Model of the Entrepreneurial Intention of University Students in the Pearl River Delta of China

Minru Lu,Fei Hou,Mingde Qi,Yu Su

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00916

Abstract

Although the entrepreneurial intention of university students has been studied from different perspectives, the results are still not convergent, and the mechanism and outcomes related to how entrepreneurial intention could be affected by different factors lacking integrated investigation and comparative research. Based on emotional theory, the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and entrepreneurial cognitive theory, as well as the perception of specific situations encountered by university students, this paper attempts to explore entrepreneurial intention from three perspectives, including individual, family and school; and constructs an integrated model that includes entrepreneurial passion, role models, entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial intention. Based on a survey of university students in the Pearl River Delta of China, this paper attempts to explore the intrinsic mechanism of the development of entrepreneurial intention from these three perspectives. The results show that entrepreneurial passion, role models, and entrepreneurial education could have different effects on entrepreneurial intention; additionally, entrepreneurial self-efficacy plays an important mediating role. The research findings contribute to the literatures regarding the factors influencing entrepreneurial intention, providing empirical evidence to formulate policies to encourage university students’ entrepreneurship practices and help to enhance effectiveness of entrepreneurship education.

Highlights

In recent years, with the emergence of entrepreneurship activities and incubators, more and more people have focused on the study of entrepreneurship
The results show that entrepreneurial passion, role models, and entrepreneurial education could have different effects on entrepreneurial intention; entrepreneurial self-efficacy plays an important mediating role
At the level of personality traits, this paper mainly focuses on the emotional level of entrepreneurial passion; at the specific situation level, this paper is concerned with the impact of role models at the family level on university students, and at the school level, this paper chooses entrepreneurship education as the specific situational factor affecting entrepreneurial intention

Summary

Introduction

With the emergence of entrepreneurship activities and incubators, more and more people have focused on the study of entrepreneurship. Regarding the study of entrepreneurial intention, scholars have begun to explore the key factors affecting entrepreneurial intention by using internal factors, such as psychological traits, personal characteristics, and the cognition of entrepreneurs, and have analyzed the development mechanism of entrepreneurial intention (Shapero and Sokol, 1982; Scott, 1991; Kickul and Krueger, 2004); these studies ignore the impact of external environmental factors on entrepreneurial intention. Later studies have explored environmental factors affecting entrepreneurs, taking into account both. The current entrepreneurial intention model ignores the impact of specific situations, as entrepreneurs face specific situations that will inevitably affect their internal factors. Entrepreneurial intention is influenced by carrier factors (individual factors) and by specific situational factors. When carrier factors and situational factors work together can entrepreneurial intention be stimulated (Elfving, 2008)

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Conclusion