Some selected factors as determinants of entrepreneurial career intentions among business students

Pages: 183-189
Habtamu Kebu Gemeda (Adama Science & Technology University, Division of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, Adama, Ethiopia)

The present study investigated the influences and web of interactions of selected experiential, learning, personality and motivational factors on business students’ entrepreneurial career intentions. The selected factors include: prior exposure to entrepreneurship, perceived learning from entrepreneurship related courses, risk propensity, gender, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy belief. Sixty three (44 males and 19 females) full time two-year Master of Business Administration final year students in the academic year of 2010/11 in Department of Commerce and Management studies, Andhra University, who selected using simple random and stratified random sampling techniques fill in self-report questionnaire consisting of various scales and provided consumable data. To analyse the collected data percentage, Pearson product momentum correlation, linear regression analysis, and path analysis were employed. The analyses uncovered the followings: i. among variables considered, risk propensity, prior exposure to entrepreneurship, and perceived formal learning from entrepreneurship related courses found out to be important determinants of entrepreneurial self-efficacy belief, ii. entrepreneurial self-efficacy belief, prior exposure to entrepreneurship, and risk propensity had important direct influence on students’ entrepreneurial career intentions and, iii. entrepreneurial self-efficacy belief partly mediated the influences of risk propensity and prior exposure to entrepreneurship, and fully mediated the influence of perceived formal learning from entrepreneurship related courses on entrepreneurial career intentions. Implications of the findings discussed.