Does religion raise entrepreneurial intention and behavior of Muslim university students? An extension of Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (TPB)

Abstract

In today's globalized society, religious beliefs continue to be a crucial predictor of personal attitudes. Hence, in line with Ajzen's TPB, this study aims to explore the effect of Islamic values on the entrepreneurial intent and behavior of Moroccan university students. A convenience sampling procedure was followed for gathering data through an online questionnaire among university students. The structural equation modeling was carried out in order to analyze the collected data. Findings support the appropriateness of Ajzen's theory in predicting university students' entrepreneurial intentions and actions, showing that Islamic values, including self-discipline, hardworking, and responsibility contribute considerably to improving attitude towards entrepreneurship (ATE), which in turn enhanced students' entrepreneurial intents (EI). These findings raise some valuable recommendations and implications for HEIs leaders to initiate appropriate measures to promote a propitious academic and entrepreneurial environment to foster entrepreneurial attitudes, by providing specific support to business and management students holding creative entrepreneurial ideas.