The Influence of the Field of Study and Entrepreneurship Course in Entrepreneurial Intention Among University Students

Abstract

Literature has identified possible factors to entrepreneurial behaviour, including some antecedents of entrepreneurship intention among university students. This study stresses on the field of study and the attendance of an entrepreneurship course as moderators for such intention. Following the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the study compares the results of a survey with a sample of 220 students, conducted in two universities, one public and one private, the latter teaching an entrepreneurship course.

The authors found that (1) Ajzen’s TPB predicted entrepreneurial intention; (2) different field of studies show significant difference on entrepreneurial intention; (3) family and/or friends influence is associated with higher entrepreneurial intention, attitude and perceived behaviour control; (4) the intention to attend an entrepreneurship course is strongly associated with entrepreneurial intention; and (5) however, business-related studies and men do not indicate higher intention to take entrepreneurship course, contradicting previous studies.

The results open further topics for discussions that can be researched with qualitative studies, such as the reason why students who take entrepreneurship course do not predict higher entrepreneurial intention. Meanwhile the intention to attend an entrepreneurship course is associated with entrepreneurial intention.

Citation

Szczepanik, V. and Casais, B. (2021), "The Influence of the Field of Study and Entrepreneurship Course in Entrepreneurial Intention Among University Students", Jones, P., Apostolopoulos, N., Kakouris, A., Moon, C., Ratten, V. and Walmsley, A. (Ed.) Universities and Entrepreneurship: Meeting the Educational and Social Challenges (Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship Research, Vol. 11), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 117-131. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-724620210000011008