An assessment of student petty trading entrepreneurial activities at Midlands State University (Gweru Campus) and the impact upon their livelihoods.

Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine how entrepreneurship has impacted the livelihoods of students at tertiary institutions. In particular it looks at the student entrepreneurial activities at the Midlands State University (Gweru Campus). The researcher focuses on how the university has promoted entrepreneurship around the campus. She also explores the impact of student petty trading as an entrepreneurial activity on the students’ livelihoods as well as the challenges they face. Lastly the researcher offers ways that can be used to enhance the lives of students through petty trading at the university. It is also the aim of this research to find out if the entrepreneurial activities are enough to sustain the livelihoods of students. The qualitative method was employed during the study along with two types of data gathering which are interviews and questionnaires. A total of forty students were interviewed. The researcher used the purposive and snow ball as the sampling techniques.