SOCIAL MEDIA USE FOR VOCATIONAL SKILLS ACQUISITION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION AMONG FINAL-YEAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Vocational skills acquisition, an integral component of entrepreneurial education, remains a veritable means through which young people are equipped to aspire to become creators of new business ventures. While it is extensively established that formal entrepreneurial education can positively affect entrepreneurial intention, there are limited studies, particularly in Nigeria, on the impact of social media in building informal learning and entrepreneurial interest among university students. This study, therefore, sought to fill the research gap by examining the relationship between the utilisation of social media for vocational skills acquisition and entrepreneurial intention among final-year university students in Nigeria. Adopting the survey research design, data were collected from 240 final-year undergraduates from a private university in Nigeria. Findings showed that the extent of social media use for vocational skills acquisition was high, with no significant gender difference. There was a significant difference in entrepreneurial intention between students with and without prior entrepreneurship engagement experience. Extent of social media use for vocational skills acquisition was shown to significantly predict entrepreneurial intention. It was concluded that the more intensely students utilise social media for acquiring vocational skills, the more critically is their entrepreneurial intention bound to be influenced by the media form compared to other options of entrepreneurial education.