The effect of role model teachers on students' entrepreneurial competencies and intentions

Abstract

PurposeThe paper aims to provide empirical evidence on whether the identification of the teacher as a role model is truly a key factor in improving students' entrepreneurial competencies and intention.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained from a survey of 387 university students enrolled in an entrepreneurship course, who were asked to respond to the same questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of the semester. To test the proposed hypotheses, comparison of means tests for independent samples were carried out.FindingsThe results obtained confirm that students with a role model teacher perceive that entrepreneurial competencies and perceived behavioural control increase largely during the course, whilst students with a non-role model teacher perceive that their attitude towards intention decrease.Originality/valueThe “Who should teach?” question has been disregarded in previous entrepreneurship education (EE) literature. The current paper is a first step towards a better comprehension of the teacher of entrepreneurship as a role model.