Abstract
In the 21st century, industry-based learning has gained prominence across many emerging economies as a transformative pedagogical approach in higher education for entrepreneurial capacity development. Despite the benefits of entrepreneurship education, many graduates still lack entrepreneurial competencies required to start and manage business ventures. This study investigates how industry-based learning (IBL) influences entrepreneurial competency development among students, focusing on exposure factors and outcomes at the University of Delta, Nigeria. It is an empirical study, anchored on a quantitative case-study design, involving eight-six entrepreneurship students at the University of Delta, Nigeria in 2024/2025 academic session. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using frequency tables, mean scores, standard deviation and Spearman rank-order correlation matrix. Findings revealed a high level of exposure to industry-based learning activities. Industrial tour engagement, fieldwork participation and the quality of industry learning environment emerged as significant drivers of students’ exposure to industry-based learning; supervision and mentorship demonstrated a moderate significant effect while students’ interest and commitment showed a very weak and non-significant relationship (rho (ρ) = 0.144, p-value = 0.187). Industry-based learning showed significant positive relationships with problem-solving ability, creative and innovative skills, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, business operations competence, opportunity recognition and planning skills, interpersonal relations and leadership capacity. This study suggests that strengthening IBL integration could enhance entrepreneurial competencies among university entrepreneurship students in Nigeria.
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Competency Development, Entrepreneurship Education, Experiential Learning, Higher Education, Industry-Based Learning.