University or Personal Sustainability— What Shapes Sustainable Entrepreneurship Intentions of Students?

Abstract

The intentions and behaviour of entrepreneurs have been well researched and explored and now the limelight has shifted to sustainable entrepreneurship. The present study aims to examine the personal and institutional sustainability inclination that may help students develop their intent for sustainable entrepreneurship. Quantitative analysis with partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was performed with 422 samples collected from students at Indian universities. The model tested the first-order variables for university and personal sustainability and further the effect on the intentions to start sustainable entrepreneurship. The first-order variables of university sustainability are education on sustainability and campus sustainability and the students’ personal consumption profile and moral obligations for the first-order variables of personal sustainability. The findings indicated that the tendency towards sustainable entrepreneurship was more strongly influenced by personal than university sustainability inclination. Further, the results of the importance–performance map analysis (IPMA) highlighted the importance of personal sustainability as well as further advancements in ethical standards and campus sustainability to nurture students’ intentions for sustainable entrepreneurship. The findings of this study offer policymakers, researchers and higher education institutes insights to establish campuses that contribute to sustainability and reframe the educational curriculum to focus on students’ innate propensities to engage in sustainable endeavours. This article outlines the pioneering research effort into the personal and university sustainability inclination in consideration for shaping sustainable entrepreneurship intentions among students.