How can students’ entrepreneurial intention be increased? The role of psychological capital, perceived learning from an entrepreneurship education program, emotions and their relationships

Abstract

Entrepreneurship education has become a major focus of interest for researchers and national policy makers to encourage students to pursue entrepreneurial careers. The research on entrepreneurship education–entrepreneurial intentions (EIs) has yielded mixed results, and indicates the need to focus on antecedents of EI. More precisely, the aim of this paper was to examine antecedents of students’ EI in French entrepreneurship education programs. Participants were 460 French university undergraduates. Structural equation modeling results revealed that students’ Psychological Capital (PsyCap) had a significant positive relationship with perceived learning from the program and a significant negative relationship with negative emotions related to entrepreneurial actions. They also show that PsyCap indirectly enhanced EI. More precisely, students with high PsyCap learned more from the program in terms of perceived skills and knowledge and in turn had a higher EI. Moreover, students with high PsyCap had less entrepreneurial action-related doubt, fear and aversion, which also increased EI. This decrease in negative emotions can be explained notably by what students perceived they had learned from the program. This article concludes with the implications of these findings for future research and practical applications.

Unraveling the effects of entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention: The moderating role of demographic characteristics

“…It is also important for all relevant stakeholders to include RMs in EE as RMs are found to be a significant source of SE that boost EE in driving EI. This study also depicted that SE is a strong antecedent for predictor EI, individuals who have received EE are more likely to pursue entrepreneurship as a career, to seek opportunities to start their own firms, and to engage in entrepreneurial activities effectively (Sancho et al., 2022; Chevalier et al., 2022).…”

Unpacking the optimistic mindset of business students towards entrepreneurship

“…Individuals with new business intentions are more social, as they want to facilitate the market and people with new products and services to delight their needs. The intention of a new business can be turned into a new venture if the entrepreneurs are passionate and willing to work to perform well in the market [ 37 ]. The new venture can have a selective target market that would benefit the venture by generating more profit and remaining compatible in the market [ 38 ].…”

“…Entrepreneurs that are highly motivated to perform their tasks in the business environment are managing their business performance with optimism in an attractive way [ 45 ]. Entrepreneurial ventures working in the market require entrepreneurial optimism as it is necessary to take decisions related to the business [ 37 ]. Firms in any market face competition and other problems; however, deciding with optimism is a trait that helps businesses improve their performance with strategic decisions [ 46 ].…”

The Analysis of Entrepreneurial Intention at Undergraduate Students of Universitas Syiah Kuala during the COVID–19 Pandemic: Entrepreneurial Capital Building

“…Still, the results of this study are consistent with research carried out by Margaça et al (2021), asserting that the impact of psychological capital on entrepreneurial intention was not direct but through financial, human, and social capital to influence the entrepreneurial intention of students. Then, the research conducted by Chevalier et al (2022) found that psychological capital did not directly affect entrepreneurial intention but had an indirect relationship. Also, the testing results of hypothesis 6 indicated that psychological capital did not mediate the social capital effect on the entrepreneurial intention of Universitas Syiah Kuala students.…”