VOL. 11, NO. 2 FALL 2022 Entrepreneurial Engagements Its Motivations and Challenges Among Undergraduate Students of Nsukka Arts School in Nigeria Chikelue Chris Akabuike University of Nigeria ABSTRACT: This study addresses the experiences of undergraduate entrepreneurs, including what motivates them, their challenges, and how they navigate both entrepreneurial activities and academic work. Using a snowball approach, a qualitative research design involving fifteen purposively selected respondents from among the sculpture students of the Nsukka Art School was used as a case study. Data collection and analysis were conducted using a semi-structured interview and a thematic analysis approach, respectively. Findings show that respondents are actively involved in entrepreneurial deeds within multiple non-sculpture related fields such as painting, graphic, communication design, T-shirt printing, portrait making, and utility wood sculptures. They are motivated by the quest to address personal financial constraints. Such entrepreneurial quests, however, expose them to specialization and operational, marketing, and managerial challenges. It is recommended that policymakers in academia, industry, and government work together toward repositioning student entrepreneurs by creating the enabling environment for economic growth. While a further study is needed to understand how undergraduates navigate their managerial challenges, the nuanced performance and difference in age and gender is noteworthy. KEYWORDS: entrepreneurial activities, motivation, undergraduates’ challenges, Nsukka Art School. DOI: doi.org/10.34053/artivate.11.2.172 Introduction For decades, textual evidence has shown that entrepreneurship contributes greatly to national development (UNCTAD 2004; Smith 2010, Patten, 2016). Hence, some African countries, like Ghana, have witnessed positive economic transformation and evidence of improved unemployment rates, which are due to students’ engagement with entrepreneurship activities (Tsikata, 2001; Bani, 2003; Quaidoo, 2018; Arthur & Adom, 2019). Nigeria, however, is yet to utilize its students’ entrepreneurial capacity. ARTIVATE 11.2 2 Consequently, there has been an increase in youth unemployment and an inclination towards illicit means of making money—an avoidable development which may be countered by the utilization of opportunities like wood sculpture and other students’ entrepreneurial practices (Akabuike, 2021a; Akabuike, 2021b; Ngwu & Akabuike, 2019; Ellis, 2017; Amsami, 2014). The Ghanaian government, on the other hand, has continued to “promote entrepreneurship, especially among the youths with the introduction of initiatives such as the Campus Business Pitch” (Naa, Arthur & Arthur, 2020, p. 84; Tanko, 2019). Furthermore, the Tertiary Students’ Entrepreneurship Initiative (Mohammed, 2019) suggests that promoting students’ entrepreneurial activities can reveal their entrepreneurial capabilities (Bergmann, Hundt & Sternberg, 2016). Naa et al. also argue “…that the student entrepreneur gains entrepreneurial learning experiences that position students for better navigation in full-time entrepreneurship at a future date” (2020, p. 84). Fatoki (2014) has also argued that some successful entrepreneurs today started in university environments. This emphasizes the important roles played by both the student’s environment and a university education in nurturing entrepreneurial growth and ideas. The Ghanaian experience offers the need for investigations into other African countries, especially Nigeria, in which its untapped students’ entrepreneurial activities could do a lot to assuage the country’s economic peril. Art entrepreneurs contribute to the economic development of any nation. They do so through their unique level of creative input, involvement in innovative engagements, and revenue generation (Philips, 2010; Ngwu & Akabuike, 2019; Akabuike, 2021; Thurik, 1999). As such, there is a need for its critical study in tertiary institutions where the youth constitute what scholars call the “creative city.” In recent times, however, studies have focused on understanding the students’ entrepreneurial intentions for future entrepreneurial activities rather than on their current entrepreneurial engagements, motivations, and challenges (Marchand, Hermes & Sood, 2015; Appiah-Nimo, Ofori & Arthur, 2018). This is arguably why the concept of student entrepreneurship is underdeveloped in Africa (Naa et al., 2020), and particularly in Nigeria (Akabuike, 2021a & 2021b). Student entrepreneurship involves active innovative engagements in revenue generation through entrepreneurial activities by individuals studying full-time at a university (Marchand et al., 2016). Other scholars argue that (among professional artists) what may constitute entrepreneurial activities may not always be innovative engagements and revenue generation but also self-management, self-marketing, and self- actualization activities that help professional artists to market their identity and sell their artwork to the world (Beckman & Essig, 2012; Pollard & Wilson, 2014; Chang & Wyszomirski, 2015; Rivetti & Migliaccio, 2018). As a fledgling and expanding subject (Shoshanah et al., 2018), arts entrepreneurship caught the attention of gatekeepers in the entrepreneurship fields in the early 2000s (Caves, 2000; Rentschler, 2003; Mulcahy, 2003) and provoked a wide range of art entrepreneurial definitions. Whereas to some the term arts entrepreneur is related to business in a similar context and with the same guiding principles that determine success in a normal ARTIVATE 11.2 3 entrepreneurship vernacular (Beckman, 2007; Wyszomirski & Goldberg-Miller, 2015), McNicholas (2004), for example, refers to it as cultural entrepreneurship. Yet, according to Essig (2015), this is a brand new discipline with a scope beyond corporate management and the potential for a more socially relevant and public value standard. The lack of consensus on the definition has forced scholars of arts entrepreneurship to draw on ideas from other fields of study for the conceptual frameworks, models, hypotheses, and findings of their research (Preece, 2013; Essig, 2015; White, 2017). The numerous sectors of arts entrepreneurship, including arts administration and policy, non-profit management, and the business world—alongside the different parameters of their respective disciplines—is why the term has so many varied definitions. That said, Beckman (2014) advocates the need to define the term arts entrepreneurship because doing so will assist to distinguish between what is and is not the practice. Moreover, there are not many texts that encourage the idea of art as an entrepreneurial endeavour in African discourses, and there is not much literature on the theories that should guide entrepreneurship study, education, and practice (Akabuike, 2021a & 2021b; Chandler & Lyon, 2001; Baumol, 1993; Bull & Willard, 1993; Cooper, 1993; Bygrave & Hofer, 1991). These developments may have resulted from a dearth of qualitative documentation of academically trained artists and their entrepreneurial engagements and perspectives in the creative and cultural industries. These gaps may have also contributed to the severe unemployment that young people currently experience in various African countries, particularly in Nigeria where youth internet fraud is now prevalent (Akabuike, 2021b; Ellis, 2017). Since this is a new field, academics have called for a clearly defined and widely accepted concept. However, it is hoped that as the discipline develops, a consensus will eventually emerge. Nevertheless, there is a consensus that arts add value, and this, on the other hand, is a key element in the context of arts entrepreneurship. This is a concept that has the totality of monetary benefits alongside the added value of cultural and intellectual productions (Frey, 2005). This partially captures the reality of the connection between Nsukka Art School (NAS) students’ underlying needs for entrepreneurial art. Chang, Wyszomirski, and Essig (2015) emphasise arts entrepreneurship as a medium for accomplishment via the deployment of ingenuity with limited resources. To this extent, there is a need to anchor theories on “tested and observable situations” (White, 2019, p. 47). This is what the current study sets out to achieve. Accordingly, the study relies on the foregoing arguments to explore the nexus between the activities of undergraduates of the NAS at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. This will help to nuance what constitute entrepreneurial activities among undergraduates of the NAS, what motivates them, and how they navigate their academic pursuit and other challenges that confront them. The findings may be similar to those of either Naa et al. (2020), in Ghana, or to Ndirangu and Bosire (2004), in Kenya, wherein students undergo entrepreneurial experiences as a survival strategy. This is under the assumption that Nigeria’s present economic state may be compared to both Ghana and Kenya before the economic ARTIVATE 11.2 4 resuscitation occurred following students’ entrepreneurial education. It may be that the steep unemployment level makes it difficult for some parents to take care of their children’s educational needs. Additionally, low-paying jobs arguably underscore the need for undergraduate entrepreneurship. Therefore, there is a strong need to explore undergraduate entrepreneurship with the aid of a qualitative method not only into what they do but also into why and how they do them (Dana & Dana, 2005). This call echoes Nabi et al., (2010) who specifically suggest the need for more in-depth and qualitative research to understand the stories and circumstances surrounding entrepreneurial students. The exploration of these assumptions using the NAS undergraduate entrepreneurs as a case study will aid our understanding of the needs of undergraduate entrepreneurs, as well as provide sustainable feedback on their engagements, motivations and challenges, failures (if any), disappointments, and successes. Elsewhere, scholars have identified some of the challenges entrepreneurs face, including poor statistics on the survival rates of enterprises, especially start-ups and micro, small, and medium-sized (MSME) businesses (Naa et al., 2020; White, 2019; Essig, 2012). However, considering the pressure to meet their academic demands and other specific limitations like access to resources and expertise, the challenges that the undergraduates encounter concerning entrepreneurship could be markedly different (Fatoki & Garwe 2010; Fatoki, 2014). In all, a good understanding of undergraduates’ entrepreneurial endeavors will give useful insight for proper policy developments that will encourage personal hard work and the ability to benefit society. Background Students’ Entrepreneurial Engagements There is evidence in the literature of students’ active participation in entrepreneurship (Sugiarto et al., 2014; Nenzhelele et al., 2016; Naa et al., 2020). While some of their involvements are an offshoot of academic experiences (Bathelt et al., 2010), others are the outcome of partnerships with bodies that encourage entrepreneurship (Akabuike, 2021a; Pittaway et al., 2011; Pittaway et al., 2015; Ngwu & Akabuike, 2019). In other instances, some have merely stumbled into opportunities and have capitalized on them (Ndirangu & Bosire, 2004; Fatoki, 2014; Fini et al., 2016). The undergraduate entrepreneurial involvements usually occur within the university environment with members of the university community as the target market (Ndirangu & Bosire, 2004). The services rendered include (but are not limited to) businesses in the production of general art, graphic design, fashion design, video games, architecture, T-shirt branding, and communication design (Anderson, 2014; Protogerou, Caloghiru & Markou, 2015). All these endeavors contribute to economic development (Adebayo & Jenyo, 2013). The ongoing circumstances gives rise to an assumption that visual arts provide countless opportunities ARTIVATE 11.2 5 and increases confidence for interested undergraduates who indulge in entrepreneurship (Akabuike, 2021b; Bell & Bell, 2016). Such indulgence might culminate in a full-time entrepreneurial engagement after graduation (Nenzhelele et al., 2016). This can, therefore, help to curb the present economic hardship in Nigeria. These assumptions, however, remain to be confirmed by the undergraduates of the Nsukka Art School. Drive for Undergraduates Entrepreneurs Scholars have observed that the need for financial gratification is the primary factor that drives undergraduates into entrepreneurship (Naa et al., 2020; Fatoki, 2014; Kirkwood, 2009; Bensing et al., 2009; Ndirangu & Bosire, 2004; Carter et al., 2003). Apart from financial reward, other reasons include opportunity, the desire for independence, the quest to conquer challenges and achievement, family financial security, and job satisfaction and security. Robichaud et al. (2001) group these under intrinsic and extrinsic broad categories. Krishna (2013) categorizes them as internal and external influences, while Charles and Gherman (2015) refer to them as push or pull factors. Elsewhere, scholars have identified both family and peer influences as the primary driving force for students’ entrepreneurship in Italy (Fini, Meoli, Sobrero, Ghiselli & Ferrante, 2016). In Africa, scholars have identified the need to survive and overcome financial difficulties rather than an opportunity for career building as the major reason for students’ entrepreneurial quests (Naa et al., 2020; Ndirangu & Bosire, 2004). Notwithstanding these efforts by students, it has been observed that the revenue generated from these experiences is usually insufficient to meet their financial needs. This was corroborated by Naa et al. (2020) in their recent study of Ghana. Another study in South Africa has shown that most undergraduate entrepreneurs are driven by financial challenges (Fatoki, 2014). The current article tests these assumptions among the undergraduates of the Nsukka Arts School. Academic Work Balance and the Challenges of Undergraduate Entrepreneurs Embarking upon entrepreneurial practices always comes with a lot of challenges (Naa et al., 2020). These challenges, which are grouped under technological, marketing, financial, production, and managerial factors, confront students as well as general entrepreneurs (Sugiarto, 2014). Textual evidence shows that access to finance, lack of business managerial skills, poor networking, and labour costs are the major challenges facing undergraduate entrepreneurs (Fatoki & Garve, 2010; Fatoki, 2014; Naa et al., 2020). However, unlike the challenges of lack of technical and managerial skills in Africa, the difficulties confronting student entrepreneurs in developed countries, like Italy, include high taxation and excessive bureaucracy (Fini et al., 2016). Other difficulties include low self-confidence in student entrepreneurs, cultural diversity among those working in groups, and poor commitment of group members (Bagheri & Pihie, 2011). ARTIVATE 11.2 6 However, Ndirangu and Bosire (2004) observe that the challenge of balancing entrepreneurial activities and academic work remains the topmost need of undergraduate entrepreneurs. Elsewhere, Abamba, Lawanson, and Sobowale (2017) observe that student entrepreneurial engagement has no significant or adverse effect on their academic performance. Ndirangu and Bosire (2004) corroborate this point by noting that only a few student entrepreneurs felt negatively impacted by their academic work. On the contrary, Fini et al. (2016) think that students who are not entrepreneurs performed better in terms of their ability to complete their studies on time. Also, their final grades seem better than those of the student entrepreneurs. According to Ndirangu and Bosire (2004), some student entrepreneurs have devised means of balancing their entrepreneurial activities and schoolwork. These include their ability to take advantage of periods of higher business opportunity, such as the start of the semester when students still have money, during celebrations like Saint Valentine’s Day when students give away presents, and during periodic events like birthdays and anniversaries. Students also account for the deficit of missed lectures by copying notes from colleagues, studying long into the night, and soliciting assistance from friends, family, business partners, and employees to assist with running their businesses while they are in school (Ndirangu & Bosire, 2004). Purpose of the Study The main purpose of the study is to ascertain what constitutes entrepreneurial engagements among the undergraduate students of Nsukka Arts School (NAS), University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Specifically, the study set out to determine: 1. The type of entrepreneurial engagements undertaken by undergraduates of NAS. 2. The motivational factors for student entrepreneurship. 3. The challenges faced by undergraduates of different abilities who engage in entrepreneurial activities. Research Questions 1. What types of entrepreneurial engagements do undergraduate students of NAS undertake? 2. What are the levels of motivational factors in NAS undergraduate entrepreneurial engagements? 3. What challenges confront NAS undergraduate students of entrepreneurship? Methodology Relying on a case study, the methodology applied a qualitative research design to offer a thorough understanding of a given social unit (Nworgu, 2015). This design was deemed ARTIVATE 11.2 7 appropriate for this study because it focused primarily on a target group. The area of the study was the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study focused on undergraduate students of the Nsukka Art School. The population of the study included a total of fifteen participants drawn from third and final-year undergraduates of the visual arts sculpture section. Yin (2009) recommends the qualitative research approach for studying a specific topic in detail. In terms of the number of participants, Adler and Adler (as cited in Baker, Edwards & Doidge, 2012) have further suggested that a sample size between twelve and sixty is usually appropriate in qualitative research. Moving on, these fifteen students were purposively selected from the third and fourth-year classes for their active involvement in the provision of art services to the Nsukka environment. The entire population was sampled using a purposive and snowball approach since it was small and manageable. While, nine respondents were sampled from the final-year class, six were sampled from the third-year class. Once the first respondent in each class was selected purposively, snowball sampling, as prescribed by Naderifar, Ghaljaei, and Goli, (2017), was used to gain access to the rest of the respondents. This approach is most useful because it granted me access to those respondents who ordinarily may not have openly conversed with me. I applied it here because most of the students hide their entrepreneurial experiences from their teachers for fear that they be perceived as neglecting their academic assignments. Data saturation as prescribed by Saunders et al. (2018) was used as the guiding principle for the sample size determination. Hence, data collection was halted at the point where no new data emerged from the interviewees’ responses. Data collection was carried out with the help of a semi-structured interview guide. Data were also drawn from participant observation as respondents physically interacted with me for half an hour daily over three months, from February 2021 to May 2021, at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. This was supplemented with follow-up interviews during and immediately after that period (June 2021). This allowed me to address any gaps identified in the analysis. The interview was considered the most appropriate instrument for data collection in this study because it created room for respondents to express their views and experiences freely and in detail (discussed further in Milena et al., 2008). These undergraduates shared their entrepreneurial engagements which enabled me to assess what constituted their entrepreneurial activities, their motivations, and the challenges that they experienced as students during the practice. The qualitative research design used for analysis here aligns with the position of scholars like Naa et al. (2020) and Hindle (2004), who advocate for an interpretivist epistemological stance and an ontological position of relativism with an emphasis on understanding and interpreting the stories of individuals, rather than proving a point or generalizing. Data analysis, therefore, involved open and axial coding and thematic strategies, as prescribed by Creswell (2005). In what follows, I present an overview of emerging key issues in relation to the theoretical and empirical literature; I also discuss the findings and offer conclusions and recommendations. ARTIVATE 11.2 8 Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria As part of the eligibility criteria, the subject had to be studying fine and applied arts within the sculpture section at Nsukka Art School as well as be engaged in entrepreneurial activities. To be exposed to the research instrument (questionnaire and interview sessions), they had to be in their third and fourth years and not be on an industrial attachment at the time of this research. Students’ family members, sponsors, and staff of the department were excluded from the study. Undergraduates who were studying fine and applied arts in other sections, like textiles, painting, graphics, and fashion, were also excluded from the study. Result Presentation and Analysis Demographic Details of Undergraduate Respondents Respondents’ demographic details varied only slightly in characteristics such as age, gender, and year of study. Regarding age, eleven out of fifteen respondents fell within sixteen to twenty-five years old, while the remaining four respondents were slightly older: between twenty-six and thirty years old. The male undergraduates dominated the sample: eleven out of the fifteen respondents were males. This gender representation is poor considering the entire female population in the department and university. This may be because sculpture is perceived as masculine. However, the study shows that the four female representatives were steeped in entrepreneurial activities. It could be deduced, however, that they were exposed to entrepreneurial experiences during their third-year, second-semester industrial attachment. Of the fifteen respondents, only nine of them had completed their industrial attachment at the time of the study. Students’ Entrepreneurial Engagements Of the fifteen entrepreneurial activities performed by the students, only three respondents engaged in graphics and communication design, T-shirt printing, fashion design, and 3D /signboard design. Twelve students engaged in portrait making, painting, and metalwork, and thirteen engaged in utility woodwork sculptures. Whereas fifteen of them engaged in other sculpture commissions, fourteen engaged in modelling and casting. Two respondents engaged in make-up designing, while another two engaged in designing and printing works. The entrepreneurial activities that seemed least favored were knitting and weaving, calligraphic writing, and engraving: only one person was involved with them, respectively. Respondents’ Reasons for Engaging in Entrepreneurial Activities The various factors that motivate the students to delve into entrepreneurship were ARTIVATE 11.2 9 captured in their responses. Six engage in it for fun, and fifteen do so to improve their skills and finances, as well as strengthen their desire for independence. The need to help others is the least motivating factor because only one respondent engages in entrepreneurial activities for that purpose. However, fourteen respondents do so to assist their parents/sponsors with extra income. Eleven respondents derive job satisfaction from entrepreneurial engagements. The interviews also revealed the desire to be well equipped with the right energy, zeal, technical know-how, and ability to face the challenges of running an art studio upon graduating. Findings from twelve out of fifteen respondents show that the desire to make extra money independent of their sponsors is a motivating factor. This dovetails with their desire to be able to handle their day-to-day financial needs as well as to contribute to the financial wellbeing of their respective families. Respondents’ Challenges as Undergraduate Entrepreneurs The students encounter serious challenges in some areas of their practice. Although two respondents find it difficult to execute work from other areas of the department, only two find it easy to market their work. This is why only two said that “they do not need managers to handle the marking aspect of their studio production.” However, fifteen of the respondents always find the necessary contacts to help them accomplish a given work. Other challenges not captured in the questionnaire (but revealed during the interview) include the risk of monetary involvement—that is, financial challenges to execute private works and display them for sale, as well as lacking an adequate venue to do so. In addition, there is the problem of a paucity of funds to purchase various materials and machines to facilitate work production. The risk of funding a piece of work that is not demanded remains a constraint, even as they battle with poor patronage and a lack of ready buyers after production. There is also the challenge of inadequate funds and capital to produce the kind of art that they have in mind. Another challenge is working overtime to meet academic deadlines and other assignments. The academic modules which encourage multiple classes per day sometimes limit the respondents from undertaking other tasks. However, when the workload increases, they end up not properly executing both classwork and contracts; and this also leads to ill health. This is clearly a challenge that reflects their inability to effectively manage time. Having late and sleepless nights to satisfy all pending workloads can be very tasking, and it arguably leads to physical stress during the day. It also causes issues of punctuality for classes and important school meetings. Satisfying deadlines becomes challenging as they must combine the acquired work with their school workload. Sharing entrepreneurial activity time with academic workload results in late submissions of poorly finished assignments. The inability to deliver work on time to their clients sometimes hampers the relationship between the client and business owner. This adversely affects their schoolwork and often leads to a loss of general focus. Another challenge is insufficient space to work. This includes the problem of sharing the limited ARTIVATE 11.2 10 studio space with other students. Discussion The foregoing presents the entrepreneurial engagements of undergraduate students of Nsukka Art School, their motivations and their challenges. The reasons that students risk their mainline academic work to engage in entrepreneurial activities include financial constraints, validation (Naa et al., 2020; Fatoki, 2014; Kirkwood, 2009; Benzing et al., 2009; Ndirangu & Bosier, 2004; Carter et al., 2003), and assumptions. This, therefore, corroborates my earlier position that Nigeria needs to borrow a lead from countries like Ghana and Kenya where students’ entrepreneurial activities boost the economy for both the students and the country. For this to thrive properly, time and other factors, including the possibility of tweaking the present academic curriculum and calendar, should be considered. The status quo does not afford the students enough time to engage gainfully in entrepreneurial activities. It is observed that although the respondents are sculpture students, they also engage in other areas of fine and applied arts endeavors, which gives them a wider range of entrepreneurial opportunities. It is also noted that in the quest for knowledge and skill acquisition, the NAS undergraduates explore beyond the skills acquired within the curriculum. They specifically covered areas like knitting, make-up, weaving, calligraphic writing, and engraving, even though only very few engaged in these areas. This supports the argument by Akabuike (2021a,b), Ngwu and Akabuike (2019), Protogerou et al. (2015), Adebayo and Jenyo (2013), and Anderson (2014) that the visual arts provide ample opportunities for entrepreneurial activities. Apart from the financial gratification, other students’ entrepreneurial motivating factors reside within the boundaries of fun, skill acquisition, the quest for independence, job satisfaction, and self-actualization. The finding shows that the respondents utilize this entrepreneurial opportunity to gather experience for the future (Bell & Bell, 2016). The findings show that other challenges include the issue of specialization and operational abilities, as well as marketing and managerial skills (Fatoki & Garve, 2010; Fatoki, 2014; Sugiarto, 2014). Significantly, the challenges of high taxation and excessive bureaucracy that Fini et al. (2016) emphasized elsewhere were completely absent in this study. This may be because of the relaxed taxation policies in many African states. The findings reveal the need for better university management, well-meaning individuals, extra effort from the teachers, and the society at large to develop an enabling environment that will foster entrepreneurial development for undergraduate entrepreneurs. Considering the respondents’ ages—youths in their prime who are filled with ambition and energy—granting them the opportunity to develop their full potential is of paramount importance to society. ARTIVATE 11.2 11 Recommendations Based on the above, the following recommendations are made. 1. That policymakers in academia, industry, and government work together towards repositioning student entrepreneurs by creating an enabling environment for economic growth. 2. An entrepreneurial study should be encouraged in undergraduates’ curricula, whether in private universities or government-owned institutions. This will promote the popularity of entrepreneurial activities among youths and undergraduate students. 3. Hold regular workshops for teachers, parents, and other relevant stakeholders. These will facilitate the training and motivation of undergraduate entrepreneurs along the lines of entrepreneurial endowment and value for their creative abilities. 4. Teachers ought to be inspired enough to foster a passion for creative arts instruction in secondary schools. Additionally, this will enhance the societal values of history and culture, as well as the associated benefits. 5. Government, parents, and society should discourage acquiring paper credentials at the expense of practical courses like fine and applied arts, music, theatre, and film studies. If done so, this will free undergraduate entrepreneurs to participate more in activities that will support young people who are self-employed and employers of labor for the nation. Recommendations for further studies Further study is needed to understand how undergraduates navigate their managerial challenges, given the nuanced performance and difference in age and gender. The role of gender is a potential aspect to fully explore, including whether or not larger samples of female students will be needed to enable generalizations among visual arts. Also, the role that third-year industrial attachment plays in entrepreneurial activities is yet to be fully explored. Another issue is the balancing of their academic and entrepreneurial work. Granted that the current respondents are art students whose core study is geared towards entrepreneurship, a separate study, therefore, can investigate the implications of entrepreneurial activities on non-arts students to, among other things, know how they survive, juggle entrepreneurship, and interface with their academic work. Further study is also needed to ascertain the implication of entrepreneurial activities on others like history and education majors of fine and applied arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Since their training tends away from entrepreneurship, there is need to know how they navigate financial difficulties and needs. Also, the effect of ARTIVATE 11.2 12 entrepreneurship on students’ academic (final) year results remains unexplored. The exploration of these gaps will help to determine the best approaches to students’ entrepreneur policies by policymakers. This can be achieved by providing grants and scholarships for students of fine and applied Arts. This will not only ease the financial burden on them but also afford them the privilege to explore other creative areas and contribute to the country’s economic growth. Conclusion The findings of the study have shown that undergraduates of Nsukka Arts School (NAS) engage in multiple art-related fields, ranging from sculpture to painting, graphics, fashion, utility wood, and calligraphic writing. From the findings, it can be resolved that financial constraint is the topmost motivational factor in student entrepreneurs. They delve beyond their areas of specialization and into other areas of interest as long as there is some accruable financial benefit to claim with minimal risk to their academic work. References Abamba, A., Lawanson, A. O., & Sobowale, D. A. (2017). Entrepreneurial interest and academic performance in Nigeria: Evidence from undergraduate students in the University of Ibadan. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 6, no. 9: 1-15. Adebayo, O., & Jenyo, G. K. (2013). Embarking on entrepreneurial activity in the textiles and clothing industry as the only way to economic growth in the sector. 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Photo by Ekene Anikpe. Introduction Background Students’ Entrepreneurial Engagements Drive for Undergraduates Entrepreneurs Academic Work Balance and the Challenges of Undergraduate Entrepreneurs Purpose of the Study Research Questions Methodology Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria Result Presentation and Analysis Demographic Details of Undergraduate Respondents Students’ Entrepreneurial Engagements Respondents’ Reasons for Engaging in Entrepreneurial Activities Respondents’ Challenges as Undergraduate Entrepreneurs Discussion Recommendations Recommendations for further studies Conclusion