University-related Factors influencing Technological Entrepreneurial Intentions of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Students: A Comparative Study of Private and Public Universities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/emaj.2023.312Keywords:
Technopreneurship, Technological Intentions, University Support, University Environment, Teaching MethodsAbstract
This study aims to establish university-related factors that influence the formation of technological entrepreneurial intentions (TEIs) among STEM students in Zambia. The article extends the Ajzen Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model by including environmental factors that were tested using a comparative study of public and private students, with quantitative data obtained from a sample of 400 STEM students and analyzed using structural equation Modelling (SEM). This paper contributes to emerging literature on TEIs by incorporating environmental variables into the TPB model to explain the formation of STEM students' TEIs. This study provides insights into the significance of pressure from friends, family and other networks and positive perception of technological entrepreneurial activities on the formation of TEIs in students. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to utilize the extended TPB on STEM Students in Zambia. This research also contributes to the existing literature on technopreneurship by comparing the formation of TEIs of STEM students in private and public universities. The findings suggest that attitudes towards entrepreneurship (ATE), subjective norms (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) have a direct impact on TEIs for private university students and ATE and PBC for public university students. University support (US) influences TEIs through (SN) for both private and public university students. Additionally, the university environment affects TEIs through three antecedents (ATE, SN and PBC) for private university students, while teaching methods (TM) show no association with TEIs.
References
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and human decision processes, 50(2), 179-211.
Ajzen, I. (2011). Design and evaluation guided by the theory of planned behavior. Socpsychol Eval, Guilford Publications, 74-100.
Aloulou, W. J. (2016). Predicting entrepreneurial intentions of final year Saudi university business students by applying the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 23(4), 1142-1164.
Alves, A. C., Fischer, B., Vonortas, N. S. and Queiroz, S. R. R. D. (2019). Configurations of Knowledge-intensive Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. Revista de Administração de Empresas, 59(1), 242-257.
Agolla, J. E., Monametsi, G. L. and Phera, P. (2019). Antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions among business students at a tertiary institution. Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 13(2), 138-152.
André Cherubini, A., Fischer, B., Schaeffer, P. R. and Queiroz, S (2019). Determinants of Student entrepreneurship: An assessment of higher education institutions in Brazil. Innovation & Management Review, 16 (1), 96–117.
Anjum, T., Ramzani, S. R. and Nazar, N. (2019). Antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions: A Study of business students from universities in Pakistan. International Journal of Business and Psychology, 1(2), 72-88.
Arrighetti, A., Caricati, L., Landini, F. and Monacelli, N. (2016). The entrepreneurial Intention in the time of crisis: A field study. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 22(6), 835-859.
Barba-Sánchez, V., Mitre-Aranda, M. and Del Brío-González, J. (2022). The entrepreneurial The intention of university students: An environmental perspective. European Research on Management and Business Economics 28(2), 100184.
Bailetti, T. (2012). Technology entrepreneurship: overview, definition, and distinctive aspects. Technology innovation management review, 2(2), 5-12.
Barral, M. R. M., Ribeiro, F. G. and Canever, M. D. (2018). Influence of the university environment on the entrepreneurial intention of public and private universities. RAUSP Management Journal 53 (1), 122-133.
Baubonienė, Ž., Kyong, H. H., Puksas, A. and Malinauskienė, E. (2019). Factors influencing Student entrepreneurship intentions: The case of Lithuanian and South Korean universities. Entrepreneurship and sustainability issues 6(2), 854-871.
Boh, W. F., De-Haan, U. and Strom, R. (2016). University technology transfer through Entrepreneurship: Faculty and students in spinoffs. The Journal of Technology Transfer 41 (1), 661-669.
Boubker, O., Arroud, M. and Ouajdouni, A. (2021). Entrepreneurship education versus management students’ entrepreneurial intentions. A PLS-SEM approach. The International Journal of Management Education, 19(1), 100450.
Bruton, G. D., Ahlstrom, D. and Obloj, K. (2008). Entrepreneurship in emerging economies: Where are we today, and where should the research go in the future? Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 32(1), 1-14.
Buli, B. M. and Yesuf, W. M. (2015). Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions: Technical-vocational education and training of students in Ethiopia. Education+ Training. 57 (8/9), 891-907.
Campos, F., Frese, M., Goldstein, M., Iacovone, L., Johnson, H. C., McKenzie, D. and Mensmann, M. (2017). Teaching personal initiative beats traditional training in boosting small businesses in West Africa. Science, 357(6357), 1287-1290.
Dornelas, J. C. A. (2005). Entrepreneurship: Turning ideas into business, (2nd ed.) Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier.
Farrukh, M., Alzubi, Y., Shahzad, I. A., Waheed, A. and Kanwal, N. (2018). Entrepreneurial intentions: The role of personality traits from the perspective of the theory of planned behavior. Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 12 (3), 399-414.
Fiore, Eleonora, Guiliano Sansone, and Emilio Paolucci. (2019). Entrepreneurship education in a multidisciplinary environment: Evidence from an entrepreneurship Programme held in Turin. Administrative Sciences, 9, 28.
Fishbein, M. and Ajzen, I. (2010). “Predicting and changing behavior: The reasoned action approach. New York. Psychology Press. Taylor and Francis.
Franke, N. and Lüthje, C. (2004). Entrepreneurial intentions of business Students-A benchmarking study. International journal of innovation and technology management, 1(03), 269-288.
Gieure, C., Benavides-Espinosa, M. D. M. and Roig-Dobón, S. (2019). Entrepreneurial intentions in the international university environment. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research 25(8), 1605-1620.
Gupta, V. K., Javadian, G. and Jalili, N. (2014). Role of entrepreneur gender and Management style in influencing perceptions and behaviors of recruits: Evidence from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Journal of International Entrepreneurship 12 (1), 85-109.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J. and Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis: Global edition.
Hoque, A. S. M. M., Awang, Z. and Siddiqui, B. A. (2017). Technopreneurial intention among University students of business courses in Malaysia: structural equation modelling. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small & Medium Enterprise (IJESME), 4(7), 1-16.
Hussain, S. and Imran Malik, M. (2018). Towards nurturing the entrepreneurial intentions of neglected female business students in Pakistan through their proactive personality, self-efficacy, and university support factors. Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 12(3), 363-378.
Iakovleva, T., Kolvereid, L. and Stephan, U. (2011). Entrepreneurial intentions in developing and developed countries. Education+ training, 53(5), 353-370.
Kabók, J., Radišić, S. and Kuzmanović, B. (2017), “Cluster analysis of higher education competitiveness in selected European countries,” Economic research-Ekonomska istraživanja, 30 (1),845-857.
Karimi, S., JA Biemans, H., Lans, T., Chizari, M. and Mulder, M. (2014). Effects of role Models and gender on students’ entrepreneurial intentions. European Journal of Training and Development, 38(8), 694-727.
Karimi, S., Biemans, H. J., Naderi Mahdei, K., Lans, T., Chizari, M. and Mulder, M. (2017).Testing the relationship between personality characteristics, contextual factors, and entrepreneurial intentions in a developing country. International Journal of Psychology, 52(3), 227-240.
Karimi, S.,Yaghoubi Farani, A., Izadi, N. and Ataei, P. (2019). Effect of virtual social networks on the entrepreneurial behavior of agricultural students in Iran. Applied Economics 51(21), 2326-2335.
Koe, W. L., Alias, N. E., Ismail, S. and Mahphoth, M. H. (2018). A suggested model for studying technopreneurial intention in Malaysia. KnE Social Sciences, 3(10), 788-796.
Krueger Jr, N. F., Reilly, M. D. and Carsrud, A. L. (2000). Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of business venturing, 15(5-6), 411-432.
Lu, G., Song, Y. and Pan, B. (2021). How does university entrepreneurship support affects College Students’ Entrepreneurial Intention: An Empirical Analysis from China. Sustainability 13(6), 3224.
Liu, X., Lin, C., Zhao, G. and Zhao, D. (2019). Research on the effects of entrepreneurial education, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy in college students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Frontiers in Psychology 10, 869.
Liñán, F. and Chen, Y. W. (2009). Development and cross-cultural application of a specific instrument to measure entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 33(3), 593-617.
Liñán, F. and Fayolle, A (2015). A systematic literature review on entrepreneurial intentions: Citation, thematic analyses, and research agenda. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 11 (1), 907-933.
Low, S. A. and Isserman, A. M. (2015). Where are the innovative entrepreneurs? Identifying innovative industries and measure innovative entrepreneurship. International Regional Science Review 38(2), 171-201.
Lüthje, C. and Franke, N. (2003). The ‘making of an entrepreneur: testing a model of entrepreneurial intent among engineering students at MIT. R & d Management, 33(2), 135-147.
Maheshwari, G., Kha, K. L. and Arokiasamy, A. R. A. (2022). Factors affecting students’ entrepreneurial intentions: a systematic review (2005–2022) for future directions in theory and practice. Management Review Quarterly, 1-68.
Martínez-Climent, C., Zorio-Grima, A. and Ribeiro-Soriano, D. (2018), “Financial return crowdfunding: Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis,” International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 14 (3), 527-553.
Minola, T., Donina, D. and Meoli, M. (2016). Students climbing the entrepreneurial ladder: Does university internationalization pay off? Small Business Economics, 47(1), 565-587.
Mosey, S. (2016). Teaching and research opportunities in technology Entrepreneurship. Technovation, 57, 43-44.
Mustafa, M. J., Hernandez, E., Mahon, C. and Chee, L. K. (2016). Entrepreneurial intentions of university students in an emerging economy: the influence of university support and proactive personality on students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 8(2), 162-179.
Nabi, G., Holden, R. and Walmsley, A. (2010). Entrepreneurial intentions among students towards a re‐focused research agenda. Journal of small business and enterprise development, 17(4), 537-551.
Nacu, C. M. and Avasilcăi, S. (2014). Technological entrepreneurship: success factors as perceived by potential young entrepreneurs. In Advanced Materials Research, 837(1), 639-644. Trans Tech Publications, Ltd.
Nguyen, T. T. (2020). The impact of access to finance and environmental factors: The mediating role of entrepreneurial behavioral control on entrepreneurial intention. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review 8(2), 127-140.
Naushad, M. (2018). A study on the antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions among Saudi students. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 5(3), 600-617.
Nathani, N. and Dwivedi, G. (2019). Influence of technology entrepreneurship on Entrepreneurial intentions: cross-country analysis. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Digital Strategies for Organizational Success.
Nazarov, M., Butryumova, N. and Sidorov, D. (2017). Development of technology entrepreneurship in a transition economy: An example of a Russian region with high scientific potential. Dubrovnik international economic meeting, 3 (1), 89-104.
Neck, M. H. and Greene, G. P., (2011). Entrepreneurship Education: Known Words and New Frontiers. Journal of Small Business Management, 49(1), 55-70.
North, D. C. (2005). Understanding the process of economic change. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Nuseir, M.T, Basheer, M. F. and Aljumah, A. (2020). Antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions In the Smart City of Neom Saudi Arabia: Does entrepreneurial education on artificial intelligence matter? Cogent Business & Management, 7(1), 1825041.
Onjewu, A. E., Mohamed, Y. H. and Witold, N. (2021). The effect of entrepreneurship Education in nascent entrepreneurship. Industry and Higher Education, 35 (1), 09504222211014038.
Perim, M. L. S. (2012). Teaching comparison and entrepreneurship practice in Public and Private higher education institutions in Boa Vista. Revistade Administra¸cão de Roraima-RARR, 2(1), 67-87.
Rosique-Blasco, M., Madrid-Guijarro, A. and García-Pérez-de-Lema, D. (2016). Entrepreneurial skills and sociocultural factors: An empirical analysis of secondary education students. Education+ Training,58 (7/8).
Said, N. M., Uthamaputhran, S., Zulkiffli, W. F. W., Hong, L. M. and Hong, C. W. (2021). The mediating effects of entrepreneurial education towards antecedents of entrepreneurial intention among undergraduate students. In The Importance of New Technologies and Entrepreneurship in Business Development: In the Context of Economic Diversity in Developing Countries: The Impact of New Technologies and Entrepreneurship on Business Development. Springer International Publishing, 2029-2040.
Sansone, G., Ughetto, E. and Landoni, P. (2021). Entrepreneurial intention: An analysis of the Role of student-led entrepreneurial organizations. Journal of International Entrepreneurship 19(3), 399-433.
Santos, S. C. and Liguori, E. W. (2020). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intentions: Outcome expectations as a mediator and subjective norms as the moderator. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 26(3), 400-415.
Saraih, U. N., Aris, A. Z. Z., Mutalib, S. A., Ahmad, T. S. T., Abdullah, S. and Amlus, M. H. (2018). The influence of self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intention among engineering students. In MATEC Web of Conferences. EDP Sciences, 1 (150), 05051.
Saeed, S., Yousafzai, S. Y. and Muffatto, M. (2015). Institutional theory and contextual Embeddedness of women's entrepreneurial leadership: Evidence from 92 countries. Journal of Small Business Management, 53(3), 587-604.
Secundo, G., Rippa, P. and Cerchione, R. (2020). Digital Academic Entrepreneurship: A structured literature review and avenues for the research agenda. Technological forecasting and social change 157, 120118.
Shane, S. and Venkataraman, S (2003). Guest editors’ introduction to the special issue on technology entrepreneurship Research Policy, 32, 181-184.
Shirokova, G., Osiyevskyy, O. and Bogatyreva, K. (2016). Exploring the intention–behavior link in student entrepreneurship: moderating effects of individual and environmental characteristics. European Management Journal, 34(4), 386-399.
Silva, W. and Teixeira, R. M. (2013). Entrepreneurial Intentions of Computer Students: a Comparative study between public and private universities. Anais of EATI. Anais, National Meeting of Information Technology.
Souitaris, V., Zerbinati, S. and Al-Laham, A. (2007). Do entrepreneurship. programmes raise Entrepreneurial intentions of science and engineering students. Effects of learning, inspiration, and resources. Journal of Business Venturing, 22(4), 566-591.
Srivastava, S. and Misra, R. (2017). Exploring antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions of Young Women in India: A Multi-Method Analysis. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies.
Trivedi, R. (2016). Does the university play a significant role in shaping entrepreneurial intention? Cross-country Comparative Analysis. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 23(3), 790-811.
Yordanova, D. (2021). Nascent Technology Entrepreneurship among Bulgarian STEM Students. Administrative Sciences, 11, 121.
Vracheva, V. P., Abu-Rahma, A. and Jacques, P. (2019). Effects of context on the entrepreneurial intent of female students from the United Arab Emirates. Education+ Training, 61 (6), 700-717.
Wright, M., Donaldm, S. and Philippe, M. (2017). An emerging ecosystem for student start-ups. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 42 (1), 909-922.
Wright, M., Philippe M, and Donald S (2019). Student Start-Ups: The New landscape of Academic Entrepreneurship. World Scientific Series on Public Policy and Technological Innovation; Singapore: World Scientific, 1 (1), 1-200.
Zhang, G., Xuebing P. and Jun L (2008). Technological entrepreneurship and Policy environment: A case study in China. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 15 (1), 733-751.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Clement Mwaanga, Edwin Moyo, Kelly Chungu
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
- Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
- The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
- Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
- The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
- Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
- The Author represents and warrants that:
- the Work is the Author’s original work;
- the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
- the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
- the Work has not previously been published;
- the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
- the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
- The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
Revised 7/16/2018. Revision Description: Removed outdated link.
