Mentorship and Entrepreneurship Training Effectiveness for Business Education Students in Rivers State

Abstract

The study investigated mentorship and entrepreneurship training effectiveness for business education students in Rivers State. The study was guided by three research questions and three corresponding hypotheses. The study adopted a correlational research design. The population of this study comprised of 37 students from Rivers State University (RSU) and 460 students from Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), resulting a total of 497 students from the two selected universities. The total population was adopted for the study, hence, no sampling technique was required. The research instrument used in this study was a self-structured questionnaire. The instrument were validated and reliability was carried out using Cronbach Alpha method. The reliability coefficients of 0.87 and 0.75 respectively was obtained. The data collected from the respondents was analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance with the aid SPSS package. The study revealed that, one-on-one mentorship programmes, group mentorship sessions, workshop/seminars all relate with entrepreneurship training effectiveness for business education students in Rivers State. The study concluded that the rising demand for practical and skill-based education has placed entrepreneurship training at the center of business education programmes in Nigeria, hence the need for entrepreneurship mentorship. Amongst others, the study recommended that government agencies and educational policymakers should formulate and enforce policies that mandate the integration of structured mentorship programs into business education curriculum.