What makes a student to become an entrepreneur? Results from vocational and higher education from six countries
Keywords:
entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship training, entrepreneurial intentions, vocational school, higher educationAbstract
Promotion of entrepreneurship is important in higher education, in which entrepreneurship is supported by entrepreneurship training. However, more research is needed on the factors influencing student’s start-up behavior. This study uses Theory of Planned Behavior in explaining start-up behavior and the impact of entrepreneurship training and business knowledge base, answering the following research questions: 1) how entrepreneurial intentions explain student’s start-up behavior, 2) how perceived behavioral control explains student’s start-up behavior, 3) is there a link between entrepreneurship training and start-up behavior, and 4) how student’s perception of his/her business knowledge base explain start-up behavior. The data consists of 1079 respondents from Finland, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany from both secondary and higher education students. The results of logistic regression analysis show that entrepreneurial intentions explain student’s start-up behavior the most. Entrepreneurship training, student's perceived behavioral control, business knowledge base, age and prior experience of entrepreneurship are also positively related to start-up behavior.
