This article tests a model of entrepreneurial career choice in university students based upon Social Cognitive Career Theory. In particular, we hypothesize that entrepreneurial interests affect career choice and that perceived self-efficacy is related to outcome expectations and both constructs affect interests and career choice. Additionally, this study explores the differences in these variables and tests the generalization of the relationships among students in both entrepreneurship- and non-entrepreneurship-related disciplines. Data collected from a survey of 400 students at a Spanish university are analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and Partial Least Squares. The findings indicate that self-efficacy exerted positive effects on outcome expectations, entrepreneurial interests, and career choice, which holds for students across disciplines. However, interests are not associated with career choice, whereas the effects of outcome expectations depend on their extrinsic/intrinsic nature and the student’s academic orientation.
In the context of the wide-ranging social and economic changes that have been occurring in industrialized countries over recent decades, contemporary higher education institutions are seeing their missions expanded by the assignment of a further responsibility to provide a socio-economic boost, taking the form of the channelling of future generations of working population towards entrepreneurial goals in accordance with the new needs of the productive sector. In this context, the present study is aimed to analyze the impact of experiences of entrepreneurship education in the University on undergraduates' career behaviour as explained by intention-based models. Self-report data was collected from a sample of 800 Spanish university students, and PLS analyses showed a positive effect of education on perceived entrepreneurship feasibility, which in turn affected entrepreneurial intention and behaviour. Otherwise, perceived desirability was not related with the remaining variables in the model. Implications of these results and limitations of the study are discussed.
Resumen: Este trabajo analiza las limitaciones de la literatura previa sobre intenciones emprendedoras de estudiantes universitarios y propone un modelo de elección de carreras emprendedoras basado en la Teoría Social Cognitiva de Carrera (TSCC) de Lent, Brown y Hackett (1994, 2000. Particularmente, el estudio hipotetiza una relación secuencial directa entre intereses vocacionales, intenciones y conductas emprendedoras, desencadenada a su vez por las creencias de autoeficacia y expectativas de resultados extrínsecos e intrínsecos atribuidos a la creación de empresas. En la puesta a prueba del modelo, se describe un estudio realizado con 400 estudiantes universitarios de distintas áreas de conocimiento. Los resultados del trabajo, obtenidos mediante la técnica PLS (Partial Least Squares), confirman una relación positiva entre intereses, intenciones y conductas emprendedoras tempranas y erigen la autoeficacia emprendedora como el principal desencadenante de dicha secuencia de metas. Por su parte, las expectativas de resultados intrínsecos se asocian con los intereses vocacionales por la creación de empresas mientras que las recompensas esperadas a nivel extrínseco no influyen en el modelo. Los resultados tienen importantes implicaciones para el diseño de programas de apoyo a la iniciativa emprendedora en entornos universitarios. Palabras clave: Iniciativa emprendedora; intención emprendedora; Teoría Social Cognitiva de Carrera (TSCC); elección de carrera; autoeficacia emprendedora; estudiantes universitarios; ecuaciones estructurales.Title: A social cognitive model of entrepreneurial intentions in university students. Abstract: This work analyzes the limitations of previous literature on entrepreneurial intentions of university students and proposes a model of entrepreneurial career choice based on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by Hackett (1994, 2000). Particularly, the study hypothesizes a sequential direct path between entrepreneurial vocational interests, intentions and nascent behaviors, which in turn would be triggered by the beliefs of self-efficacy and outcome expectations attributed to business start-up at both extrinsic and intrinsic levels. To test the hypotheses of the model, an empirical study carried out with 400 university students within different knowledge areas is described. The results obtained, using the PLS (Partial Least Squares) technique, confirm a positive direct link between entrepreneurial interests, intentions and nascent behaviors, while perceived entrepreneurial self-efficacy predicts such goal sequence. Otherwise, intrinsic outcome expectations are related to vocational interest in business startup, whereas expected extrinsic rewards do not play any important role in the model. These findings have important implications for the design of entrepreneurship support programs in university environments.
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