Russian University Students Intentions Towards Social Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Abstract. Social entrepreneurship is nowadays an appealing topic for researchers to investigate. It is considered to be an agent for social and economic development. To involve youth in social entrepreneurship and provide them with the opportunity to use their knowledge, skills and abilities to solve real world problems is a task to be addressed by modern society. This paper explains Russian university students' intention towards social entrepreneurship which is considered to be the predictor of actual behavior. We developed hypothesizes based on factors which have an impact on the social entrepreneurial intention. The tested hypothesizes confirm that attitude as well as subjective norm and perceived behavioral control all have a positive impact on the social entrepreneurial intention. The entrepreneurial environment and education as a contextual element were found to be significant predictors of the social entrepreneurial intention. The study uses the quantitative method where data of 107 Russian students were collected and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 20). In order to detect the impact of variables on each other, correlation and multiple regression tests were run. The results show positive intentions of Russian university students towards entrepreneurship. The study also found that contextual variables-entrepreneurial environment and education have an impact on social entrepreneurship intention. The entrepreneurial environment was found to be the most significant amongst other variables of attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control.

Diasporan students social entrepreneurship intention: The moderating role of institutional support

“…Furthermore, the study results indicated that, Attitude has a positive relationship with SEI. This is in tandem with the findings of Ernst (2011) and Polbitsyn (2018). Given that attitude represents a positive or negative evaluation of an action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), the possible interpretation or implications of this finding could be that people with positive attitude, outlook or evaluation, regarding social enterprises are more likely to develop SEI.…”

“…In other words, specifically in relations to this study, diaspora‐based students' attitude refers to the degree to which students like or dislike in relations to performing social entrepreneurship behaviour. In studies investigating the performance of social entrepreneurship, attitude has been confirmed as a strong and significant predictor of intention (Erikson, 1998; Ernst, 2011; Gulruh & Sinem, 2008; Koçoğlu & Hassan, 2013; Krueger & Brazeal, 1994; Polbitsyn, 2018). Intention indicates the factors that influence the performance of s desired behaviour (e.g., social entrepreneurship).…”

“…Social entrepreneurship as an emerging global concept has been touted as an efficacious conduit for addressing diverse social challenges. Essentially, the concept is acknowledged to have tremendous potency in helping to alleviate poverty, unemployment, and environmental challenges amongst others (Huda et al, 2019; Polbitsyn, 2018). Therefore, it is not surprising that, social enterprise‐based institutions are deploying the concept to drive corporate goals.…”

“…These studies rather suggested social responsibility as more appropriate and suitable. A recent study by Polbitsyn (2018) examining SEIs of Russian university students revealed contextual factors like entrepreneurial environment and academic support as necessary factors to enhance SEI. Enhanced by supportive environment which facilitate the provision of necessary information, knowledge and skills necessary for social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial environment was found to be significant.…”