How Stable Are Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions in the COVID-19 Pandemic Context?

Abstract

The purposed longitudinal study analyzes the evolution of students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions (EI) and its antecedents over the COVID-19 pandemic period and explores the inter-individual differences and the intra-individual changes. Our main contribution consists of proposing two-panel estimations techniques: first, a Latent Change Score model (LCS) approach to analyze the stability of our constructs, and second, a Generalized Least Squares (GLS) Random-Effect estimation of a complex network of relationships that we have identified within the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework. Our empirical results show that students’ EI enrolled in an entrepreneurship education (EE) program increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals with initial higher scores for EI have changed less than those with lower initial scores, and a gender difference exists in the initial level of EI and its antecedents. Our results also document the moderation effects of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the importance of inspiration and resources in building students’ EI and provide valuable policy recommendations for universities regarding the design of EE programs to contribute to the economic recovery in the post-pandemic era

College Students’ Entrepreneurial Intention and Alertness in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Ruiz-Rosa et al [6] found that Spanish university students' social entrepreneurial intention decreased during COVID-19 [9], and similar results were found among Latin American students [10]. However, Botezat and colleagues found that Romanian college students' EI increased during the pandemic, but this study did not distinguish the impact of the entrepreneurship education program from the impact of the pandemic [11]. Future research should compare different countries' results because different countries have different cultural backgrounds [53] and different entrepreneurial environments [69].…”

“…In the context of the pandemic, a number of studies have found that college students' EI has decreased [9,10]. However, there are also studies that have found that college students' EI has increased [11]. Despite the conflicting results, these studies do not delve into what causes this.…”

Sociocultural factors and social entrepreneurial intention during the COVID-19 pandemic: Preliminary evidence from developing countries

“…Second, others provide compelling evidence that gender diversity impacts commercial and social EI (Lortie et al, 2017;Molino et al, 2018). Preliminary evidence revealed that women regarded the COVID-19 pandemic as a chance to display greater EI than males (Botezat et al, 2022;Ettis, 2022;Ragazou et al, 2022). However, another researcher supplied compelling evidence demonstrating the display of higher EI by men than women (Birhanu et al, 2022).…”

Entrepreneurship barriers faced by Pakistani female students in relation to their entrepreneurial inclinations and entrepreneurial success

“…Risk control is a robust component of entrepreneurship education and must be considered in the curriculum. During the COVID-19 pandemic, students’ EI has improved through their enrollment in their universities’ entrepreneurship education programs (Botezat et al , 2022). In Chinese colleges, there is a greater insistence on entrepreneurship education.…”

“…These are found mainly in the developing economies (Chowdhury, 2007; Anwar et al , 2021; Linfang et al , 2021; Othman et al (2022). It is suggested, also, that ATR, FOF, legal issues and motivational barriers have a more harmful influence on entrepreneurship (Nawaser et al , 2011; Botezat et al , 2022).…”