Exploring the Effects of Entrepreneurial Education on Entrepreneurial Intention between Genders: A Pair-Wise Methodology Approach

Abstract

Past studies on gender differences in entrepreneurship at higher education levels are predominantly based on survey approaches. Thus creating several mix-evidences with the majority of these studies showing that male intention towards entrepreneurship to be higher than the female counterpart. This research uses a pair-wise experimental approach to examine gender differences in entrepreneurial intention before and after exposure to entrepreneurial education in the six federal universities in south-western Nigeria. The findings indicate that male students demonstrated higher intention before exposure to entrepreneurial education, while female students exhibited the opposite intention. However, after exposure to entrepreneurship education, female students exhibited stronger entrepreneurial intentions compared to their male counterparts. Despite this, no statistical difference was observed between male and female intentions. Yet, when both results were combined to give a composite picture, there was a decrease in the overall entrepreneurial intention for both genders. More so, an in-depth interview with some of the respondents reveals that male students attend an entrepreneurial education course for the sake of it being a compulsory course while female students have the notion that with entrepreneurial education, they have the chance of developing back-up plans if the marriage fails or they are unemployed. This unexpected result indicated the unintended effect entrepreneurial education in south-western Nigeria was having on the gender gap in entrepreneurial intention and its overall outcomes in practical terms. The research concludes that entrepreneurial education curricula in Nigerian universities, especially those in the southwest, need to be reviewed to capture gender sensitivity in entrepreneurial intentions before and after graduation from entrepreneurship programs.