Abstract
Recently critical questions have been raised about the impact of entrepreneurship education on developing entrepreneurial qualities and intentions of university students. The main purpose of this study is to explore the impact of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions of students using the theory of planned behaviour and social cognitive theory. The sample consisted of 348 Master students (171 with and 177 without entrepreneurship education) from the Faculty of Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tehran, Iran. The data were collected using validated questionnaires. As hypothesized, the findings indicate that entrepreneurship education significantly improves entrepreneurial intentions of the students so that students who have undertaken entrepreneurship education have higher entrepreneurial attitude, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intentions to become an entrepreneur than the students who have not undertaken entrepreneurship education. Furthermore, entrepreneurship education enhances students’ entrepreneurial intentions through significantly improving both their entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Implications of the findings for entrepreneurship education and improvement of research standards at universities are discussed.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ajzen I (1991) The theory of planned behavior. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 50(2):179–211
Anderson AR, Jack SL (2008) Role typology for enterprising education: the professional artisan? J Small Bus Enterp Dev 15(2):256–273
Arasti Z, Sayeed Banadeki S, Imanipour N (2011) The role of teaching entrepreneurship foundations in constructing university students’ entrepreneurial intentions. J Entrep Dev 5(4):107–124
Bae TJ, Qian S, Miao C, Fiet JO (2014) The relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions: a meta-analytic review. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 38(2):217–254
Bagheri A, Lope Pihie ZA (2014) The moderating role of gender in shaping entrepreneurial intentions: implications for vocational guidance. Int J Educ Vocat Guid 14:255–273
Baghersad V, Zali MR, Razavi SM, Sayeed Banadaki S (2013) The impact of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention of technical and vocational students. Journal of Entrepreneurship Development 6(4):21–36
Bandura A (1997) Self-efficacy: the exercise of self control. Freeman, New York
Bandura A (1999) A social cognitive theory of personality. In: Pervin L, John O (eds) Handbook of personality, 2nd edn. Guilford, New York, pp 154–196
Bandura A (2000) Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 9:75–78
Bandura A (2012) On the functional properties of perceived self-efficacy revisited. J Manag 38:9–44
Barber D (2015) An experimental analysis of risk and entrepreneurial attitudes of university students in the USA and Brazil. J Int Entrep 13:370–389
Barbosa SD, Gerhardt MW, Kickul JR (2007) The role of cognitive style and risk preference on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions. J Leadersh Org Stud 13(4):86–104
BarNir A, Watson WE, Hutchins HM (2011) Mediation and moderated mediation in the relationship among role models, self-efficacy, entrepreneurial career intention, and gender. J Appl Soc Psychol 41(2):270–297
Busenitz LW, Page West G III, Shepherd D, Nelson T, Chandler GN, Zacharakis A (2003) Entrepreneurship research in emergence: past trends and future directions. J Manag 29(3):285–308
Byrne BM (2010) Structural equation modelling with AMOS: basic concepts, applications, and programming, 2th edn. Taylor and Francis Group, New York, London
Carr JC, Sequeira JM (2007) Prior family business exposure as international influence and entrepreneurial intent: a theory of planned behaviour approach. J Bus Res 60:1090–1098
Carsrud A, Brännback M, Elfving J, Brandt K (2009) Towards a contextual model of entrepreneurial intentions. In: Carsrud A, Brännback M (eds) Understanding the entrepreneurial mind: opening the black box. Springer, Heidelberg
Chen C, Greene P, Crick A (1998) Does entrepreneurial self-efficacy distinguish entrepreneurs from managers? J Bus Ventur 13:295–316
DePillis E, Reardon KK (2007) The influence of personality traits and persuasive messages on entrepreneurial intention: a cross-cultural comparison. Career Dev Int 12(4):382–396
Duval-Couetil N (2013) Assessing the impact of entrepreneurship education programs: challenges and approaches. J Small Bus Manag 51(3):394–409
Dwyer AL, Cummings LC (2001) Stress, self-efficacy, social support and coping strategies in university students. J Couns 35:3
Elfving J, Brännback M, Carsrud A (2009) Towards a contextual model of entrepreneurial intentions. In: Carsrud A, Brännback M (eds) Understanding the entrepreneurial mind: opening the black box. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 23–33
Entrialgo M, Iglesias V (2016) The moderating role of entrepreneurship education on the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention. Int Entrep Manag J 12(4):1209–1232
Ertuna ZI, Gurel E (2011) The moderating role of higher education on entrepreneurship. Educ Train 53(5):387–402
Fayolle A (2013) Personal views on the future of entrepreneurship education. Entrep Reg Dev 25(7–8):692–701
Fayolle A, Gailly B (2015) The impact of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial attitudes and intention: hysteresis and persistence. J Small Bus Manag 53(1):75–93
Fayolle A, Gailly B, Lassas-Clerc N (2006) Assessing the impact of entrepreneurship education programmes: a new methodology. J Eur Ind Train 30(9):701–720
Fayolle A, Liñán F, Moriano JA (2014) Beyond entrepreneurial intentions: values and motivations in entrepreneurship. Int Entrep Manag J 10:679–689
Ferreira JJ, Raposo ML, Rodrigues RJ, Dinis A, Paço AD (2012) A model of entrepreneurial intention: an application of the psychological and behavioral approaches. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 19(3):424–440
Firdaus A, Hamali J, Rahman Deen A, Saban G, Abdurahman AZA (2009) Developing a framework of success of Bumiputera entrepreneurs. J Enterp Communities People Places Global Econ 3(1):8–24
Fuchs K, Werner A, Wallau F (2008) Entrepreneurship education in Germany and Sweden: What role do different school systems play? Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 15(2):365–381
Gheyasi A (2016) The impact of self-efficacy and entrepreneurial attitude on entrepreneurial intention of students from Zabol University. Journal of Entrepreneurship Development 8(39):3–15
Guerrero M, Rialp J, Urbano D (2008) The impact of desirability and feasibility on entrepreneurial intentions: a structural equation model. Int Entrep Manag J 4:35–50
Gupta VK, Turban DB, Bhawe NM (2008) The effect of gender stereotype assimilation and reactance on entrepreneurial intentions. J Appl Psychol 93:1053–1061
Gupta VK, Turban DB, Wastiand SA, Sikdar A (2009) The role of gender stereotypes in perceptions of entrepreneurs and intentions to become an entrepreneur. Entrep Theory Pract 33:397–417
Hair JF, Black B, Babin B, Anderson RE, Tatham RL (2010) Multivariate data analysis: a global perspective, 7th edn. Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ
Hannon PD (2006) Teaching pigeons to dance: sense and meaning in entrepreneurship education. Educ Train 48(5):296–308
Harris ML, Gibson SG (2008) Examining the entrepreneurial attitudes of US business students. Educ Train 50(7):568–581
Heinonen J (2007) An entrepreneurial-directed approach to teaching corporate entrepreneurship at university level. Educ Train 49(4):310–324
Heinonen J, Poikkijoki S-A (2006) An entrepreneurial-directed approach to entrepreneurship education: mission impossible? J Manag Dev 25(1):80–94
Holmgren C, From J, Olofsson A, Karlsson H, Snyder K, Sundtröm U (2005) Entrepreneurship education: salvation or damnation? J Entrep Educ 8:7–19
Hynes B, Richardson I (2007) Entrepreneurship education: a mechanism for engaging and exchanging with the small business sector. Educ Train 49(8/9):732–744
Jafarimoghadam S, Etemadi K (2009) Measuring and comparing entrepreneurial attitudes of students. Journal of Entrepreneurship Development 2(2):163–182
Karimi S, Biemans HJA, Lans T, Chizari M, Mulder M (2016) J Small Bus Manag 54(1):187–209
Karlsson T, Moberg K (2013) Improving perceived entrepreneurial abilities through education: exploratory testing of an entrepreneurial self-efficacy scale in a pre-post setting. Int J Manag Educ 11:1–11
Keshavarz M (2014) Entrepreneurial intention of Payamnoor’s students and the affecting constructs. Journal of Entrepreneurship Development 7(3):529–548
Kickul J, Gundry LK, Barbosa SD, Whitcanack L (2009) Intuition versus analysis? Testing differential models of cognitive style on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the new venture creation process. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 33(2):439–453
Kline RB (2010) Principles and practice of structural equation modeling, 3th edn. Guilford Press, New York
Krueger NF, Reilly MD, Carsrud AL (2000) Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions. J Bus Ventur 15:411–432
Liñán F (2008) Skill and value perceptions: how do they affect entrepreneurial intentions? Int Entrep Manag J 4:257–272
Liñán F, Chen YW (2009) Development and cross-cultural application of a specific instrument to measure entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 33(3):593–617
Liñán F, Rodríguez JC, Rueda-Cantuche JM (2005) Factors affecting entrepreneurial intention levels. 45th Congress of the European Regional Science Association, Amsterdam, 23–27 August
Liñán F, Rodríguez-Cohard JC, Rueda-Cantuche JM (2011) Factors affecting entrepreneurial intention levels: a role for education. Int Entrep Manag J 7:195–218
Lope Pihie ZA, Bagheri A (2013) Self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention: the mediation effect of self-regulation. Vocat Learn 6(3):385–401
Louw L, Van Eeden SM, Bosch JK, Venter DJL (2003) Entrepreneurial traits of undergraduate students at selected South African Tertiary Institutions. Int J Entrep Behav Res 9(1):5–26
Man TWY, Yu CWM (2007) Social interaction and adolescent’s learning in enterprise education: an empirical study. Educ Train 49(8/9):620–633
Mastura J, Abdul Rashid AA (2008) Entrepreneurship education in developing country, Exploration on its necessity in the construction programme. J Eng Des Technol 6(2):178–189
Matlay H (2005) Researching entrepreneurship and education. Part 1: What is entrepreneurship education and does it matter? Educ Train 47(8/9):655–677
Matlay H (2006) Researching entrepreneurship and education. Part 2: What is entrepreneurship education and does it matter? Educ Train 48(8/9):704–718
Mauer R, Neergaard H, Linstad AK (2009) Self-efficacy: conditioning the entrepreneurial mindset. In: Carsrud A, Brännback M (eds) Understanding the entrepreneurial mind: opening the black box. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 233–256
McGee JE, Peterson M, Mueller SL, Sequeira JM (2009) Entrepreneurial self-efficacy: refining the measure. Entrep Theory Pract 33(4):965–988
Molaei R, Zali MR, Mobaraki MH, Farsi JY (2014) The impact of entrepreneurial ideas and cognitive style on students entrepreneurial intention. J Entrep Emerg Econ 6(2):140–162
Morris MH, Webb JW, Fu J, Singhal S (2013) A competency-based perspective on entrepreneurship education: conceptual and empirical insights. J Small Bus Manag 51(3):352–369
Mueller SL, Thomas AS (2000) Culture and entrepreneurial potential: a nine country study of locus of control and innovativeness. J Bus Ventur 16:51–75
Oosterbeek H, Praag M, Ijsselstein A (2010) The impact of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurship skills and motivation. Eur Econ Rev 54:442–454
Peterman NE, Kennedy J (2003) Enterprise education: influencing students’ perceptions of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 28(2):129–145
Pittaway L, Cope J (2007) Entrepreneurship education: a systematic review of the evidence. Int Small Bus J 25(5):479–510
Pittaway L, Hannon P, Gibb A, Thompson J (2009) Assessment practice in enterprise education. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research 15(1):71–93
Rideout EC, Gray DO (2013) Does entrepreneurship education really work? A review and methodological critique of the empirical literature on the effects of university-based entrepreneurship education. J Small Bus Manag 51(3):329–351
Sánchez JC (2013) The impact of an entrepreneurship education program on entrepreneurial competencies and Intention. J Small Bus Manag 51(3):447–465
Scherer RF, Adams JS, Carley SS, Wiebe FA (1989) Role model performance effects on development of entrepreneurial career preference. Entrep Theory Pract 13(3):53–71
Schreiber JB, Nora A, Stage FK, Barlow EA, King J (2006) Reporting structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis results: a review. J Educ Res 99(6):323–338
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. J Bus Ventur 22:566–591
Trevelyan R (2011) Self-regulation and effort in entrepreneurial tasks. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research 17(1):39–63
Tyszka T, Cieslik J, Domurat A, Macko A (2011) Motivation, self-efficacy, and risk attitudes among entrepreneurs during transition to a market economy. J Socio-Econ 40:124–131
Verheul I, Thurik R, Grilo I, Zwan P (2012) Explaining preferences and actual involvement in self-employment: gender and the entrepreneurial personality. J Econ Psychol 33:325–341
Watchravesringkan K, Hodges NN, Yurchisin J, Hegland J, Karpova E, Marcketti S, Yan R (2013) Modeling entrepreneurial career intentions among undergraduates: an examination of the moderating role of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. Fam Consum Sci Res J 41(3):325–342
Wilson F, Kickul J, Marlino D (2007) Gender, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial career intentions: implications for entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 31(3):387–401
Zampetakis LA (2008) The role of creativity and proactivity on perceived entrepreneurial desirability. Think Skills Creat 3:154–162
Zampetakis LΑ, Moustakis V (2006) Linking creativity with entrepreneurial intention: a structural approach. Int Entrep Manag J 2(3):413–428
Zellweger T, Sieger P, Halter F (2011) Should I stay or should I go? Career choice intentions of students with family business background. J Bus Ventur 26:521–536
Zhao H, Seibert SE, Hills GE (2005) The mediating role of self-efficacy in the development of entrepreneurial intentions. J Appl Psychol 90(6):1265–1272
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bagheri, A. (2018). University Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions: Does Education Make a Difference?. In: Faghih, N., Zali, M. (eds) Entrepreneurship Education and Research in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) . Contributions to Management Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90394-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90394-1_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90393-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90394-1
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)