Ajzen, (1991) theory of planned behaviour, institutional, and core self-evaluation theories. Psychological (self-efficacy, risk-taking propensity, locus of control, innovativeness, need for achievement) and institutional (university environment, government support programmes) factors will have an effect on attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control. Consequently, the study predicted the entrepreneurial intentions of the Nigerian university students

Perceptions on differences of customer services between public universities (UAs) and private higher education institutions (IPTSs) in Klang Valley, Malaysia

The development of globalized knowledge economy profoundly impacted on the role and value of higher education. Thus, this study seeks to assess the perception of differences of customer services between public universities (UAs) and private higher education institutions (IPTSs) in Malaysia in three main areas: employee's attitude, facilities and evaluation. A quantitative method was adopted for the study with 400 respondents including students and lecturers from the UAs and IPTSs, using questionnaire consisting of 5 points Likert Scale. ANOVA and T-test were used in data analysis for the study. The findings of the study showed that there are significant differences between both the students and lecturers on physical facilities whereby the UAs provide good facilities and technology compared to the IPTSs. Whilst there are significant differences between the students' and lecturers' perceptions of customer services provided by their institutions in all elements of customer service under study for both the UAs and IPTSs. In meeting the competitive demand from their customers, the higher institutions need to assess their customer service and consider some complaints put forward by their customers in upgrading its service performance

Instructional leadership and students academic performance: mediating effects of teacher’s organizational commitment

This study investigates the mediating effects of teacher organizational commitment on the relationship between principal's instructional leadership and students' academic performance. Principals' effective leadership performance is assumed to be responsible for students' academic performance. However, many findings from the literature indicate no significant direct effect between instructional leadership and students' academic performance. Therefore, the current study hypothesized that principals' instructional leadership indirectly enhances students' academic performances through teacher organizational commitment. Data obtained from 440 primary school teachers from the state of Azad Jammu & Kashmir of Pakistan and pre-existing school academic performance data obtained from each school participated. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, employing AMOS. The study's findings indicate that there is an indirect positive effect of principals' instructional leadership and students' academic performance through teacher's organizational commitment. Hence, schools with higher instructional leadership levels had better teachers, commitment to school, teaching work, teaching occupation, workgroup, and higher student's academic performances. Therefore, increasing the instructional leadership practices in schools through teacher organizational commitment contributes to Pakistan's overall student academic performances. Therefore, it is recommended to use instructional leadership components in the curriculum that effectively train new principals

Effects of psychological and institutional factors on entrepreneurial intention among undergraduate students in Nigeria

Today, university education in Nigeria is no longer a guarantee for university graduates automatic employment sequel to the tight labour market condition. However, the graduates are still reluctant to choose entrepreneurship as a feasible occupation, even with the high job scarcity. Because, the level of entrepreneurial awareness among university graduates in Nigeria is palpably low. This can be justified considering the high rate of unemployment among these graduates. Thus, there is need for an empirical study to determine factors that have an effect on the student’s entrepreneurial potentials in Nigeria. The main objective of the study, therefore, is to examine the effect of psychological factors (self-efficacy, risk-taking propensity, locus of control, innovation, and need for achievement) and institutional factors (university entrepreneurship education, and government support programmes) on entrepreneurial intention among undergraduate students of University of Maiduguri, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi and Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, North-eastern, Nigeria. Earlier research investigated the effects of psychological factors, institutional factors and culture in isolation from each other and so found inconsistent and inconclusive results. Hence, the objective of the current study is twofold: first to examine the direct effect of psychological and institutional factors on entrepreneurial intention. Second, it seeks to determine whether culture influences the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and its psychological and institutional determinants. The study employs survey research design. The population for the study was 3,024 final year undergraduate students of the three selected universities in North-eastern, Nigeria. Data were collected from a sample of 383 students through a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and SEM, using AMOS graphics were employed to analyse the data. Interestingly, the findings contradict the research claims indicating that majority of the respondents showed a high level of entrepreneurial intention, though differences were noticed among students of the three universities regarding the level of their entrepreneurial intention. Students from the University of Maiduguri indicate low entrepreneurial intention, while students from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi and the Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola indicate a high level of entrepreneurial intention. The findings further revealed that there is a positive effect between all the variables; self-efficacy, risk-taking propensity, the locus of control, innovation, need for achievement, university entrepreneurship education, government support programmes and entrepreneurial intention among the students. In addition, the results indicate the greater effect are from government support programmes and innovation. However, the moderation test revealed that culture moderates the effect of all the variables on entrepreneurial intention among university undergraduate students. Therefore, based on the findings of the study that indicate students have high level of entrepreneurial intention, it recommends that government and policymakers should develop a policy framework that would make graduates actualise their intention of starting a business through the provision of support and assistance. Also university curriculum should focus on independence and innovation. Furthermore, future research should be conducted to examine the factors inhibiting entrepreneurship among these graduates

Entrepreneurial intention of university students: a comparison among undergraduate students of Nigerian universities

Due to the persistent increase in unemployment among university graduates. Entrepreneurship today is beyond just opportunity, but a necessity. The aim of this study is to determine and compare the level of entrepreneurial intention among undergraduate students of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi, Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH) Yola and the University of Maiduguri in North-eastern, Nigeria. The study used survey research by means of a questionnaire. A sample of 383 students was chosen from the population of 3024. Data were analysed by means of descriptive statistics and Analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings of the study indicate on average a significantly high level of intentions towards entrepreneurship among the university students, except students for the University of Maiduguri which showed low entrepreneurial intention. The findings further indicates differences between students of the University of Maiduguri and students of ATBU Bauchi and MAUTECH Yola, but no significant differences observed between students of ATBU Bauchi and MAUTECH Yola at .05 level. However, it is recommended there is need to encourage university graduates to consider entrepreneurship as a career instead of relying on government and the private sector for a job. Furthermore, further studies need to conduct on the role of culture on entrepreneurial intentions

Multi-methods Approach in Entrepreneurship Research: Triangulation in Action

The purpose of this study is to apply the experience from a study conducted on entrepreneurial intention among university students with regard to the effective use of triangulation in entrepreneurship research. It applies the knowledge acquired to address issues such as inconsistencies, contradictions, and biases when using the single method. It was also used to develop a framework for research by adopting triangulation. The study discussed issues such as design and the whys and how’s of triangulation. It is hoped that the study will help future researchers who adopt triangulation to produce quality work and make informed judgements that lead to completeness. Finally, it would be interesting to researchers who always want to be up-to-date in academic research