Determinants of Entrepreneurial Risk among Young Emiratis

Abstract

This work aimed to investigate the determinants of entrepreneurial risk among Emirati youth enrolled in a university in the United Arab Emirates. This was a quantitative study, which used a survey of 324 university students with an average age of 20.7 years and a standard deviation of 3.1 years. The collected data were analyzed using two methods—Ordinal Probit Regression Estimation and Structural Equation Modeling—to identify the factors that may determine entrepreneurial risk and assess the research hypotheses among this group of Emirati youth. The results showed that Emirati youth are risk-averse when (a) they do not receive government support, (b) they have a perception of low self-efficacy, (c) they are afraid of failure, and d) they perceive considerable obstacles and barriers. In addition, it is concluded that it is necessary to stimulate creativity and an innovative mindset among students.

Entrepreneurial fear of failure among college students: A scoping review of literature from 2010 to 2023

“…Duong and Vu [ 18 ] conducted research on 1890 college students in Vietnam and found that EFoF exerted negative moderating effects on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intention. Smail et al [ 23 ] investigated the determinants of entrepreneurial risk and found that entrepreneurship education could significantly attenuate college students’ EFoF in the United Arab Emirates. Entrepreneurship education can provide college students with business knowledge, skills, and resources, thus promoting their intentions and self-efficacy [ 56 , 57 ].…”

“…Entrepreneurship education can provide college students with business knowledge, skills, and resources, thus promoting their intentions and self-efficacy [ 56 , 57 ]. Students may have gained a more precise and positive understanding of the entrepreneurial risks and failures that mitigated their EFoF [ 23 , 36 , 39 ]. Numerous articles have advocated for the expansion and enhancement of entrepreneurship education with the aim of ameliorating the adverse impacts of EFoF on college students [ 8 , 10 , 17 , 24 , 37 ].…”

“…However, the multidimensional scales are not sufficiently convergent. Most were adapted from scales for a more general scenario or cohort of people [ 23 , 46 , 81 ], such as Conroy's PFAI tool [ 45 ] and Cacciotti et al’s EFoF scale [ 9 ], rather than precisely aiming at college students. Based on the unique characteristics of college students, the EFoF measurement tool can be further adapted to incorporate potential predictors such as parental roles.…”

“…These studies offer substantial evidence at the initial research stage of EFoF in college students, and urge future researchers to develop a theoretical framework for EFoF among this group. Third, some studies have broadened their investigation into the negative role of EFoF, particularly focusing on practical areas like the implementation of entrepreneurial education [ 17 , 23 , 36 ]. The findings imply that EFoF might undermine the effectiveness of entrepreneurial education [ 17 ].…”

“…For unique college entrepreneurs in their emerging adulthood [ 20 , 21 ], most studies have disregarded the social and cultural factors influencing their EFoF, such as education and parents. For example, Smail et al [ 23 ] found that entrepreneurship education significantly alleviates the adverse effects of college students' fear of failure. However, parental support can mitigate the burden that EFoF imposes on college student entrepreneurs [ 24 ].…”