Universal Journal of Educational Research 8(12): 6415-6428, 2020 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2020.081207 Empathy and University Students' Business Startups: The Moderating Role of Experiential Learning Maxwell Olokundun*, Guleduwa Joyce Dishon, Ayodotun Stephen Ibidunni, Mercy Ogbari Department of Business Management, Covenant University, Nigeria Received July 26, 2020; Revised August 25, 2020; Accepted September 29, 2020 Cite This Paper in the following Citation Styles (a): [1] Maxwell Olokundun, Guleduwa Joyce Dishon, Ayodotun Stephen Ibidunni, Mercy Ogbari , "Empathy and University Students' Business Startups: The Moderating Role of Experiential Learning," Universal Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 8, No. 12, pp. 6415-6428, 2020. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2020.081207. (b): Maxwell Olokundun, Guleduwa Joyce Dishon, Ayodotun Stephen Ibidunni, Mercy Ogbari (2020). Empathy and University Students' Business Startups: The Moderating Role of Experiential Learning. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(12), 6415-6428. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2020.081207. Copyright©2020 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Abstract Many universities in developing economies activities are required to achieve best results. Therefore, are now recognising the role of the university in university managers and other stakeholders may expand entrepreneurship education and development of key the curriculum of entrepreneurship training and education entrepreneurial skills by students. Consequently many regimes to cover the development of empathy as an universities in these nations are expanding the curriculum entrepreneurial skill. It is important to state that empathy is contents of entrepreneurship courses and training to help an entrepreneurial skill that can be developed hence, students develop these key skills. As a student teaching empathy as a theme targeted at the creation of entrepreneur it is important that students are taught the creative start-ups is considered favourable in this regard. capabilities of instantly thinking outside the box which also Keywords Empathy, Business Start-ups, University involves empathising in order to visualize the various students outcomes. Often from these challenges a student entrepreneur can take advantagep of o portunities, if they are taught how to engage empathy to clearly see them. Therefore, the goal of this paper was to examine the influence of empathy among university students as a 1. Introduction determinant of creation of successful and innovative Entrepreneurship education in Nigeria, among other students’ start-ups. The moderating role of experiential things, aims to provide the awareness, skills and learning was also assessed. To achieve this goal, a sample inspiration to students in tertiary institutions to promote size of 357 students of Covenant University in Nigeria, was entrepreneurial success through a variety of projects. By used. The data collected were analysed by means of developing new goods and services, entrepreneurs regression analysis and Hayes process macro. The result minimize dependency on outdated technology and thus showed that empathy has positive significant effect on improve and simplify everyday life. Entrepreneurship students’ start-ups among university students (p < 0.05) education helps students of all social backgrounds think and experiential learning moderated the relationship beyond the box and develop unique talents and skills. It between empathy and students start-ups among university provides opportunities, promises social inclusiveness, students. Based on the findings the study concluded that builds confidence and stimulates the economy. The effect university managers and other stakeholders in developing of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria is a good one countries may expand entrepreneurship training and considering that the entrepreneurship curriculum allows education curriculum contents based on the development learners create and support social change. of empathy as an entrepreneurial skill. The findings also Nevertheless, a germane entrepreneurial skill that indicated that moderate levels of experiential learning should be taught in order to create a positive change in the 6416 Empathy and University Students' Business Startups: The Moderating Role of Experiential Learning entrepreneurial space is empathy (Chander, 2017). program is associated with inculcating entrepreneurial Success stems from ideas, and in order to have those ideas skills and learner qualities (Zapeda, 2013). created, heard and discussed a student entrepreneur must Entrepreneurship education is the scope of lectures, possess empathy. Therefore, to succeed as a start-up, a curricula, and programs aimed at providing students with student entrepreneur must be taught to take on what others the requisite entrepreneurial skills, knowledge, and skills say and see things from a different perspective, as being in to pursue an entrepreneurial career (Zhou, et.al, 2012). their shoes. A student entrepreneur must be taught to Entrepreneurs were assumed to be individuals with appreciate, understand and share those feelings of others. peculiar genes that emerge as a result of genetic Empathy is a hard business skill that’s absolutely critical inheritance, but this theory has been demystified on the to the bottom line. This empathy must be directed at basis that every person has the potential to become an customers, partners and all a student entrepreneur is entrepreneur through the educational process (Ubpgu, working with. Greater and deeper relationships are built 2014). Most concepts of entrepreneurship education upon feelings of trust hence, in order to have long-lasting accept that one of the key goals is to instill in learners and genuine relationships a start-up must engage empathy. entrepreneurial skills that should culminate in Student start-ups often face dilemmas of needing to entrepreneurial actions and practice (Saeid, et.al, 2014). change or alter the product, the message, the goal, the idea, Knowledge, skills and competencies are two main terms the team, the concept, the brand, the voice among many closely associated with education as a definition (Purcarea, other aspects (Ooi & Ahmad, 2012). Start-ups are 2012). Therefore a comprehensive definition of constantly changing, adapting and learning as they face entrepreneurship education should incorporate new situations, problems or opportunities. As a student information and skills as process outcomes (Piperopoulos entrepreneur it is important to have the capabilities of & Dimov, 2014). This study will therefore follow the instantly thinking outside the box which also involves concept of entrepreneurship education proposed by empathising in order to visualize the various outcomes. Alberti Sciascia and Poli (2004), which defined Often from these challenges a student entrepreneur can entrepreneurship education as the organized formal take advantage of opportunities, if they are able to engage communication of entrepreneurial skills, consisting of the empathy to clearly see them. Therefore having empathy is skills and mental knowledge employed by individuals such an important quality for a student entrepreneur. towards the expression of entrepreneurial actions and However, the question is, can empathy be taught and practice. learn as an entrepreneurial skill? As Heick (2015) argues, It can be argued that education and learning about empathy represents concern towards others and is no more entrepreneurship need to reflect the phase that instinctively present in some individuals than in others. It entrepreneurs go through by focusing on practice, is an ability that can be learned and nurtured in a positive real-world experiences and reflection (Penaluna, et.al, learning environment. To this end, Kutlu and Coskun 2012). Courses based on skills and knowledge growth (2014) examined the role and performance of empathy in indicate that students are more likely to engage in the learning process; the relation between management entrepreneurship (Nabi et al. 2017). In response to functions and empathy and their effect on the academic conventional courses on entrepreneurship, Neck and performance in basic vocational training students was also Greene (2011) emphasize that education on assessed by Cid-Sillero, et.al (2018). while more recently, entrepreneurship should concentrate on how to conduct, the role played by empathy in industry, with focus on core foresee and generate in an unknown future. skill of entrepreneurial competency and mind set, was Entrepreneurship course content would concentrate on the explored by Korte, et.al (2018). Most extant studies process of learning entrepreneurial skills and mind-sets. related to the subject of this research have largely ignored With this in mind, there has been a shift from teaching the role of empathy in entrepreneurship education with conventional curriculum content to a more holistic emphasis on motivating students’ start-ups particularly in approach, where the course content is more focused on the university setting. This is particularly relevant to developing entrepreneurial mind-sets and behaviors developing nations where entrepreneurship education is (Olorundare and Kayode, 2014). It has also been argued still at the formative stage in most universities Therefore, that empathy is a key skill for entrepreneurs who want to the goal of this paper