Factors Affecting Entrepreneurial Intentions of Faculty Students

Abstract

Research Question: The authors of the article investigate if there is a relationship between the psychological characteristics of students at the Faculty of Economics and their entrepreneurial intentions. Motivation: Based on the study results of Littunen (2000), Walter et al. (2013) and Popescu et al. (2016), the authors planned to identify the factors which would predominately influence the students' entrepreneurial intentions. Idea: The authors believe that the psychological characteristics, such as the greater need for achievement and the need for independence can be treated as important psychological indicators for the students’ predicted entrepreneurial success in the future. Furthermore, these characteristics are significant but not sufficient, therefore the introduction of formal entrepreneurial education at university is likely to additionally contribute to raising the students’ entrepreneurial spirit. Data: The research was conducted during the academic year of 2016/17 on a sample of 517 students in their third and fourth years of studies at the Faculty of Economics. The survey questionnaire adopted already established scales on students’ entrepreneurial intentions as created and carried out by Walter, Parboteeah and Walter (2013). Tools: The PLS analysis was used for exploring relations between psychological characteristics (Need for Achievement and Need for Independence) and entrepreneurial intentions. For that purpose, the authors used Smart PLS 3 software. Findings: The results show that psychological characteristics are significantly related to students’ entrepreneurial intentions, i.e., the students who have a greater need for achievement and independence, also have stronger entrepreneurial intentions in comparison with those who do not have those needs. Contribution: The paper contributes to the literature by empirically testing how certain factors affect the entrepreneurial intentions of university students of economics.