Entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial attitude, self efficacy, and entrepreneurial intentions among undergraduate finalists in public universities in central Uganda

Abstract

There is a need for developing countries to further enlighten entrepreneurship as a professional path for students and an avenue to reduce graduate unemployment. The use of Entrepreneurship Education to stimulate Entrepreneurial Intentions has been widely studied but its impact has yielded contrasting results in different contexts. Little is known about low-income economies like Uganda as most studies are from middle income and the developed world. Besides, there is scanty literature on the interactive effects in this area since past research has focused on the direct effects. The study, therefore, filled these research gaps by focusing on the conditional indirect impact of Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy (ESE) on the link between Entrepreneurship Education (EE) and Entrepreneurial Intentions (EI) via Entrepreneurial Attitude (EA). The study was guided by eight objectives; To determine the impact of; EE, EA, and ESE on EIs, Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Attitude; the mediating effect of Entrepreneurial Attitude on the link between Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intentions, the conditional effect of Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy on the associations between Entrepreneurial Attitude and Entrepreneurial Intentions, Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intentions, lastly, the moderated mediation impact of Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy on the link between Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intentions via Entrepreneurial Attitude. The study was grounded on the Theory of Planned Behavior, Social Cognitive Theory, and Entrepreneurial Event Model. The positivist research paradigm in line with the explanatory design was employed to obtain and analyze data. From a population of 6,408 undergraduates, a sample of 458 was determined. Data was collected using multistage sampling coupled with both random and systematic sampling using a self administered questionnaire. Hierarchical and multiple regression models using PROCESS macro were used to test for the hypotheses. Findings indicate that: Entrepreneurship Education (β=.489, P=.000, R2=.274, R2∆=.212), Entrepreneurial Attitude (β=.544, P=.000, R2=.412, R2∆=.138), and Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy (β=.302, P=.000, R2=.454, R2∆=.042) had a significant positive impact on Entrepreneurial Intentions. Also, Entrepreneurship Education significantly affects Entrepreneurial Attitude (β=.405, P=.000); Entrepreneurial Attitude partially mediates the link between Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intentions (β=.220, CI=.152, .294). Lastly, the study revealed that ESE has an antagonistic conditional effect on the association between; EA and EIs (β=-.201, P=.006, CI=.-.342, -.059) and mediating effect of EE on EIs through EA (β= -.081, SE=.038, CI=.-.158, -.008). To this end, the study provides insights by revealing that Entrepreneurial Attitude is a better predictor of EIs. In addition, there is evidence of a moderated mediation effect of ESE on the relationship between EE and EIs via EA. Implying that at low levels of ESE, the indirect effect of EE on EIs via EA is high and significant. Therefore, educators and policymakers need to establish students’ entrepreneurial competence gaps, such that the entrepreneurial course is customized to the competence needs of the students other than a generalized and standardized entrepreneurial course. Also, entrepreneurship teaching should be introduced right from primary schools such that this career option is oriented to students before they develop their career intentions. Finally, a special financing program should be designed for graduates to enable them easily access start-up capital. However, a longitudinal study is needed to examine how intentions are developed, other than undergraduate, other student population should be focused on and a comparative study for business and non-business students are recommended.