Entrepreneurial intention: the impact of higher education and in particular entrepreneurship courses

António Andrade, Marco Lamas, Jorge Remondes, Rui Quaresma, Vasco Salazar Soares

Abstract


Purpose: The Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Student’s Survey (GUESSS), a study on the entrepreneurial spirit of higher education students, which is applied globally, and which in 2018 involved the participation of 4178 Portuguese students, meets the concerns that the States have in deepening the approach to entrepreneurship in the teaching/learning process. The aim of the study is, among others, to assess the impact of entrepreneurship courses on the entrepreneurial intention of students. In this article, we analyze the data from the answers given by Portuguese undergraduate, postgraduate, Master in Business Administration (MBA), Masters, and Ph.D. students.

Methodology: For this purpose, descriptive statistics methods, association measures such as correlation coefficients, and a Structural Equation Model tested with SPSS AMOS v.26 software were used.

Findings: Based on the study carried out and the analysis of the data obtained, it was possible to extract that there are positive relationships between Attitude towards behavior on Entrepreneurial Intention, on Perceived behavioral control on Entrepreneurial Intention, on Entrepreneurial Courses on Attitude towards behavior, on Entrepreneurial Courses on the subjective norm, from Entrepreneurial Courses on Perceived behavioral control, from Perceived University Environment on Attitude towards behavior, from Perceived University Environment on the subjective norm, and from Perceived University Environment on Perceived behavioral control. The relationships of Entrepreneurial Courses and Perceived University Environment on Entrepreneurial Intention were also analyzed and mainly indirect effects were verified, and there is a positive relationship between Entrepreneurial Courses and Perceived University Environment on Entrepreneurial Intention.

Originality/value: To answer the question “Do Entrepreneurial courses and the university environment influence entrepreneurial intention in Portugal?” and to offer a new contribution to the scientific community and Portuguese higher education institutions, the data collected through the GUESSS 2018 questionnaire was analyzed. This study then made it possible to test the impact of entrepreneurship courses and of the academic environment on the entrepreneurial intention in Portugal.

Keywords: Guesss, Entrepreneurship, Education, Entrepreneurial Intention

 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58869/EJABM9(3)/01


Full Text:

PDF

References


Ajzen, I. (1991). The Theory of Planned Behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, pp. 179-211

Bandura, A. (1989). Regulation of cognitive processes through perceived self-efficacy. Developmental Psychology, 25 (5), pp. 729-735

Baxter, A., Chapman, D.W., DeJaeghere, J., Pekol, A.R. & Weiss, T. (2014). Youth Entrepreneurship Education and Training for Poverty Alleviation: A Review of International Literature and Local Experiences. In Wiseman, A., W. (Ed.), Wiseman International Educational Innovation and Public Sector Entrepreneurship (pp. 33-58). Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 33-58. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3679(2013)0000023010

Bergmann, H., Hundt, C. & Sternberg, R. (2016) ‘What makes student entrepreneurs? On the relevance (and irrelevance) of the university and the regional context for student start-ups’, Small Business Economics, Vol. 47, No. 1, pp.53–76.

Cooper, A. (2003). Entrepreneurship: The Past, the Present, the Future. In Zoltan, J. & David, A. (eds.), Handbook of Entrepreneurship Research. Kluwer.

Degen, R. (1989). The entrepreneur: fundaments for the entrepreneurial initiative. McGram-Hill.

European Commission (2003). Green Paper Entrepreneurship in Europe. https://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/pdf/download_en/entrepreneurship_europe.pdf

European commission (2006). Implementing the Community Lisbon Programme: Fostering entrepreneurial mindsets through education and learning. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52006DC0033&from=EN

European Commission (2011). Entrepreneurship Education: Enabling Teachers as a Critical Success Factor: A report on Teacher Education and Training to prepare teachers for the challenge of entrepreneurship education.

European Commission (2012). Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52012DC0669&from=EN

European Commission (2014). Entrepreneurship Education - A Guide for Educators.

Fellnhofer, K. (2019). Toward a taxonomy of entrepreneurship education research literature: A bibliometric mapping and visualization. Educational Research Review, 27, p. 28–55

Kritikos, A. (2014). Entrepreneurs and their impact on jobs and economic growth. IZA World of Labor. 8, pp. 1-10. https:/doi.org/10.15185/izawol.8

Hair, J., Black, W., Babin, B., & Anderson, R. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis (7th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall International.

Hair, J., Hult, G., Ringle, C. & Sarstedt, M. (2014). A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), Sage Publications, United States of America.

Hill, M., & Hill, A. (2005). Investigation by means of Questionnaire. Lisboa: Sílabo.

Krueger, N. F., Reilly, M. D., & Carsrud, A. (2020). Competing Models of Entrepreneurial Intention. Journal of Business Venturing, 15(5-6), pp- 411-432. 10.1016/S0883-9026(98)00033-0

Lamas, M. (2012). Education and Entrepreneurship: A ethnographic analysis of the relationship [Ph.D. thesis]. Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. http://hdl.handle.net/10347/6174

Lamas, M. (2018). Model of Education on Entrepreneurship in Higher education: practical case of implementation. In Minutes of CEE18, Conference on Entrepreneurship Education. Universidade do Porto. Porto, Portugal, pp. 147–162.

Lamas, M., Cancelo, M. & Fernández, L. (2019). Education on Entrepreneurship in Formal, non-Formal and Informal regime. What impact does it have on the entrepreneurship success in technological startups? In: Minutes of CEE19, Conference on Entrepreneurship Education. Universidade do Porto. Porto, Portugal, pp. 65–69

Lamas, M., Marquéz, M., & Loreto, F. (2019). Education on Entrepreneurship in Formal, non-Formal and Informal regime. What impact does it have on the entrepreneurship success in technological startups? In Minutes of Conference on Entrepreneurship Education (CEE’ 2019), pp.65-69. Universidade do Porto. Porto, Portugal. ISBN 978-989-95853-9-3

Liñán, F., & Chen, Y. (2009) ‘Development and cross-cultural application of a specific instrument to measure entrepreneurial intentions’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp.593–618.

Liñán, F., Urbano, D. & Guerrero, M. (2011b) ‘Regional variations in entrepreneurial cognitions: start-up intentions of university students in Spain’, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Vol. 23, Nos. 3–4, pp.187–215.

López, T., & Álvarez, C. (2018). Entrepreneurship research in Latin America: a literature review. Academia Revista Latinoamericana de Administración.

Lopez, T. & Alvarez, C. (2019). Influence of university-related factors on students’ entrepreneurial intentions. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 11 (6), pp. 521-540. DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2019.103751

Lorz, M., Mueller, S. & Volery, T. (2013). Entrepreneurship education: a systematic review of the methods in impact studies. Journal of Enterprising Culture. 21(02), pp.123-151

Malhotra, N., Rocha, I., Laudisio, M., Altheman, E., & Borges, F. (2015). Introduction to Marketing research. São Paulo: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Marôco, J. (2010). Structural equation analysis: Theoretical foundations, software & applications. ReportNumber, Lda.

Miller B, Bell J, Palmer M, Gonzalez A, & Petroleum P (2009) Predictors of entrepreneurial intentions: a quasi-experiment comparing students enrolled in introductory management and entrepreneurship classes. J Bus Entrep. 21(2), pp. 39–62

Neck, M., Greene, P. (2010). Entrepreneurship Education: Known Worlds and New Frontiers. Journal of Small Business Management, 49(1), pp. 55-70. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-627X.2010.00314.x

Oliveira, B., Moriano, J., A., & Soares, V. S. (2013). Initial study on the differences in Entrepreneurial Intention between men and women in Portugal: the case of young university students in the North of the Portugal. População e Sociedade (CEPESE Porto). vol. 21, pp. 217 - 235

Paço, A., M., Ferreira, J. M., Raposo, M. Rodrigues, R. G., & Dinis, Ana (2011). Behaviors and entrepreneurial intention: Empirical findings about secondary students. J Int Entrep, 9, pp. 20–38. DOI 10.1007/s10843-010-0071-9

Piperopoulos, P., Dimov, D. (2015). Burst Bubbles or Build Steam? Entrepreneurship Education, Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy, and Entrepreneurial Intentions. Journal of Small Business Management, 53(4), pp. 970–98. doi: 10.1111/jsbm.12116

Sampieri, R., Fernandéz-Collado, C., & Lucio, P. (2006). Metodología de la investigación (4.ª ed.). Mexico: McGraw-Hill Interamericana.

Shane, S., & Sankaran, V. (2000). The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research. Academy of Management Review, 25(1) pp. 217–226

Shapero, A., & Sokol, L. (1982). The social dimensions of entrepreneurship (pp. 72-90). In C. Kent, D. Sexton, K.H. Vesper (Eds.). The encyclopedia of entrepreneurship. Prentice-Hall.

Shirokova, G., Osiyevskyy, O., & Bogatyreva, K. (2016). Exploring the intention–behavior link in student entrepreneurship: Moderating effects of individual and environmental characteristics. European Management Journal, 34(4), 386-399.

Souitaris, V., Zerbinati, S. & Al-Laham, A. (2007) ‘Do entrepreneurship programmes raise entrepreneurial intention of science and engineering students? The effect of learning, inspiration and resources’, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp.566–591.

Walter, S. G., & Block, J. H. (2016). Outcomes of entrepreneurship education: An institutional perspective Journal of Business Venturing, vol. 31(2), pp. 216-233.




Copyright (c) 2023 European Journal of Applied Business and Management

 

European Journal of Applied Business and Management

ISSN: 2183-5594

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58869/EJABM

Indexing:

EBSCO | CROSSREF | GOOGLE SCHOLAR | LATINDEX | DRJI | ICI JOURNALS MASTER | REDIB | MIAR