Entrepreneurship in higher education: The key role of self-efficacy-A cross sectional study

Entrepreneurship is the engine of a nation's economic, cultural, and social development. Since Higher Education Institutions play a crucial role, it is important to analyze the academy's entrepreneurial education effectiveness in promoting entrepreneurial intention amongst students. This study aims to analyze the effect of the education agenda of a Higher Education Institution on the students’ entrepreneurial intention, exploring the effect of self-efficacy as a mediator. A quantitative, cross-sectional, and non-experimental study was performed. A sample of 176 Portuguese higher education students fulfilled the “Entrepreneurial Motivations Survey,” which includes the HEInnovate Self-Assessment Scale, the Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Entrepreneurial Intention Scale. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), AMOS, and PROCESS software. Through structural equation models, it was created a mediation model to assess the impact of the University education agenda on the entrepreneurial intention of the students. All scales showed adequate validity and reliability. The Faculty was not perceived as an entrepreneurial academy by the students. The results did not show a direct effect of the entrepreneurial education agenda on the students’ entrepreneurial intention. The effects emerged through self-efficacy, which plays a mediating effect between entrepreneurial education agenda on the students’ entrepreneurial intention. The entrepreneurship agenda didn’t directly influence the entrepreneurial intention. It is mandatory to offer a rich agenda in order to improve the students’ entrepreneurial competencies, preparing them to strive in the competitive market, in which self-efficacy plays an important role.

Student entrepreneurship and perceptions on social norms and university environment: evidence from a developing country

Purpose Social contexts and academic environments are key elements in the debate about drivers of entrepreneurial intention and behavior in tertiary students. Nonetheless, the underlying dynamics of student entrepreneurship remain elusive. This study aims to contribute to this discussion by creating an original model that addresses the perception of entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs regarding the relationship between social norms, the university environment of support to entrepreneurship and the perceived satisfaction about universities’ conditions to nurture entrepreneurial orientation. Design/methodology/approach To investigate the hypotheses, a quantitative approach has been chosen through multivariate data analysis using partial least squares structural equation modeling applied to a sample of 595 students from 66 Brazilian universities. Findings The results indicate that social norms affect how students perceive their university environment in terms of entrepreneurial support. In turn, students’ impressions about such environment shape their levels of satisfaction. However, in contrast with the theory of intention–action gap, differences between actual and potential entrepreneurs could not be identified. Originality/value The originality of the research lies in filling an entrepreneurial intention–action gap among undergraduate students, with consistent results in a developing country. Additionally, the research presents new insights for researchers, policymakers and practitioners, exploring the students’ perceived satisfaction in relation to the university environment to support entrepreneurship.

Does National Gender Equality Matter? Gender Difference in the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Human Capital and Entrepreneurial Intention

Gender equality contributes to economic growth and social progress by promoting women’s social and economic participation. The national gender equality level can affect women’s education and opportunities for economic participation. In this work, we examine whether entrepreneurial human capital (entrepreneurial education and experience) affects entrepreneurial intention and whether these relationships depend on gender and a country’s gender equality level. We used Global Entrepreneurship Trend Report (GETR) data provided by the Korean Entrepreneurship Foundation. The global survey was conducted by the Korean National Statistical Office in 2016. The data were collected from 20 countries, including Korea, and contain at least 2000 individual responses from each country. We used HLM analysis with the HLM 6.0 program to examine the hypotheses. Our results show that entrepreneurship education increases entrepreneurial intention, and that the relationship is stronger among women than men. We also found that for women, the positive relationship between entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial intention is stronger in countries with lower gender equality. As for prior entrepreneurial experience, neither gender nor national gender equality level moderated the relationship between experience and entrepreneurial intention. This study contributes to the extension of entrepreneurship theory, especially in the area of women entrepreneurship. We confirm that entrepreneurial human capital contributes to entrepreneurial intention, and that gender and national gender equality level comprise an important social context that influences the effects of education and experience on the entrepreneurial intention of women.

Social media entrepreneurship as an opportunity for women: The case of Facebook-commerce

This paper examines a new type of entrepreneurship conducted via social networking sites named as social media entrepreneurship. In Tunisia, the number of women entrepreneurs operating on social media platforms such as Facebook is noteworthy. Thus, in this study it is aimed to determine the factors that prompted women to develop businesses on Facebook, and how this social network is a venue for female entrepreneurship. Particular attention is paid to identify individual-related (push/pull entrepreneurial motivation), technology-related and institutional factors that bear on the use of social media. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 24 female entrepreneurs. The research findings provide relevant information and support the idea that social media has opened up new horizons and entrepreneurial opportunities for women to pursue their entrepreneurial intention. Pull motivations are really behind the decision to start up social commerce. Facebook advantageous features have empowered women to create customer networks, used nature marketing tool at no cost and acquire positive attitude towards entrepreneurship. Finally, although the informal nature of business on Facebook is attractive, formalization remains a challenge for the majority of women. It seems that ambition to grow their businesses brings them to formal economy.

Overseas Chinese Returnees’ Swindler Syndrome and Their Entrepreneurial Education Under Psychological Resilience

The study aims to explore the entrepreneurship education of overseas Chinese returnees with the swindler syndrome through psychological resilience. First, a questionnaire survey is conducted to analyze the current situations of entrepreneurship education of overseas Chinses returnees and college students, and it is found that the entrepreneurship education received by overseas Chinese returnees is more advanced and perfect than that by domestic students, which makes overseas Chinese returnees have the ability to solve the problems in the process of entrepreneurship, realizing their entrepreneurial dream. However, the emergence of swindler syndrome changes the self-awareness and psychology of these returnees, which is improved through appropriate entrepreneurship education under resilience analysis. The results show that entrepreneurial resilience and entrepreneurial optimism covered by psychological resilience have a significant positive impact on entrepreneurial intention, indicating that entrepreneurial resilience and entrepreneurial optimism can enhance individual’s entrepreneurial intention. The scores of the subjects with the experience of studying abroad are higher than those without such experience, indicating that overseas Chinese returnees have stronger resilience and more optimistic attitudes in the face of difficulties and setbacks, which provides a new perspective for in-depth analysis of Chinese returnees’ entrepreneurship education and promotes the development of entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities in China.