Effects of personality, education and opportunities on entrepreneurial intentions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of proactive personality (PP), entrepreneurship education (EE) and entrepreneurial opportunities (EO) on shaping entrepreneurial intentions (EI) among university students through attitude toward entrepreneurship (ATE) and perceived behavioural control (PBC) according to Ajzen’s (1985) theory of planned behaviour. Design/methodology/approach The study used questionnaires to collect data from university students enroled in undergraduate programmes. A total of 209 surveys were successfully collected. SPSS and SmartPLS 3.0 software were used to analyse and test nine hypotheses derived from the intentions-centred model. Findings The results supported seven hypotheses. There were positive relationships between PP and ATE; PP and PBC; EE and ATE; EO and ATE; EO and PBC; ATE and EI; and PBC and EI. However, there were no relationships between EE and PBC, and subjective norms and EI. Research limitations/implications This study used a cross-sectional survey and self-report data which hinder conclusively making correlational inferences. In addition, the various developmental stages of students may influence perceptions of EI. Practical implications The empirical findings provide new insights for policymakers, educators and academics about the antecedents governing EI. This study also enhances the understanding of the preconditions for EI, which can be utilised by practitioners to encourage and manage graduate entrepreneurship. Originality/value This study advances an intentions-based model which suggests a simultaneous presence of the three core factors, PP, EE and EO for an effective formation of EI. By doing so, the study addresses the issue of the scarcity of investigations on the combined effects, thus closing the research gap and bringing new perspective to the antecedents-intentions nexus of graduate entrepreneurship.