Factors influencing the attitudes of final year undergraduate students towards entrepreneurship as a career option: A case-study at the University of Venda in Limpopo Province of South Africa

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is currently widely considered by government and other organisation bodies a means to reduce unemployment among young people. However, despite the South African government’s efforts to promote entrepreneurship as a career choice, most graduates still prefer to be employed. The purpose of this study was to explore and assess the various factors that influence the attitudes of a group of final year University of Venda students to choose entrepreneurship as a career option. The objectives of the study were to explore and assess four factors operating amongst these students which would be influencing their attitudes towards entrepreneurship: the influence of their entrepreneurial awareness, personality traits, environmental factors, as well as the constraints these students perceived themselves to face in choosing to make entrepreneurship, a career. In addition, the study sought to explore and assess the attitudes of academics and ENACTUS students towards the integration of entrepreneurship across disciplines at the university. The study employed a descriptive research design that applies both quantitative and qualitative approaches in order to obtain an in-depth understanding of the research topic. Primary data were collected from the sampled students, lecturers, Heads of Department (HODs), deans, and ENACTUS members from the eight schools at the University. The target population of the study was 3096 final year undergraduate students. These included both those involved, and those not involved, in entrepreneurship, as well as 192 lecturers, 118 HODs and the eight deans of the university’s eight schools. Profiles and background Information regarding undergraduate final year students was obtained from the Department of Postgraduate students, while profile information regarding the lecturers, HODs, and deans was obtained from the Department of Human Resources. Data for the quantitative phase of the research were collected from a self-administered questionnaire which was distributed among all undergraduate final year students at the University of Venda. Interview schedules were used to collect data from 6 ENACTUS students, 19 lecturers, 13HODs and 8 deans. The quantitative data collected were analysed using IBM SPSS 25.0 through descriptive techniques (frequency distribution, mean, percentages and standard deviation) and inferential techniques (Mann Whitney test), while the qualitative data were analysed using ATLAS ti.8 (the version available at the time), supplemented by content analysis. The findings from both sets of data revealed entrepreneurial awareness, personality traits and environmental factors to influence the attitudes of students towards entrepreneurship as a career option. Furthermore, most final year undergraduate students were found to have highly positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship as a career option. The perceived constraints students were found to be facing, in descending order of prominence, included the challenges of acquiring and raising finances, lack of experience, difficulty obtaining licences and certificates, and fear of failure. Evidence obtained from the ENACTUS students, lecturers, HODs, and the deans from various schools showed substantial support for the inclusion of entrepreneurship in curricula across disciplines in the university. The study recommendations include that university management and other policy makers consider the introduction of a compulsory entrepreneurial module in the first year across schools, with the aim of creating early positive student perceptions and attitudes towards entrepreneurship as a career option through increasing students’ knowledge about entrepreneurship. Also, recommended would be that formal and informal training in entrepreneurship be provided across disciplines at not only the University of Venda, to foster self-confidence, the need for achievement, innovativeness/creative thinking, the need for independence, locus of control, and risk-taking. This recommendation is supported by the literature which points to the tendency of students possessing these characteristics to realise their business ideas in the future and to be able to overcome the challenge of fear of failure. Also recommended is university management and other policy makers revisiting the idea of a budget for start-up financing for students who are interested in entrepreneurship as a career option after graduation. A final recommendation is for university management and other role players to encourage students who are interested in entrepreneurship to get involved in entrepreneurial extra-curricular activities such as ENACTUS and entrepreneurial clubs, with the aim of inculcating a culture of entrepreneurship. The findings of the study are seen to provide a deeper understanding of the factors that influence the attitudes of students to consider choosing entrepreneurship as a career, and to contribute new knowledge for use by those academics and policy-makers considered to have positioned entrepreneurship as a viable and attractive career option.