MOTIVATION FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AMONG STUDENTS
Senka Borovac Zekan
[email protected]
University Department for Professional Studies
21000 Split, Croatia
Phone: +38521329-304
Ivan Peronja
[email protected]
University Department for Professional Studies
21000 Split, Croatia
Phone: +38521329-304
Abstract
Entrepreneurship has been considered a way to increase economic welfare and create employment especially in transition countries such as Croatia where free enterprise is emerging. Today's students are tomorrow's potential entrepreneurs. However, there is little understanding of the factors that affect students' motivation of becoming entrepreneurs and the relationship between entrepreneurship education and students' entrepreneurial attitudes towards entrepreneurship. This paper seeks to contribute toward redressing this gap whether education affects students attitudes, subjective norms about entrepreneurship, and whether these, in turn affect their motivation on becoming an entrepreneur. In doing so, it enhances our understanding of whether, and if so, how, education can affect students' attitudes toward entrepreneurship. The article is based on a survey performed on second year students of the University Department for Professional Studies in Croatia.
Key words: entreprenurship, motivation, students,
Introduction
al intentions. ap in our knowledge by empirically testing a model that draws on the theory of planned behavior to examine the antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions among students.
The purpose of the study is to investigate whether prior exposure to entrepreneurship education affects students attitudes, subjective norms about entrepreneurship, and perceived behavioral control and whether these, in turn affect their entrepreneurial intentions.
In doing so, it enhances our understanding of whether, and if so, how.
While most US universities offer entrepreneurship courses today, little is known about the relationship between the likelihood of students taking courses in entrepreneurship and their intentions of becoming entrepreneurs. This paper explores and evaluates entrepreneurial intentions and their antecedents among 123 students at San Jose State University by building on Fishbein and Ajzen's (1975) model. In doing so, it contributes to our understanding of whether, and if so how, education can affect students' attitudes toward entrepreneurship and their entrepreneurial self-efficacy. It also examines the role of family exposure to business, personal entrepreneurial experience, and ethnic background in affecting attitudes, subjective norms, and intentions by comparing students from diverse ethnic and family backgrounds. Findings highlight the impact of education and practical exposure to entrepreneurship on entrepreneurial intentions.
Entrepreneurship has been considered a way to increase economic welfare and create employment. Certain qualities are necessary in order to succeed as an entrepreneur. Personal traits can be measured for example to estimate how suitable entrepreneurial career is for a person. However, by personal traits, especially measured by a survey (See Moran 1998) it is impossible to estimate who will became an entrepreneur. The group of entrepreneurs and those who intend to be entrepreneurs is very heterogeneous so that they cannot be distinguished by trait studies from one who are not or will not be entrepreneurs. (See Aldrich & Zimmer 1985) Researchers are more unanimous of the predicting power of values, attitudes and motivation as factors affecting to entrepreneurship. Values and attitudes have an influence on how one will evaluate the pros and cons of entrepreneurship. They channel the perceptions and interpretations, which affect the motivation and orientation. Values, attitudes and motivation either do not determine whether one will start an own enterprise. However, they describe the orientation better than personal traits. (Huuskonen 1992) The study presented in this article concentrated on measuring these factors in order to consider motivation for entrepreneurship among academic students and graduates.
Entrepreneurship has a more critical role for economies - especially in developing countries - since it can be an engine of economic progress, job creation, and social adjustment. Entrepreneurial intention is a state of mind when people wish to create a new firm or a new value driver inside existing organizations. It seems that university students are potentially suitable for directing their capabilities toward entrepreneurial actions. From a societal perspective, both entrepreneurship and the educational system are important for economic growth, but the importance of education for entrepreneurship has been acknowledged only recently (Kuip and Verheul, 2003).
In fact, a university education has a significant role in career formation and business development after graduation (Roudaki, 2009).
Focusing on university education, particularly in postgraduate programme, it s seen the greater the presence of programs that train students to carry out their own business. It is demonstrated that universities graduates have taken entrepreneurships courses are more likely to select careers in entrepreneurship, work in small business and develop patented inventions or innovative processes, services or products (Honig (2004), Matlay (2008), Small Business Administrations Office of Advocacy, 2009 and Levi, Hart and Anyadike-Danes (2009), among others.
The paper is structured as follows. In section 2 we present previous research and the hypotheses postulated object of our study. Section 3 presents the study desing and methods. Section 4 presents the main results. And, finally, in section 5 we discuss the main conclusions and we present the academics and economics implications of the study.
The purpose of the current study is to analyze the entrepreneurial intentions of university students of University Department for Professional Studies in Split, Croatia. The study mainly focuses on the impacts of some contextual factors that have been proposed and empirically tested on a sample of 128 students. The research question can be defined as exploring entrepreneurial characteristics among University students in Croatia. By choosing five entrepreneurial traits/skills as the basis of the survey, the authors are seeking for entrepreneural motives among students of professional studies. Five entrepreneurial characteristics were constructed to evaluate different skills and traits among students and the main factors affecting these attitudes, although it is obvious that entrepreneurial motives may change over time (Cassar 2007). The authors investigated 78 university students to examine their entrepreneurial characteristics. Other sections of the study will discuss the methodology of the research, followed by the improvement of research design and testing of hypotheses. The empirical results from data collection and discussion of the findings will then be presented.
Literature Review and Hypotheses
Undergraduate Studies: About courses, Vesper and Gartner (1997) analyze ranked university entrepreneurship programs. They explored how universities determined what ourses constituted a program in entrepreneurship and how they determined the criteria that mpact an entrepreneurship program's quality. Peterman and Kennedy (2003) and Souitaris, Zerbinati and Al-Laham (2007) test the effect of entrepreneurship programmes on the entrepreneurial attitude and intentions of the students. Gürol and Atsan (2006) explore the entrepreneurship profile of students and make an evaluation of their entrepreneurship orientation by comparing them with non-entrepreneurially inclined students. Levie, Hart, and Anyadike-Danes (2009) analyze the effect of enterprise training on opportunity perception and entrepreneurial skills perception of trainees. (Febrero de 2012 MBA STUDENTS AND THEIR MOTIVATION TO STAR-UP THEIR OWN ENTERPRISES. AN INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE) Jose Casasola Martínez Clara Cardone-Riportella
The study of Autio et al. (1997) on robustness of entrepreneurial intention in various cultural contexts revealed that encouragement from the university environment affects the entrepreneurial conviction of students.
Studies on the interest towards the field of entrepreneurs have long received attention among academics and researchers, whether local or foreign. Thus, by studying the students' motivation in the field of entrepreneurship, we could make recommendations to all parties involved with the students in order to foster Islamic Studies Student motivation in the field of entrepreneurship.
3. Methodology, sample and measures
Motivation for entrepreneurship among MBA students and graduates The study was conducted together with an evaluation of Recruitment Service at Turku School of Economics and Business Administration (Finland). The MBA student and graduate sample consists of the Recruitment Service's former applicants (i.e. the graduates who had got a job, n = 48), actual applicants (graduates or students who are about to graduate n = 50) and undergraduates, students at a course aimed at second year students (n = 83). The sample of enterprise representatives consists of entrepreneurial actual and potential clients (n = 101) of Recruitment Service. In the MBA student and graduate sample women were slightly over-represented in the sample since the percentage of women was 65% and the total percentage of women in the university is 50%. With reference to major subject, the distribution in the sample was close to the university's distribution. Slightly over a half, 55% of the representatives of enterprises were from SMEs and 45% from large enterprises. Half (52%) of the enterprises had employed MBAs from Turku School of Economics and Business Administration. The other half's views are thus based on images of MBAs graduated from the university.
Data were collected via paper and pencil surveys administered to students in several business classes at San Jose State University, which has a highly diverse body of students. The final sample consisted of 122 students, most of whom (96.7%) were full time students with an average age of 23.4 years. Twelve students (9.8% of those surveyed) had taken a class in entrepreneurship in a prior semester. A large number of students (77%) were management majors, 8.9% were engineering students, 2.4% were finance majors, 1.6% law majors, another 1.6% were international business majors, and the rest were from accounting, economics, project management, recreation, and other miscellaneous areas. Around two-thirds (65.6%) were male. Most (77%) were employed, and worked at an average of twenty-four hours a week, and had an average work experience of four years. Approximately 17% had their own or family business, and twenty-six students (about 21%) had started or tried to start their own business in the past. Of the 122 students who responded to the question, thirty-four (about 28%) had a father who was self employed, and about 21% had a mother who was self employed.
This is a descriptive study that aims to explain the phenomenon that is taking place (Mohd Najib Abdul Ghafar, 1999:46). The research involved in collecting data to find answers to the problems of study and to achieve the objectives of the study. Therefore, descriptive data was collected through the questionnaires by the respondents themselves. Likert scale was used in the questionnaire that was formed by the researchers to determine the respondents' perception of the issues raised. (2nd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC RESEARCH (2nd ICBER 2011) PROCEEDING THE MOTIVATION OF ISLAMIC STUDIES' STUDENTS TO BE ENTREPRENEURS: A STUDY OF UNDERGRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY Yazilmiwati bt Yaacob, Ilhaamie binti Abdul Ghani Azmi Compulsory Subject Centre Sunway University Department of Shariah and Management Academy of Islamic Studies Universiti Malaya)
The population consists of undergraduate and postgraduate students undertaking Islamic
studies in a department in a public university. Purposive random sampling techniques
was used to collect the data in order to get 60 data for the pilot test. The survey items were constructed based on items that have been modified from the instrument that has been used by other researchers.
This survey attempts to analyze the entrepreneurial characteristics of university students on the basis of data collection. A questionnaire was constructed to explore the potential effects of five entrepreneurial traits on entrepreneurial intentions among university students. The questionnaire contained 10 items (each item had two to four answers) representing the theoretical constructs. Although some demographic variables, such as age and gender, were focused in similar surveys, the authors did not focus on these variables.
The study was implemented between March 2012 and May 2012. Finally, 78 completed questionnaires were considered in the data analysis. All
questionnaires collected were correctly answered, and consequently all were used for data analysis. The collected data were analyzed through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS
The study
The study was conducted as a telephone inquiry for MBA students and graduates as well as enterprise representatives. The only exception was undergraduates, who were not yet job applicants at the Recruitment Service. Their answers were collected during a lecture. The work related values of MBA students and graduates were studied by asking them to describe the characteristics of an ideal job. Attitudes towards own entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial abilities provided by the university were measured with 24 attitude statements at 5-point Likert scale on agreement/disagreement. Entrepreneurial abilities provided by the university were not asked from the undergraduates because they were not assumed to have the opinion yet. MBA students and graduates were asked about their intentions to start an own enterprise. Also, they were asked about incentives and obstacles to start an own enterprise. Questions included also answering options for those who already had started an enterprise. Enterprise representatives were asked their opinion about entrepreneurial abilities of MBAs graduated from Turku School of Economics and Business Administration with 18 attitude statements at 5-point Likert scale on agreement/disagreement. Part of the questions was the same as those asked from MBA students and graduates. Enterprise representatives were also asked to give other comments of entrepreneurial abilities of the MBAs graduated from the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration.
Table 1: Questionnaire employed in the study
Market knowledge
RQ1.How much do you know about rules, conditions, opportunities, and challenges in order to establish a firm and get it running?
a. Nothing b. A little c. Somewhat d. Very Much
RQ2. Have you ever visited a factory or worked in a firm during your education?
Never b. Yes one time c. Yes, more than one time
Need for achievement
RQ3.How much are you interested in taking long-term courses to learn more about job markets?
Not at all b. Not now c. Neutral d. Very much
RQ4.Will you be satisfied with continuous employment and payment by fixed salary?
Very interested b. somewhat interested c. Neutral d. Not at all
Risk-taking propensity
RQ5. Would you prefer a job involving change, travel, and variety, even though the job is less secure?
a. Very much b. Somewhat c. Undecided d. Not at all
RQ6. How much do you prefer to run your own business rather than participate in a lower-risk business afte
graduation?
a. Very much b. Somewhat c. Neutral d. Don't like
Self confidence
RQ7. Are you happy with your life and talents?
a. Very happy b. Somewhat happy c. Neutral d. Not very happy
RQ8. Do you have the ability to cope with challenges in the job market?
a. Yes b. Somewhat c. Neutral d. Not at all
Creativity
RQ9. How much do you like to propose new solutions to current challenges?
a. Very much b. Somewhat c. Neutral d. It depends!
RQ10. Are you happy to offer "crazy" creative ideas?
Very much b. somewhat c. Undecided d. Not at all
Source: Alimohammad Aghazamani, Elham Roozikhah (2010): Entrepreneurial Characteristics among University Students: A Comparative Study between Iranian and Swedish University Students European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 18, Number 2.
Measures
Prior exposure to entrepreneurship education was measured by asking students a question about whether they had previously taken a class in entrepreneurship. Paternal self-employment was measured by asking a question about whether their father owns/runs his own businesses (is self-employed)? Prior entrepreneurship experience was also measured with a single question that asked whether they had "started or had tried to start their own business." For the single-item measures, the response scale was a Yes/No, and it was felt that they were
appropriate to ask with a single item measure. Attitude toward entrepreneurship was measured with a shortened scale adapted from Kolvereid (1996) that had a total of nine items on a scale that ranged from 1=Strongly Disagree to 5=Strongly Agree. Four of these questions related to employment in an organization (e.g., having job security and stability, having fixed working hours, being part of an organizational community and having opportunities for climbing the corporate ladder), and five questions related to self employment (e.g., having challenging work, desiring to be your own boss, having power to make decisions, creating something new, and being engaged in the whole business). Following Kolvereid (1996), and others (Souitaris et al 2007), we subtracted the mean of the self-employment items by the mean of the employment items to get an overall index of attitudes toward entrepreneurship, with a higher number indicating a more positive attitude toward entrepreneurship. Subjective norms were also measured using the measure by Kolvereid (1996), and consisted of a combination of items that measured belief (three items) and motivation to comply (three items) on a five-point scale that ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The three belief items were as follows: "My closest family members think that I should pursue a career in self employment," "My closest friends think…" and "People who are important to me think…" The three motivation-to-comply items were: "I care about the opinion of my family regarding my career," "I care about the opinion of my friends…" and "I care about the opinion of people important to me…" To compute the overall subjective norm scale, and following previous researchers (Souitaris, et al 2007), the belief items were recoded into a bipolar scale (from -2 to +2), multiplied with the respective motivation-to-comply items and summarized to come up with the composite score. Entrepreneurial Intentions were measured with three questions on a five-point scale from Kolvereid (1996). An example question is, "How likely is it that you will choose a career as a self-employed entrepreneur?" Response choices for that question ranged from unlikely (1) to likely (5). Cronbach's alpha was .74. Perceived behavioral control was measured with four questions (Kolvereid, 1996). Cronbach;s alpha was .73. An example item is "For me, being self-employed would be…" (1) very easy to (5) very difficult.
Results
Discussion and Conclusion
In this study occurred that MBA students and graduates are interested in entrepreneurship, have positive values and attitudes towards entrepreneurship and in their own opinion have capability for entrepreneurship. Enterprise representatives agreed that MBA students and graduates have positive attitude towards entrepreneurship, but they were more pessimistic towards MBA's entrepreneurial skills. The fact is that very small number of MBA students and graduates start enterprises. Why is that? Especially the enterprise representatives emphasised the lack of practical training related to entrepreneurship in university education. MBA students and graduates emphasised the importance of good business idea and a suitable market niche and also expertise and self-confidence as incentives for starting an enterprise. Business idea and market niche are often inspired by practice. Also successful training programmes strengthen the expertise and faith in own abilities. In order to increase academic entrepreneurship university education should encourage students more towards entrepreneurship and also provide knowledge and expertise on entrepreneurial practise. Getting detailed information about starting and running an own business is only the next step after finding a business idea and the motivation for entrepreneurship. When planning practice as part of training courses it is important to pay attention to quality because anything related to entrepreneurial practise would not automatically increase enterprising behaviour. For example there is no reason for students to have a training period in an enterprise only for routine tasks. The co-operation between universities and enterprises should focus on students' abilities to create and develop ideas and on increasing expertise and self-confidence. The entrepreneurial dynamics should be taught to students through projects presenting challenges and encouraging responsibility taking.
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