Abstract
PurposeIn Italy, thousands of university graduates intend to engage in job being their first choice rather to start their own businesses. The aim of this study is to explore university students’ entrepreneurial mindset and their intentions for starting a new business by investigating the deterring factors which restrict them to go towards self-employment.MethodologyThe primary data were collected by a self-prepared questionnaire to assess the role of explanatory factors such as gender, age, degree, department, previous education, previous grades, job experience, business experience, family background, entrepreneurial education, personality traits (Five Factor Model), finance and government support with the dependent variable “entrepreneurial intentions”. The data was then analysed using multiple regression model.FindingsGender, family background, entrepreneurial education, extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience showed positive results while age, previous grades, and neuroticism showed a negative relationship with entrepreneurial intentions.LimitationsThis study was limited to its sample population and the set of explanatory variables which can be extended in the future research.OriginalityThis study fulfils the need to identify the factors which play a significant role in influencing the students’ entrepreneurial mindset. This is a latest study with the selected factors in the context of the Italian university students.
Highlights
Entrepreneurs are considered the backbone of the industries as they come up with innovative business ideas which contribute to the social and economic growth
The slope of Female entrepreneurial intentions is significantly negative as compared to the slope of the male students which indicates that female students have less interest in entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial education had a positive effect on students’ entrepreneurial intentions as one unit increased in entrepreneurial education; intentions to become an entrepreneur increased by 0.09 units
Summary
Entrepreneurs are considered the backbone of the industries as they come up with innovative business ideas which contribute to the social and economic growth. In Italy, thousands of students graduate from universities every year, but only a few of them intend to start their own businesses. The preference for a paid job is one of the main reasons of unemployment rate among young (25–34) university graduates which has increased from 11.5% in 2011 to 15.3% at the end of 2016 (ISTAT). The situation becomes disturbing for young graduates, public and for government as well. The best option is to move towards self-employed instead of looking for wage employment as a survival strategy. The evidence from OECD nations showed that less than 10% of young population was involved in starting new ventures during early 2000s (Nolan, 2003). The evidence from OECD nations showed that less than 10% of young population was involved in starting new ventures during early 2000s (Nolan, 2003). Twaalfhoven (2003)
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