Entrepreneurship education programme, passion and attitude towards self-employment

Abstract

Purpose Drawing on the human capital theory and the dual model of passion, this study aims to explore the mediating role of passion on the relationship between entrepreneurship education programme and students’ attitude towards self-employment (SE). Design/methodology/approach The proposed research framework was tested on a sample of 445 higher education students in four universities in North-Central Nigeria. Findings The results indicated that learning and inspiration account for the variation in students’ attitude towards SE. Furthermore, the study revealed that harmonious and obsessive passion largely mediate the relationship between entrepreneurship education programme and attitude towards SE. Practical implications The policy implication is the scaling of policies targeted at encouraging the development of passion given its significant role in the entrepreneurship education programme and attitude towards SE link. Originality/value The study has established the importance of human capital theory in explaining the attitude towards SE phenomenon using a multi-theoretical approach and has advanced the theoretical field of affect and its relevance in the field of entrepreneurship.