Let the games begin: the relationship between video gaming and entrepreneurial mindsets

PurposeThis article addresses the need for further conceptual development of the factors that influence the development of the entrepreneurial mindset. It focuses on finding a link between the classic mental models of entrepreneurship and those that are employed during video game play to explore if similarities exist.Design/methodology/approachUsing theories of entrepreneurship and opportunity recognition, the study examines a sample of 217 video gamers.FindingsThe results of this study suggest that an individual who exhibits a high level of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has an enhanced opportunity recognition capability when the intensity of playing video games is also high. Various genres of games were controlled for; however, it was found that shooting games have the highest effect on the emergence of opportunity recognition.Originality/valueThus, the study reveals that some game activities can be linked to entrepreneurial cognitions. This has implications for the entrepreneurial intent literature as it reveals certain actions can be linked with entrepreneurial information processing. These findings are useful for game designers and managers as well.

The Antecedents and Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intention among Business Students in Vietnam

For recent decades, entrepreneurial intent and start-up movement have gained the intensive attention from business graduates and policymarkers around the world. Recently, Vietnam strategized to become a “start-up” nation and entrepreneurship has emerged as an important issue for both academic research and economic development policies. This fact has drawn scholar’s attention to what intrinsic and extrinsic antecedents and determinants might shape such decision-making away from seemingly more secure corporate and government jobs toward an entrepreneurial career. Since that phenomenon, the entrepreneurial intention is widely discussed and studied worldwide. Across emerging economies in Asia, entrepreneurial intention studies have been conducted in many countries. However, the reason and determinants of entrepreneurial intention still lack empirical. The call for further research in entrepreneurial intention encourages the research question: “What intrinsic and extrinsic determinants impact the decision (intent and agency) of business students in Vietnam to become entrepreneurs?”. This book chapter provides the answers and implications for the research question mentioned.

Social Entrepreneurship and Volunteering: Moderation Effects of Volunteer Experience Levels on Social Entrepreneurial Intent Model

This study investigates whether an individual’s social work experience impacts the relationship between institutional environmental constructs and the perceived desirability and feasibility of establishing a social venture. It extends Urban, B. and L. Kujinga’s. (2017. “The Institutional Environment and Social Entrepreneurship Intentions.” International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research 23 (4): 638–55, doi: 10.1108/IJEBR-07-2016-0218.) social entrepreneurial intent model by comparing two groups of volunteers in Malaysia with different levels of social working or volunteering experience. The results show that the cognitive environment influences perceived desirability, with a distinctly higher path significance for perceived desirability among individuals with higher levels of experience. Perceived desirability has a relatively more substantial impact on social entrepreneurship intention for highly experienced individuals. Interestingly, the results indicate that neither the regulatory nor the normative environment influences perceived feasibility for either group. Governments and other relevant organisations can utilise these findings to devise better policies for promoting social entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship education in Post-Soviet states developing programmes for hospitality and tourism students in Samarkand

Purpose This paper considers a country context where traditional entrepreneurship has not been a major part of the economy and considers current attempts to develop entrepreneurship education (EE) as a part of wider market development. Design/methodology/approach The authors review the background to the economic development of the Post-Soviet states and link this to existing knowledge around EE. The potential routes by which EE might be developed in Uzbekistan are discussed with a focus upon hospitality and tourism education, leading to the development of a model of the six key aspects of change Findings The potential for future research is explored, and four aspects are highlighted as areas where partnership working with overseas universities is likely to have substantive benefits. In particular, the development of quality standards and staff development are areas where partnership could have an important influence, whereas barriers within local systems and cultural resistance are likely to benefit less from a partnership approach. Although entrepreneurial competencies and entrepreneurial intent are both important, entrepreneurial intent is highlighted given its role in terms of individual responses to country-level initiatives. Practical implications Although all four aspects merit further research, this paper ends with a specific suggestion that future research should draw on the theory of planned behaviour to explore entrepreneurial intent. Originality/value Uzbekistan is a relatively under-researched area where hospitality and tourism industries are undergoing a period of intense development.

Nascent Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy, and the Moderators of Race, Gender, and Government Support

In a better attempt to understand nascent entrepreneurship, this paper explores the relationship between opportunity recognition and the entrepreneurial intent of nascent entrepreneurs. Contrary to conventional wisdom, research on this relationship is fragmented and empirically underdeveloped. In addition, the contextual and perceptual boundary conditions of government support, gender, and minorities are explored. We surveyed 1246 nascent entrepreneurs in the state of Florida, which is the largest data set on this topic in Florida. Respondents answered 55 survey questions on potential barriers to entrepreneurship to help understand how their context impacts their intent to start a new business. Our empirical results indicate that opportunity recognition by nascent entrepreneurs significantly affects entrepreneurial intent, the strength of which is moderated by government support and gender, but not by minorities. Our study is a direct response to the call-in existing entrepreneurship literature for new research in geographically narrower contexts as the largest survey-based study at the state level in the US that we know of. We extend and demarcate entrepreneurial self-efficacy into a new context while clarifying boundary conditions. Lastly, our dependent variable measures intensity of intention to start a business along a time dimension which empirically narrows the gap between studies on entrepreneurial intention and studies on entrepreneurial action.

Making Entrepreneurs? Makerspaces and Entrepreneurial Intent Among High School Students

Makerspaces have grown over the last two decades and provide a potentially important resource to entrepreneurs. One area where the expansion of makerspaces has been the largest is in educational settings, at both K-12 schools and colleges. However, scant research to date has analysed whether students visiting a makerspace have any relationship with their professional goals or intentions. This study uses a survey conducted in New Orleans to analyse the predictors of what students use a makerspace, and the potential relationship visiting may have with entrepreneurial intent. The analysis finds that students with a higher socio-economic status appear to use makerspaces more often, and that students who visited makerspaces are more likely to express interest in starting their own businesses.

Examining engineering students’ participation in entrepreneurship education programs: implications for practice

Background Recent research has demonstrated the importance of entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) in the professional development of engineering students. Numerous universities have adopted various forms of EEPs which are typically offered as elective programs. To create suitable programs that will encourage students to seek out EEPs, it is critical to understand the factors that influence student participation in EEPs. Using qualitative research methods, we examined the question “What influences engineering students’ participation in entrepreneurship education programs?” The purpose of our work is to identify and understand the factors impacting engineering student participation in EEPs. Results Analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews of undergraduate engineering students was conducted using the first and second cycle coding methods to determine key factors that inform students’ participation in EEPs. We found that student decisions to participate in EEPs are influenced by several factors: entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intent, attitude, subjective norm, goals, academic transitions, information and resources, social capital, opportunities and challenges, and past participation in EEPs. Conclusions Findings demonstrate that students’ non-compulsory participation is not a result of a single act, but is regulated by multiple factors. Explication of these factors using our qualitative results provides actionable guidance for EEPs to encourage engineering students’ participation and offers directions for future research.

Exploring the gendered entrepreneurial identity gap: implications for entrepreneurship education

Purpose Women are underrepresented in most university entrepreneurship education (EE) programmes and less likely than men to pursue business venturing as a career. One reason may be the “entrepreneurial identity gap”, whereby female students do not see themselves as successful entrepreneurs. This paper aims to explore the nature of this identity gap and its relationship to entrepreneurial intent and entrepreneurship education. Design/methodology/approach A set of contemporary, gender-inclusive entrepreneurial attributes was developed using entrepreneurial subject matter experts and tested with 591 university students to explore the nature of the gendered entrepreneurial identity gap. Findings While masculine stereotypes persist and the entrepreneurial identity gap is larger for female students, results suggest that a more gender-inclusive vocabulary of entrepreneurship is emerging among the student population and an androgynous perception of the idealized entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship education had a positive influence on entrepreneurial intent. Research limitations/implications Study findings advance the conversation about entrepreneurial identity, the nature of the gendered identity gap and the role of education in closing that gap. The questionnaire and set of gender-inclusive attributes should continue to be tested beyond student samples. Practical implications Based on this study, entrepreneurship education could benefit from more gender-inclusive instructional practices and vocabulary and a broadened definition of what it means to be entrepreneurial. More students – both men and women – will see themselves as entrepreneurs and be inspired to participate in the innovation economy. Originality/value This study takes a novel approach to the study of entrepreneurial identity, developing a new set of attributes and contemporary vocabulary around business venturing.