Risk Taking Behaviour as Determinant of Entrepreneurial Aspiration of Undergraduates in Tertiary Institutions in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Aim: The continuous increase in the rate of unemployment among graduates of tertiary institutions in Ekiti State has been a source of worry for the government and the public. Despite the series of courses taken on entrepreneurship during the period of their studies in the institutions, it was observed that many graduates could not establish their enterprises after graduation due to certain reasons. It was against this background that this study investigated the relationship between risk-taking behaviour and entrepreneurial aspiration of undergraduates as well as the difference in the risk-taking behaviour of male and female undergraduates towards entrepreneurship.

Methodology: Descriptive research design of the survey type was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 7342 final-year students in all tertiary institutions in Ekiti State. Simple, stratified and proportional random sampling techniques were used to select 400 students from faculties/schools across the three types of institutions in the state. A self-constructed instrument tagged Risk Taking Behaviour and Entrepreneurial Aspiration Questionnaire (RTBEAQ) was used to collect the data for the study. The instrument was constructed on 4-point Likert scale statements. Three experts ascertained the accuracy of the items on the instrument. The reliability of the instrument was established through Cronbach's alpha after it had been administered to 40 students outside the sample for the study, which yielded a coefficient value of 0.86. The reliability coefficient obtained for the instrument was considered high enough for the study. Data collected were analysed using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation and z-test. All hypotheses formulated were tested at a 0.05 level of significance.

Results: Findings of the study revealed that there was a significant relationship between risk-taking behaviour (mean of 12.83) and entrepreneurial aspiration of undergraduates (mean of 80.92) with a p-value of 0.00, < 0.05. Also, the finding of the study showed that there was a significant difference between risk taking behaviour of male (mean of 241.2) and female (mean of 256.1) undergraduates with p-value of 0.01< 0.0.05).

Recommendation: It was recommended among other that adequate education should be given to undergraduates in tertiary institutions on risk-taking and entrepreneurial aspirations in a bid to prepare them for entrepreneurial activities in future. The quality of entrepreneurship education given across all tertiary institutions should be the same since all entrepreneurs are going to face the same challenges when engaging in entrepreneurial activities.