ABSTRACT

The study empirically investigated the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial skills enhancement amongst undergraduate in University of Benin, Nigeria. The study specifically investigated how entrepreneurship education content, methods, instructors, and students' personal attributes influence the enhancement of entrepreneurial skills.

The study employed a cross-sectional survey research. The population of the study comprised all undergraduates who had taken at least one entrepreneurship course in University of Benin, Nigeria irrespective of the course of study. A sample size of 516 students was taken and copies of questionnaire administered to them, of which 500 copies were found to be valid and usable. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics to ascertain the students' perceptions on the variables of interest while Pearson correlation coefficients, multiple regression analysis, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the relationships among the research variables. All tests were performed at a 5% level of significance using SPSS software.

The study found that entrepreneurial skills enhancement is positively and significantly influenced be entrepreneurship education instructors and methods. However, the relationship between entrepreneurship education content and entrepreneurial skills enhancement is positive but not statistically significant at 5% level of significance.

It is recommended that entrepreneurship courses be practically taught by incorporating successful entrepreneurs into the teaching process. Adopting this approach can motivate students and support their development of entrepreneurial networks. Another viable option is for the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development of the University of Benin, Nigeria, to arrange for students to participate in internship programme with entrepreneurial businesses during holidays after the semester in which the students enrolled in the entrepreneurship course(s).