Effectiveness of an interactive start-up simulation to foster entrepreneurial intentions among undergraduate university students: a quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Higher education institutions play an essential role in promoting entrepreneurial intentions through entrepreneurial education. However, the effectiveness of such approaches and factors that stimulate entrepreneurial intentions among university students remains uncertain. The current study investigates the impact of an online-based entrepreneurial simulation game, so-called intervention, on entrepreneurial intentions among students. Seventy-five students enrolled in universities in Germany, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Russia are grouped into treatment and controlled sets. Using a pre- and post-intervention survey and principal component analysis, the ordinal regression results found that entrepreneurial competence, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, personality traits, and social environment directly influence entrepreneurial intention. In addition, regression results on these causal variables provide insight into factors that indirectly influence entrepreneurial intention. Considering the nonparametric nature of the data for intervention assessment, the Wilcoxon sign-rank test results indicate that the entrepreneurial simulation did not have a direct impact on entrepreneurial intention. However, the teaching intervention was effective in improving other vital factors that influence entrepreneurial intentions as the self-perceived likelihood of students to start their own business after graduation, level of risk tolerance, entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, exposure to business economics courses, and adeptness to entrepreneurial tasks. Moreover, nonparametric tests such as the Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests revealed significant differences between respondents on these direct and indirect factors that prompt entrepreneurial intentions. Our findings provide valuable implications for improving the design and effectiveness of future entrepreneurial education programs.