Youth attitude to entrepreneurship in Eastern and Central European countries: Gender aspect

Abstract

Current business conditions pose new challenges to youth entrepreneurship, which is a significant component of countries’ economic growth. In addition, Generation Z differs from previous generations and requires new approaches. In this context, a comprehensive study of the peculiarities and various aspects of youth entrepreneurship development is highly-demanded and relevant. Furthermore, the lower representation of women among entrepreneurs prompts the study to seek answers about the causes of this phenomenon.This study aims to investigate the gender aspect of young people’s attitude (students who just started their university education) from Eastern and Central European countries to entrepreneurship. Notably, their entrepreneurial intentions, attitudes toward entrepreneurship, perceived threats of setting up the business, and determination to start/run a family business compared to working for a big corporation, from a gender perspective, are worth investigating. The study employed the survey with structured printed questionnaires spread in campuses among 3,636 first-year (bachelor) students of technical universities in Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Bulgaria. The results show that male students are more determined to set up firms; however, the difference compared to the females is only 3.3%. No gender differences were observed in the vision of the attractiveness of running own business or in the perception of threats in running a business. Students of both genders do not suppose that working in a corporation is more attractive than a family business. Nevertheless, respondents of both genders gave the maximum score for the statement that corporations provide more excellent opportunities to develop competencies.