Abstract
Entrepreneurship, innovation and technology are essential to the economic development of societies. Universities are increasingly involved in creating an internal favourable environment supporting entrepreneurship and innovation. In our work, we aimed to study the role of university for the development of technopreneurial intentions in a sample of Bulgarian STEM (STEM refers to any subjects that fall under the disciplines of science, technology, engineering or mathematics.) students exhibiting entrepreneurial intentions. The empirical findings of the study are in line with previous empirical evidence about the role of university support for entrepreneurial intentions among students; results also show that students in universities with better research in their scientific field of study are more likely to exhibit technopreneurial intention. Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions identified in the literature such as entrepreneurial role models, perceived support from social networks, willingness to take risks and gender may not be relevant specifically for technopreneurial intentions. The results of the study have important practical implications.
Highlights
The bodies of literature on innovation ecosystems and entrepreneurship ecosystems acknowledge the important role of universities in the development of human capital, knowledge capital and entrepreneurship capital [1]
We aimed to study the role of university for the development of technopreneurial intentions in a sample of Bulgarian STEM (STEM refers to any subjects that fall under the disciplines of science, technology, engineering or mathematics.) students exhibiting entrepreneurial intentions
Technology entrepreneurship, which is at the crossroad of entrepreneurship and technology-based innovation [8], may play a vital role in enhancing sustainable development
Summary
The bodies of literature on innovation ecosystems and entrepreneurship ecosystems acknowledge the important role of universities in the development of human capital, knowledge capital and entrepreneurship capital [1]. The research on the role of university for entrepreneurship development has focused predominantly on patent-based activities, technology transfer, and scientific research by academic staff, empirical evidence suggests that students may be as twice as likely as faculty members to start a new venture after graduation and that the ventures founded by recent graduates are not of low quality [3]. The role of entrepreneurship education for fostering entrepreneurial intentions among students is a relatively well-researched topic. A large body of literature on entrepreneurship education demonstrates that entrepreneurial intentions and behaviour among students are positively associated with entrepreneurship education [4,5,6]. Entrepreneurship among students and recent alumni is influenced by the university context and there is a need for greater understanding of the nature and determinants of student entrepreneurial systems [7]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
