Prior education and entrepreneurial intentions: the differential impact of a wide range of fields of study

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• 作者：Aurora A. C. Teixeira ; Rosa Portela Forte
• 关键词：Entrepreneurial intentions ; Entrepreneurial motivation ; Prior educational background of entrepreneurs ; Antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions
• 刊名：Review of Managerial Science
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：March 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：11
• 期：2
• 页码：353-394
• 全文大小：
• 刊物主题：Business and Management, general; Accounting/Auditing; Banking; Marketing; Business Strategy/Leadership;
• 出版者：Springer Berlin Heidelberg
• ISSN：1863-6691
• 卷排序：11

文摘

Studies on entrepreneurial intentions often neglect the heterogeneity of individuals’ education background. This paper develops an integrated intention-based framework and analyzes the impact of fields of study on entrepreneurial intentions. Based on a sample of 2423 final-year students, enrolled in 32 fields of study, and resorting to logistic estimations, we find that, beside the attitude towards starting a business, fields of study, considered at a highly detailed level, are relevant (direct and indirect) predictors of entrepreneurial intention. We unambiguously show that there is a huge hidden potential for new venture creation in fields of study related to creative and leisure activities (e.g., Arts and humanities, or, more specifically, Literature and linguistics, History and archaeology, Audio-visual techniques and media production, Sports, and Architecture and town planning), Law, and Health (most notably, Pharmacy and Veterinary). Significant differences in the level of intention between students of different fields of study indicate that universities should more extensively focus entrepreneurship education on students in other subject area than business or engineering/technology sciences.