Digital Media Literacy and Students’ Entrepreneurial Readiness in State Public Universities, Delta State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study examined the digital media literacy and students’ entrepreneurship readiness in state public universities in Delta State, Nigeria. Specifically, it assessed the effects of digital communication and collaboration and innovative digital creativity on students’ preparedness to initiate and manage entrepreneurial ventures. Two research questions were raised in line with stated objective leading to two hypotheses being postulated. A descriptive survey design was adopted, and a total of 376 respondents were sampled from a population of 40,989 students using Krejcie and Morgan’s table. Only data received from 311 respondents were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple regression. The findings revealed that both digital communication and collaboration (β = 0.454, p < 0.001) and innovative digital creativity (β = 0.538, p < 0.001) had significant positive effects on students’ entrepreneurship readiness. The model explained 57.1% of the variance in entrepreneurship readiness (R² = 0.571), indicating a strong predictive relationship. The study concluded that fostering digital competencies and creativity enhances students’ entrepreneurial preparedness, supporting both Human Capital Theory and Innovation Diffusion Theory. It recommends that universities integrate collaborative digital platforms, promote creative digital programmes, and establish experiential entrepreneurship environments to strengthen students’ readiness for entrepreneurial activities.