Shaping entrepreneurial intentions: The impact of entrepreneurship education on university students

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of entrepreneurship education on university students’ entrepreneurial intentions. The study attempts to empirically determine the extent to which entrepreneurship education can shape students’ entrepreneurial intentions. A questionnaire-based survey is used to test the hypotheses examined. A pre-test-post-test group design was adopted to measure the change in students’ attitude, subjective norms, Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC) and entrepreneurial intention using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A questionnaire was completed by 210 business students (out of 400), studying at a public university based in Athens, Greece, at the beginning of their 13-week compulsory course in Entrepreneurship. A second questionnaire was re-sent to the same students at the end of the course and they were asked to complete it. The second questionnaire was completed by 158 students from the original respondent group. The student participation was voluntary at both times. The sample was a convenience one given that the resources available were limited. The findings lent support to the theory and the hypotheses proposed. The authors report that attitude, PBC and entrepreneurial intention can be positively influenced by entrepreneurial education.