UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND SELF-EMPLOYMENT: THE IMPLICATION FOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Abstract

Self-employment has been an increasing commonality among students of higher institutions, with minimal signs of ever decreasing in magnitude. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of self-employment on academic performance of students in tertiary institutions, with the view to ascertain the advantages or otherwise of such for policy implementations. The Federal University of Technology, Akure was used as reference case. A survey research design was adopted for the study. The data were analysed using descriptive (tables, frequencies, percentages and arithmetic mean) and inferential (Chi-square and Correlation) statistics. The research results revealed that there is no significant relationship between the students’ nature of business and the hours they devote to their business (P>0.05, χ2=0.444) and that there is no significant relationship between nature of business and academic performance of the students (χ2=0.450, P>0.05). Furthermore, there is no significant correlation between hours devoted to business and the students’ academic performance (r= -0.694, P>0.05). As such the study concluded that the students’self-employment did not negatively affect their academics performance.