Entrepreneurial characteristics among university students: Implications for entrepreneurship education and training in Pakistan

Abstract

Purpose-This study aims to explore the entrepreneurship profile of the Pakistan university students (Peshawar region) and evaluates their entrepreneurial inclination by making comparison with non-entrepreneurially inclined students. In this study the entrepreneurial profile of the students is constituted by six traits namely need for achievement, innovativeness, locus of control, risk taking propensity, tolerance for ambiguity, self-confidence. A random sample of master students (n = 137) from two Peshawar universities was adopted for the study. A question “what are you planning to do after completion of your studies” was asked the students to differentiate entrepreneurially inclined students from non-inclined. Respondents with answers that “I am planning to start my own business” were taken as potential entrepreneurs. Then the entrepreneurial characteristics of these students were subjected to comparative analysis with other students who do not plan to start their own business. A 31 item questionnaire is used with questions related to the student’s entrepreneurial inclination and six entrepreneurial traits with Likert type items. The results of t-test showed that except for tolerance for ambiguity and self-confidence all entrepreneurial traits are found to be higher in entrepreneurially inclined students as compared to non-inclined students. It means these students rated higher score on five traits except the one. This study is restricted only to the master students only, and the percentage of the entrepreneurially inclined students is low (27 per cent). Also, only the study restricted to two universities, could be conducted on a wider basis. This study probes entrepreneurial characteristic providing a clear understanding of entrepreneurial education, as to which entrepreneurial characteristics can be developed to produce good entrepreneurs. Key words: Entrepreneurship, students, education, Pakistan.