Determinants of entrepreneurial intention among scientific students: A social cognitive theory perspective

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effects of entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial passion on entrepreneurial intention in Morocco. The developed model suggests that entrepreneurship intention depends on two variables, entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial passion, mediated by entrepreneurial self-efficacy. We use structural equation modeling to test the proposed model, based on a sample of 148 scientific and technical students from the Higher School of Technology, Khenifra, Morocco. The results demonstrate that entrepreneurial passion has a strong positive relationship on entrepreneurial intention, even when entrepreneurial self-efficacy is introduced as a mediator. Further, the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention is fully mediated by entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The findings confirm that entrepreneurial self-efficacy is a central psychological mechanism that can convert entrepreneurship education into entrepreneurial intention. Therefore, individuals need to feel more self-efficacious in order to choose an entrepreneurial career, and entrepreneurship education should orient students towards an area in which they feel truly passionate.