The entrepreneurial mindset and self-employment intention of high school learners: The moderating role of family business ownership

Abstract

Entrepreneurship, through successful business venturing, plays a pivotal role in a nation’s endeavor to create jobs and boost the economy. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) reports state that South Africa’s early stage total entrepreneurial activity (TEA) is lower than most countries that are at comparable levels of development. Therefore, the entrepreneurial mindset of high school learners and its influence on self-employment intention were assessed in this study. Also, the moderating effect of family business ownership on the relationship was measured. The data collected from 320 learners in randomly selected 10 high schools in Gauteng were analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. The study finds that the level of an entrepreneurial mindset is above average, which provides the potential for a higher total entrepreneurial activity (TEA) in the future. Both entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurial traits significantly influence self-employment intention, while learners’ family business background moderates the relationship. The study establishes the entrepreneurial mindset level of high school students in a country with one of the lowest TEA in the world, South Africa, where (possibly) the latest entrepreneurial mindset measure, the Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile (EMP) instrument is used. Also, it’s unique in testing the role of family business background in intensifying the entrepreneurial mindset toward self-employment intention. Therefore, the Department of Basic Education should aim to tap into the existing desire in high school learners and develop a curriculum that integrates theoretical and experiential learning. It is expected that this intervention will improve the future TEA of the country.

The influence of family business background on the entrepreneurial intention of individuals

“…Our results may be limited by our sample size, nonetheless they compare favourably with similar studies (Bignotti -Le Roux 2020;Chilenga et al 2022;Malebana 2023). As entrepreneurship studies focusing on Hungary are not scarce and the country has a strong entrepreneurial culture and provides students with education, resources, and policy support for entrepreneurship (Wu -Rudnák 2021), such aspects limit the novelty of advantages our empirical data has in terms of comparability and generalisability.…”

“…Table1), in line with sample sizes of similar surveys in other countries(Chilenga et al 2022;Malebana 2023). Characteristics of the sample composition are also outlined in Table1.…”

“…Thus, the presence of one or more entrepreneurs in a family may help young people who want to start a business. On such a basis, they may more easily develop the entrepreneurial mindset that is important for entrepreneurial success (Carr -Sequeira 2007) and which is related to self-employment intention (Chilenga et al 2022) or increased perceptions of entrepreneurial efficiency (Janney -Dess 2006;Zellweger et al 2011). The results provide support for H1.…”

“…Although Likert-scale data may not strictly follow a normal distribution, the Central Limit Theorem states that the distribution of sample means will tend towards normality as the sample size increases (Zhang et al 2022). Furthermore, use of linear regression with variables measured on five-point Likert-scales is a traditional and frequent methodological choice of similar studies (Chilenga et al 2022;Nungsari et al 2023;Quagrainie 2023). Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted (Gelman -Hill 2006), where each set of independent variables was entered one at a time, to determine if independent variables explained a statistically significant portion of the variance in entrepreneurial intention, after accounting for all other factors.…”

“…Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted (Gelman -Hill 2006), where each set of independent variables was entered one at a time, to determine if independent variables explained a statistically significant portion of the variance in entrepreneurial intention, after accounting for all other factors. Similar hierarchical frameworks were applied in this research field by Chilenga et al (2022) or Malebana and Mothibi (2023). With regard to our research model, we theoretically assumed that regression should proceed through the origin point.…”