Purpose This paper aims to establish the antecedents of the entrepreneurial intentions in the case of youth beneficiaries of entrepreneurial higher education studies and/or entrepreneurial role models, being grounded in the theoretical framework of rational action and planned behavior (TPB) reference model (Ajzen, 1991, 2002). Design/methodology/approach The quantitative study took place in the biggest academic center in the western part of Romania, by applying a questionnaire-based survey between 2008 and 2015 on 650 students, both female and male participants. The authors’ research endeavor to model different types of factors influencing entrepreneurial intentions, required the assessment of alternative configuration models via structural equation modeling, completed with several statistical tools, including descriptive statistics, scale reliability, factor and validity analysis, respectively, pairwise critical ratio differences. Findings At the level of investigated sample, composed of 650 students from the Timisoara academic center, the empirical results of the study highlighted that: entrepreneurial higher education training and behavioral characteristics are significant and direct predictors of entrepreneurial intentions; behavioral characteristics also mediates the influence of psychological characteristics and of parental or social environmental specific entrepreneurial role models on entrepreneurial intentions; gender identity is a moderator, differentiating the direct effects of entrepreneurial education and behavioral characteristics on entrepreneurial intentions. Research limitations/implications The proposed research model does not seek to explain the inclination of the surveyed students to act according to their entrepreneurial intention; also, the obtained empirical results cannot be generalized because of the restricted sample size. The theoretical utility of the research regards the predictability enhancement of the reference TPB model on identifying the antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions in diverse national contexts and investigated populations. At practical level, the study sustains the importance of tertiary entrepreneurial education in stimulating youth’s entrepreneurial intentions, especially for women, along with the detection of motives of preferring an entrepreneurial career and sustaining it through personalized entrepreneurial education programs. Originality/value The papers originality is conferred by the following: large, comprehensive and relevant investigation sphere of the direct, mediator and moderator influencing factors of entrepreneurial intentions in the case of youth; respectively by research methodology applying four configuration models; and the empirical analysis performed via structural equation modeling and multi-group moderation. The value of the paper consists in its theoretical and empirical contribution on investigating and enhancing the role of entrepreneurial spirit stimulating academic education for specific contexts and investigated groups.