Emotional competencies and cognitive antecedents in shaping student’s entrepreneurial intention: the moderating role of entrepreneurship education

This paper focuses on the analytic thinking of emotional competencies and their influence, in particular, in shaping university students’ entrepreneurial intentions, backed by an extended model of Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour, and analyses the moderating role of entrepreneurial education among the variables under study. The results, derived from an ex-ante and ex-post questionnaire addressed to Spanish university students engaged in a compulsory entrepreneurship course, were subjected to structural equation modelling analysis. Our findings show that entrepreneurship by university students is favoured by the development of their emotional competencies, due to the direct influence of the latter in shaping entrepreneurial intention and its positive impact on their cognitive antecedents (entrepreneurial attitudes and perceived self-efficacy), and suggest that students with a higher degree of emotional competencies who receive entrepreneurship education will have a more positive attitude towards entrepreneurship and will perceive themselves more capable of becoming entrepreneurs. The primary contribution of this paper is to spotlight the use of emotional competencies in encouraging entrepreneurship, and to heighten awareness of the positive effect of education on emotionally-competent students, a factor that should be taken into account to improve entrepreneurship education programmes.

     

Entrepreneurial education and learning at universities: exploring multilevel contingencies

Abstract

Despite the worldwide increase in entrepreneurship education offered at universities, there is an ongoing debate whether and under which conditions this type of education contributes to students’ entrepreneurial learning. Building on human capital theory, we hypothesize that the exposure to various entrepreneurship education initiatives has an inverted U-shaped relationship with entrepreneurial learning outcomes. We also argue that this relationship is moderated by the entrepreneurial experience of the students, the teaching pedagogy applied in entrepreneurial initiatives offered at the university and the prevalence of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship in the country. A multi-level analysis on a cross-country sample of 87,918 students resulting from GUESSS (‘Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey’) strongly confirms our hypotheses, and allows us to discuss implications for researchers, educators and policy makers with respect to the nature of entrepreneurial learning, the design of entrepreneurial education programs, as well as the contextual conditions that impact entrepreneurial learning outcomes.     

Toward rigor and parsimony: a primary validation of Kolvereid’s (1996) entrepreneurial attitudes scales

Questioning the validity of scholarly work is not a typical path to publication in the management field. However, although considerable scholarship assesses entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions models of behaviour, methodological weaknesses in scale development have hampered scholars’ ability to rigorously interpret and build upon their research findings. We review 20 years of research and discover that the pioneer measure of entrepreneurial attitudes as a predictor of self-employment intentions, has yet to be empirically validated. We show that construct and measurement differences, one-off modifications to existing scales and a lack of adequate justification may partially explain why studies in the entrepreneurship education domain have produced inconsistent results. We address this limitation by performing factor analytic techniques on data from two sets of English-speaking university students from two North American countries. The result is a more parsimonious and streamlined ‘mini-Kolvereid’ scale. We further demonstrate that this scale is an effective predictor of entrepreneurial intentions.     

浅析高职院校创业教育体系的构建

高职教育作为与区域经济结合最为紧密、最为密切的教育主体,培养直接面向地方经济、面向行业企业的社会性技能型人才,更应该结合地域文化和高职院校学生的特点,进一步研究和明确高职院校创业教育的基本内容和实施方案,探索出有自己特色的创业教育模式,培育出能适应社会经济发展的大学生创业人才。     

Role model influences on entrepreneurial intentions: A comparison between USA and Mexico

Most research and popular writing includes entrepreneurial role models as an important factor in the decision to start a business. Few, if any, studies compare the influence of business owner role models between two different countries. Further, studies cite the importance of role models for potential entrepreneurs but ignore how the role model process actually works. This study looks at activities that role models might engage in and compares their influence on respondents in the US and Mexico. This is the first study that examines differences in role model influence between two countries. Ten of the variables are significantly different between respondents in the two countries. Nine of the differences were rated as being significantly more influential among Mexican students than US students while only one variable was rated as being significantly less influential. Results of the study, especially as related to the specific influence of role models on career intentions, may be relevant in designing entrepreneurship programs. The results may also be appropriate in courses that discuss entrepreneurship in different countries (e.g., international entrepreneurship). The results may also be relevant in family businesses where eventual continuity of family ownership through succession is desired.     

The role of entrepreneurship education as a predictor of university students’ entrepreneurial intention

Using Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior and Shapero’s entrepreneurial event model as well as entrepreneurial cognition theory, we attempt to identify the relationship between entrepreneurship education, prior entrepreneurial exposure, perceived desirability and feasibility, and entrepreneurial intentions (EI) for university students. The data were collected from a survey of ten universities; we received 494 effective responses. We used probit estimation to show that perceived desirability significantly impacts EI whereas there is no significant impact from perceived feasibility. There is a significant negative impact from exposure (which is surprising) and a significant positive impact from entrepreneurship education. Males and people from technological universities and/or backgrounds have higher EI than females and people from other universities and backgrounds. There are also significant positive interactive effects by gender, university type, and study major on the relationship between entrepreneurship education and EI.     

Entrepreneurship education and the creation of an enterprise culture: provisional results from an experiment in Egypt

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report (2008) for Egypt identified education and training as one of the main constraining factors to entrepreneurship development and the creation of an entrepreneurial culture in the country. Of the 31 countries participating in the National Experts’ Survey, Egypt was ranked in last place in terms of the contribution of the education system and the number one recommendation was that it needs to be reformed. Hence, the study examines the Entrepreneurial Tendencies of students of business administration at the British University in Egypt using the Durham University General Enterprising Tendency Test. It reveals that the entrepreneurial propensity of the Egyptian students is somewhat higher than that of their counterparts in the UK, despite the prevailing traditional “knowledge acquisition” pedagogy. When exposed to a more entrepreneurial style of teaching and learning, the students’ GET scores increased by about 8 per cent over a 12 week period, suggesting that if a change in the educational paradigm could be effected, it should be possible to effect a change in the way students think and behave, thereby helping bring about an entrepreneurial culture. The study examines the brain dominance of the students and makes proposals for future research.     

创业心理品质的界定与培养模式构建

创业心理品质培养应该是创业教育的前提和基础,本文通过对创业心理品质进行界定,探索自主创业过程中应该具有的心理品质特征以及良好的创业心理品质培养的主要渠道和方式,帮助构建高校全面的创业教育模式。     

Growth intentions among research scientists: A cognitive style perspective

Although academic entrepreneurship has taken place in some U.S. universities for many decades, it is only over the past few decades that there has been an increased interest by universities worldwide to engage in their third mission related to entrepreneurship and economic development. Recently, researchers studying academic entrepreneurship have increasingly focused on understanding research scientists׳ entrepreneurial intentions. It has however also been acknowledged that, next to understanding entrepreneurial intentions, it is important to generate insights into growth intentions. This is because growth is unlikely to be achieved if no growth intention exists. Taking a cognition and self-efficacy perspective, our study explores how cognitive styles are associated with growth intentions within a group of research scientists having entrepreneurial intentions. Our study indicates that a planning cognitive style promotes while a knowing cognitive style curbs growth intentions. Further, working experience mitigates the negative impact of a knowing style on growth intentions. Our research has practical implications and implications for technology management, academic entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intentions literatures.     

The impact of a STEM-based entrepreneurship program on the entrepreneurial intention of secondary school female students

Despite dedicated effort and research in the last two decades, the entrepreneurship field is still limited by little evidence-based knowledge of the impacts of entrepreneurship programs on the entrepreneurial intention of students in pre-university levels of study. Further, gender equity continues to be an issue in the entrepreneurial sector, particularly in STEM-focused entrepreneurship. In this context, this study was designed to explore the effects of a one-day female-focused STEM-based entrepreneurship program (for brevity, we call it the OzGirlsEntrepreneurship program) on the entrepreneurial intention of secondary school female students. The study collected data from two surveys completed by 193 secondary school female students, aged 14–16 years, who participated in the OzGirlsEntrepreneurship program. This program encouraged girls to develop and implement creative computational solutions to socially relevant problems, with an Internet of Things (IoT) component using the micro:bit device. The findings reveal that a key factor in the development of entrepreneurial attitudes in young female students is associated with soft-skills development, particularly in the areas of creative thinking, risk-taking, problem-solving, and leadership development. The importance of meaningful human connections, including positive role modelling and peer to peer learning were also important factors in fostering entrepreneurial intent. With these factors in mind, our findings highlight that the OzGirlsEntrepreneurship program substantially increased the entrepreneurial intention of secondary school female students. In addition, this study offers actionable implications and recommendations to develop and deliver entrepreneurship education programs for secondary school level students.

     

May business mentors act as opportunity brokers and enablers among university students?

Networks are recognized as a central component of the entrepreneurial process, in particular with regard to opportunity identification and exploitation. In this study, we specifically analyze the role of mentors who are in business as opportunity brokers and enablers among university students with entrepreneurial intentions. Our investigation on 1022 students from 13 French-language universities based in Canada, France, Belgium and Algeria indicates that mentors in business, contrary to other mentors, support opportunity identification and exploitation among university students. Although student gender, entrepreneurial experience and education have a more pronounced effect, mentoring is the only element that can be controlled for through the creation of formal support programs. These results call on public authorities, and universities in particular, to implement formal mentoring programs to support students who are interested in starting their own business, and who would not otherwise have access to business mentors in their environment.     

Regional variations in entrepreneurial cognitions: Start-up intentions of university students in Spain

Empirical research has recently paid considerable attention to the role of environmental factors in explaining regional variations in entrepreneurial activity. However, cognitive models have not usually included these factors in their analyses. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to identify some of the environmental cognitive elements that may explain regional differences in start-up intentions. Thus, an entrepreneurial intention model is developed, theoretically based on the planned behaviour approach, institutional economic theory and social capital theory. The empirical analysis is carried out using structural equation techniques over a sample of 549 final year university students from two Spanish regions (Catalonia and Andalusia). Results confirm that valuation of entrepreneurship in each region helps explain regional differences in entrepreneurial intentions. As expected, social valuation of the entrepreneur was higher in the more developed region (Catalonia), positively affecting perceived subjective norms and behavioural control. In Andalusia, the influence of perceived valuation of the entrepreneur in the closer environment was more important, affecting attitude towards the behaviour and subjective norms. These results explain some of the differences in the pool of potential entrepreneurs in each region. They also justify the need by public-policy decision-makers to promote more positive entrepreneurial values in relatively backward regions.     

Influences on students attitudes toward entrepreneurship: A multi-country study

Entrepreneurship has been emphasized in many countries as a way of boosting economic growth and job creation. As entrepreneurship is becoming popular around the world, its education should be customized according to each country’s unique cultural context. The purpose of this paper is to identify differences among the selected nations in terms of factors that are important to enhance the pedagogical effect of entrepreneurship education. This is an empirical study based on the data collected from university students in the US, Korea, China and Fiji representing nations with significantly different cultural contexts. The results imply that customized approaches based on unique cultural context are needed for effective entrepreneurship education in each country.     

Student clubs: experiences in entrepreneurial learning

Student-led clubs that seek to enhance entrepreneurial learning can be found in many universities. Yet, like many areas of extra-curricular activity in entrepreneurship education, their role in supporting learning has not been researched widely. The paper introduces research that addresses this gap and investigates the nature of the learning process student's encounter when they take part in clubs. The study explores the literature on entrepreneurial learning; it examines the different concepts and considers their contribution to understanding student learning experiences. From the literature, a conceptual framework is presented, highlighting the key aspects of entrepreneurial learning relevant for the field research. The methodology is introduced, including a series of qualitative studies and a survey of students. The study focuses on two types of student-led clubs ‘entrepreneurship clubs’ and ‘Enactus clubs’ and provides a comparative analysis. The findings reported show a range of student learning benefits that simulate important aspects of entrepreneurial learning, such as learning by doing, learning through mistakes and learning from entrepreneurs. More nuanced findings are also presented showing differences in learning benefits between club forms and heighten benefits for students taking leadership roles. Ultimately, the paper contributes to research in entrepreneurship by illustrating how student clubs support entrepreneurial learning.     

高职学生创业意愿及影响因素研究——以宁波为例

本文首先提出高职学生创业意愿影响因素的四个假设,包括:个人背景、个人特征、家庭情况、创业环境,然后建立实证模型进行逻辑回归分析,得出学科性质、获得奖学金情况、注册资本零首付、接受创业教育情况、意志是否坚定和家族成员中创业人数是影响高职学生创业意愿的六个因素。     

高等职业学校商务英语专业学生实习就业意向调查、分析及对策——以扬州商务高等职业学校2011级商务英语专业实习生为视角

为了解商务英语专业实习生就业意向,本人对扬州商务高等职业学校2011级商务英语专业实习生进行调查,并对调查结果进行分析和探讨,发现学生就业定位不够准确,职业期望不切实际,创业精神不够,对所学专业兴趣不够,并提出调整商务英语人才培养方案,提高学生就业信心,转变学生就业观念,开展创业教育,加强就业指导,实现顺利就业的对策。     

University training for entrepreneurial competencies: Its impact on intention of venture creation

This study tests the effect of entrepreneurship education programmes on the entrepreneurial competencies and intention of university students in order to confirm (or disconfirm) conventional wisdom that entrepreneurial education increases the intention to start a business. We address the following research question: Do entrepreneurship education programmes raise the entrepreneurial competencies and intention of students? We used a pretest-post-test quasi-experimental design. Data were collected from 864 university students of Castilla & León (Spain), from 863 students (403 taking the programme and 460 in a control group). The results showed that students in the ‘programme’ group increased their competencies and intention towards self-employment, whereas students in the control group did not. The findings contribute to the theories of planned behaviour and to the literature of entrepreneurship education itself, by revealing the effect of specific benefits for the students derived from the entrepreneurship ‘programme’.     

Factors affecting entrepreneurial intention levels: a role for education

A considerable agreement exists about the importance of promoting entrepreneurship to stimulate economic development and employment generation. In particular, entrepreneurship education has been considered one of the key instruments to increase the entrepreneurial attitudes of both potential and nascent entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, the factors that determine the individual’s decision to start a venture are still not completely clear. Cognitive approaches have attracted considerable interest recently. But the explaining capacity of personality traits or demographic characteristics is still considered. Therefore, there is a need to clarify which elements play the most influential role in shaping the personal decision to start a firm. This paper tries to contribute to filling this gap by providing empirically-based suggestions for the design of improved entrepreneurship education initiatives. The empirical analysis is based on two essential elements: firstly, an already validated instrument (EIQ); secondly, a statistical method (factor-regression procedure) which is not dependent on any theoretical approach. It uses all the information collected through the questionnaire items, selecting them solely based on their capacity to explain the dependent variable. Results will allow the design of more effective education initiatives. They suggest that personal attitude and perceived behavioural control are the most relevant factors explaining entrepreneurial intentions. Thus, based on these results, a number of considerations about the most effective role of education in promoting and developing attitudes and intentions towards entrepreneurship are considered. Besides, the EIQ could be used as an evaluation instrument for entrepreneurial education programmes.     

高职院校大学生创业的心理分析与思考

随着高等教育的大众化以及高等职业技术教育的不断深化,高职院校大学生的就业问题非常严峻,在鼓励高职院校大学生创业的同时,应积极深化大学生的创业教育,对大学生的创业心理素质进行思考、分析和研究,加强大学生创业心理素质和创业能力的培养和指导。     

A cross cultural study of gender-role orientation and entrepreneurial self-efficacy

The study of gender differences in entrepreneurial self-efficacy to date has produced inconclusive results. Cross-cultural studies are virtually non-existent. The present study seeks to understand the complex interplay of biological sex, socialized gender-roles, and culture on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and motivation to become an entrepreneur. Findings indicate that among American business students the traditional view of “entrepreneur as male” is fading. For the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs, a new entrepreneur stereotype is emerging that balances stereotypical feminine and masculine characteristics. These findings were not replicated in Spain where traditional gender-role stereotypes associated with entrepreneurship persist, even among business students. Implications for entrepreneurial education are discussed as they relate to the development of skills associated with venture creation.