Detecting Female Students Transforming Entrepreneurial Competency, Mindset, and Intention into Sustainable Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Entrepreneurship has been viewed as an opportunity for economic development and changing economic scenario in global markets. Women are viewed as a reservoir of entrepreneurial talents, so they can be growth engines in novel markets. Previous studies have considered entrepreneurship as the most effective way towards the economic empowerment of women. Female students engaged in entrepreneurial education have been addressed persistently, while what transforms them in an education process is still unclear. Considering the transforming global economy and its influence on higher education, this study aims to detect female students transforming entrepreneurial competency, mindset, and intention into sustainable entrepreneurship. Using a self-compiled survey, we targeted 752 female students to investigate their entrepreneurial competency, mindset, and intention. SPSS and AMOS were used to transform the data for interpretation. We assumed that the impact of female student’s entrepreneurial competency could be modified by an entrepreneurial mindset and result in entrepreneurial intention. To detect this causal relationship, this study employed reliability, factor, structural equation modeling (SEM), and bootstrapping analyses to verify the evidence. The result of the SEM confirms that the female students’ entrepreneurial competency will, through their entrepreneurial mindset, impact entrepreneurial intention. With bootstrapping, 5000 samples were collected, and it was demonstrated that the measure constructs were still reliable in the model. This study found that there is a mediation effect between entrepreneurial competency and entrepreneurial intention. The entrepreneurial mindset plays a crucial role in the transformation process. Without an entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial competency cannot exert a significant effect on entrepreneurial intention. The findings can help reinvent related entrepreneurial education in higher education.

Sustainable entrepreneurship out of entrepreneurial opportunity identification: The mediating role of psychological capital

“…For example, recently, in a sample of 215 polytechnic students in Indonesia, Mahfud et al ( 2020 ) found that entrepreneurial attitude orientation, social capital, and PC could collaboratively influence the polytechnic students' EI, and PC was found to fully mediate the impact of social capital on EI. Similarly, a study targeted 752 female students, and Chang et al ( 2022 ) indicated that an entrepreneurial mindset had a mediation effect between entrepreneurial competency and EI; in particular, without an entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial competency alone cannot significantly exert effects on EI. As with other research, this finding from the present study was not conclusive; to understand this issue, more research should be added up.…”

Developing Female Sustainable Entrepreneurial Intentions through an Entrepreneurial Mindset and Motives

“…In recent years, EM has become more prevalent in discussions of entrepreneurship, as researchers examine its origins, mechanisms, and manifestations [2]. Defined as the ability to perceive, act, and mobilize in ambiguous situations [28], EM is an important factor for understanding how entrepreneurs approach their work [29].…”

“…Several studies have investigated EI directly, using various factors such as entrepreneurial motivation, need for achievement, entrepreneurship attitude, subjective norms, innovation, personality traits, entrepreneurial orientation, ECs, EM, entrepreneurial education, EMTs, organizational skills, subjective beliefs, and career opportunities [27,[59][60][61]. In Saudi Arabia, EI has been examined through university students' ECs and EM, but the roles played by EM and EMTs in mediating the relationship between ECs and EI still need further exploration [2].…”

“…Currently, entrepreneurship is well known for creating opportunities in economic development and changing global businesses and markets [1]. Entrepreneurship is important for the development of new ideas; however, it can also present risks [2,3]. Women's entrepreneurial skills have been shown to provide innovation and wealth development that can enable economic growth [4][5][6].…”

“…The 2019 GEM report expressed optimism about Saudi Arabia's business environment. Moreover, higher education institutes have made a very constructive contribution to nurturing entrepreneurship among women who are willing to start their own businesses and to become self-employed [2,5]. Therefore, there is a need to investigate EI among Saudi Arabia's female university students.…”