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Abstract
This study investigated the effect of perceived desirability on students’ choice of entrepreneurship as a career choice in selected higher institutions in the Buea Municipality. It was hypothesized that perceived desirability does not significantly affect students’ choice of entrepreneurship as a career choice. With this, it was argued that perceived desirability has the capacity to shape student career decisions, including their actions, reactions, choices, goals, interactions and emotional states regarding business creation. The Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991), Shapero and Sokol’s (1982) Entrepreneurial Event Model, and Moscovici’s (1961) Theory of Social Representation formed the theoretical foundation for the study. The sequential explanatory mixed-methods research design was adopted for the study, prioritizing the quantitative phase followed by a qualitative phase. Three hundred and eighty-five final-year students from higher institutions in Buea made up the sample size for the quantitative phase, while a purposive sub-sample was drawn for the qualitative phase. A structured questionnaire measuring perceived desirability and career choice, alongside an interview guide, were the instruments used for data collection. The validity index of the instrument stood at 0.89, and reliability coefficient value for perceived desirability stood at 0.960, and 0.823 for the overall instrument. Data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 27 and thematically. Results showed that perceived desirability significantly predicts students’ choice of entrepreneurship as a career with a strong positive relationship (β = .502, R² = .252, p-value 0.000 < 0.05). However, a paradox was discovered where 76.5% of students found entrepreneurship highly desirable, yet 59.7% exhibited no actual intention to start a business. The qualitative findings introduced concepts such as "Forced Desirability" (desiring business out of necessity rather than opportunity) and the "Safe-Job Pull" (willingness to abandon entrepreneurship for a stable salary) to explain this gap. This study contributes to knowledge by bringing out the contextual nuances of perceived desirability which constitute psychological barriers that significantly affect student career choice. Students are aware of the benefits of entrepreneurship but are constrained by fear and the lack of a safety net. Thus, pedagogical shifts from inspiration to practical execution, and stronger social support systems, would help convert high desirability into actual business creation. The study concluded that perceived desirability is a powerful but insufficient predictor of entrepreneurial career choice in Buea. This could be supported by adequate implementation of policies on graduate employment, practical entrepreneurship education, and stronger institutional support.
References
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