Entrepreneurship Competencies and Self Reliance Motive Among Business Education Undergraduates in Public Universities in Cross River State

Entrepreneurship Competencies and Self Reliance Motive Among Business Education Undergraduates in Public Universities in Cross River State | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Entrepreneurship Competencies and Self Reliance Motive Among Business Education Undergraduates in Public Universities in Cross River State Edet E. Okon, Usen Ezekiel Udo, John Jame Ekpor, Victory Ekanem Michael, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7684306/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study investigated the influence of entrepreneurship competencies on the self-reliance motive of Business Education undergraduates in public universities in Cross River State. Specifically, it examined the extent to which digital entrepreneurial competencies, entrepreneurial resilience, and sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial competencies predict students’ self-reliance motive. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and was guided by three research questions and three corresponding null hypotheses. A census of ninety-seven final-year Business Education undergraduates formed the study population. Data were collected using a structured 50-item questionnaire (DECRSO-SRMQ) on a 7-point Likert scale, covering the three independent variables and one dependent variable. Descriptive statistics (item-by-item analysis) and inferential statistics (simple linear regression) were used for data analysis. Findings revealed that students exhibited a high level of digital entrepreneurial competencies (mean = 5.06), though regression analysis showed a weak and negative but significant influence on self-reliance motive (R = .237, p = .020). Entrepreneurial resilience exerted a strong positive influence (R = .562, R² = .316, p < .001), while sustainability-oriented competencies showed a moderate but significant influence (R = .320, R² = .103, p = .001). Self-reliance motive recorded a high overall mean of 5.38. It is concluded that resilience and sustainability-oriented competencies are stronger predictors of self-reliance motive than digital competencies alone. The study recommends integrating hands-on digital entrepreneurship training, resilience-focused simulations, and sustainability-based enterprise modules into Business Education curricula to enhance graduates’ readiness for self-reliant and socially responsible careers. Digital Entrepreneurial Competencies Entrepreneurial Resilience Sustainability-Oriented Competencies Self-Reliance Motive Business Education Public Universities in Nigeria Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7684306","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":548275405,"identity":"2a1cf215-3908-4a71-a58e-e917ef68cb18","order_by":0,"name":"Edet E. 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State\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Digital Entrepreneurial Competencies, Entrepreneurial Resilience, Sustainability-Oriented Competencies, Self-Reliance Motive, Business Education, Public Universities in Nigeria","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7684306/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7684306/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study investigated the influence of entrepreneurship competencies on the self-reliance motive of Business Education undergraduates in public universities in Cross River State. Specifically, it examined the extent to which digital entrepreneurial competencies, entrepreneurial resilience, and sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial competencies predict students\u0026rsquo; self-reliance motive. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and was guided by three research questions and three corresponding null hypotheses. A census of ninety-seven final-year Business Education undergraduates formed the study population. Data were collected using a structured 50-item questionnaire (DECRSO-SRMQ) on a 7-point Likert scale, covering the three independent variables and one dependent variable. Descriptive statistics (item-by-item analysis) and inferential statistics (simple linear regression) were used for data analysis. Findings revealed that students exhibited a high level of digital entrepreneurial competencies (mean\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;5.06), though regression analysis showed a weak and negative but significant influence on self-reliance motive (R\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.237, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.020). Entrepreneurial resilience exerted a strong positive influence (R\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.562, R\u0026sup2; = .316, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001), while sustainability-oriented competencies showed a moderate but significant influence (R\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.320, R\u0026sup2; = .103, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.001). Self-reliance motive recorded a high overall mean of 5.38. It is concluded that resilience and sustainability-oriented competencies are stronger predictors of self-reliance motive than digital competencies alone. The study recommends integrating hands-on digital entrepreneurship training, resilience-focused simulations, and sustainability-based enterprise modules into Business Education curricula to enhance graduates\u0026rsquo; readiness for self-reliant and socially responsible careers.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Entrepreneurship Competencies and Self Reliance Motive Among Business Education Undergraduates in Public Universities in Cross River State","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-26 11:03:47","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7684306/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d51d8247-9a3b-4d3f-906c-9099668bf8a3","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 26th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-28T10:28:43+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-26 11:03:47","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7684306","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7684306","identity":"rs-7684306","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}