The Socio-educational, Psychological and Family-Related Antecedents of Entrepreneurial Intentions among Spanish Youth

Abstract

Despite the abundant scientific literature on entrepreneurship, there is still only limited information on young students’ entrepreneurial intentions. The reasons for this, may be generally found in the different conceptual approaches to entrepreneurial intention, and particularly in the variables that regulate and act as antecedents to such intentions. This bias has generated different lines of investigation into the factors relating to entrepreneurial intention among students. One line of investigation is centered on the variables that influence entrepreneurial intention, in particular, relational, educational, and psychological variables, and another is centered on the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention, amongst which is entrepreneurial interest. In this paper, we seek to analyze the relationship between the entrepreneurial interest of Spanish youth and a set of socio-educational, psychological, and health-related variables using principal component analysis. A previously validated ad hoc questionnaire was administered to 1764 students (15–18 years old). Notably, few Spanish youth expressed significantly high entrepreneurial interest; those who did were mostly men with a family tradition of entrepreneurial parents, who held high perceptions of their health and quality of life, and considered it important in business to detect opportunities beforehand and to create employment. Their principal motives were to improve their professional development, to put their ideas into practice, and to achieve economic independence. This paper proposes the early detection of entrepreneurial interests in young people in order to reinforce these interests as potential long-term initiatives.

Entrepreneurial Interest and Entrepreneurial Competence Among Spanish Youth: An Analysis with Artificial Neural Networks

“…Moreover, as indicated by Escolar-Llamazares et al [9], in the European Union, and notably in Spain, young people are among those most affected by the crisis and imbalance of the economic system and they are frequently unaware of the opportunities that entrepreneurship offers as an increasingly accessible alternative. In this sense, several investigations have focused on youth entrepreneurship [10][11][12][13].…”

Entrepreneurial Interest and Entrepreneurial Competence among Spanish Youth: An Analysis with Artificial Neural Networks

“…The pilot survey and results were then evaluated by fourteen experts from seven Spanish universities, who approved the definitive version and rated it as highly reliable. Likewise, the reliability of this questionnaire was contrasted in previous studies published by other authors [9,54,55].…”

“…One of the findings concerns the multidimensional nature of entrepreneurship, understood as the creation of ideas, businesses, and patents, as well as their embryonic management [15]. As the theory of planned behavior points out [16], it is in the process prior to action where entrepreneurial intention and interest, and its influential variables, assume relevance in explaining two inter-related processes (the discovery of opportunities and their exploitation) that lead to the subsequent entrepreneurial activity [9].…”

“…On the one hand, these factors are linked to sociological demographic aspects such as age [49,50], gender [51,52], level of studies, employment situation, income, civil status, and professional status [48]. On the other hand, they are also linked to empowerment in society through education and are directly related to entrepreneurship rates, thereby calling for the inclusion of entrepreneurial competence in educational curricula [9,53].…”

“…Moreover, as indicated by Escolar-Llamazares et al [9] in Spain and the European Union, young people are among those most affected by the crisis and imbalance of the economic system and they are frequently unaware of the opportunities that entrepreneurship offers as an increasingly accessible alternative. In this sense, several investigations have focused on youth entrepreneurship.…”