Factors impacting entrepreneurial intentions among university students in Saudi Arabia: testing an integrated model of TPB and EO

• Published in: Education & training (London) 2020-11, Vol.62 (7/8), p.779-803
• Main Authors: Al-Mamary, Yaser Hasan Salem, Abdulrab, Mohammed, Alwaheeb, Mohammed A, Alshammari, Naif Ghazi M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitudes; Behavior Theories; Beliefs; Business Administration Education; Career Choice; College Students; Creativity; Decision Making; Economic growth; Economic Progress; Employment Opportunities; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Foreign Countries; Government (Administrative Body); Human influences; Hypotheses; Intention; Labor market; Norms; Questionnaires; Self Efficacy; Self employment; Social Development; Statistical Data; Students; Theory of planned behavior; Unemployment; University students; Vision; Young adults
• ISSN: 0040-0912; 1758-6127
• DOI: 10.1108/ET-04-2020-0096

PurposeThis research intends to contribute to the literature of entrepreneurial intentions through determining the factors impacting the entrepreneurial intentions among students in different academic programs. This is in order to enhance and improve entrepreneurship-related procedures within relevant universities.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted by a structured survey questionnaire on 261 students in the University of Hail. The questionnaire was developed based on previous studies. The proposed hypotheses were tested by the use of the structured equation modeling (SEM) via using Amos software.FindingsThe results of the current study support the theoretical integration of the model as most of the hypotheses have been accepted. The results of the survey also show that attitudes toward behavior, self-efficacy, autonomy, risk-taking, pro-activeness and competitive aggressiveness are expressively related with entrepreneurial intention. Yet, social norms and innovativeness are not considerably connected with entrepreneurial intention.Research limitations/implicationsThis study seeks to contribute to the relevant literature by integrating the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the entrepreneurial orientation model (EO). This is in order to identify the factors impacting the intention of entrepreneurship among Saudi university students. As the case in many studies, this present study has some limitations. The main limitation lies in that it would not be possible to generalize the study's findings. This is due to the fact the research is the outcome of examining and studying one Saudi university. Therefore, it would be better to conduct similar studies in other Saudi universities in order to generalize the findings of the study.Practical implicationsThe study's results could be of value to policymakers and university administrators in Saudi Arabia universities by which they could be enabled to allocate resources, develop strategies and provide all requirements for the sake of improving entrepreneurial skills among university students. This comprehensive model can be used as a tool for planning and prioritizing resources in bid for providing the required support as this support would reinforce the entrepreneurial opportunity of university students. As such, students would have better thinking about entrepreneurial work and thus would be assisted in achieving their professional goals and the broader goal of nation building.Originality/valueSince