Encouraging the Rise of Young Entrepreneurs: Promoting Entrepreneurial Intention through Storytelling

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study is to use storytelling as a technique to develop entrepreneurial intention in Islamic boarding school graduates. Background: Most of the pesantren graduates in Indonesia do not proceed on to university studies after completing their schooling due to financial problems and so lack the skills to work on jobs that could support their livelihood. Therefore, pesantren wanted to develop a strategy to help its alumni find employment after completing their education. Increasing the entrepreneurial intention of graduates in various sectors is one way in which pesantren expect to support graduates in finding their livelihood. Objective: The objective of this study is to test the effectiveness of storytelling in increasing entrepreneurial intentions in students. Methods: Sixty Islamic boarding school students participated in this study. The Solomon three-group design was used to test the effectiveness of storytelling in increasing the entrepreneurial intentions of students. Participants were divided into three groups: the experimental group, control group 1, and control group 2, each consisting of 20 students. The entrepreneurial-intention scale was used to measure the level of entrepreneurial intention among each group of students. Results First, there was a significant difference between the post-test score of entrepreneurial intention in the experimental group (with treatment) and the post-test score of entrepreneurial intention in control group 1 (without treatment). Second, the post-test score of entrepreneurial intention in the experimental group (with treatment) was not different from the post-test score of entrepreneurial intention in control group 2 (with treatment). Thus, the results were consistent in the sense that the group that received treatment had an increased level of entrepreneurial intention when compared with the group that did not receive any treatment. Conclusion: The results showed that storytelling was effective in increasing the entrepreneurial intention of students. In this study, the treatment of storytelling was integrated with a focus group discussion. Developing treatment with other techniques can have a greater effect on increasing the entrepreneurial intention of students.