Parental and gender effects on the entrepreneurial intention of university students in South Africa

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate empirically whether there is a significant difference in the entrepreneurial intention of students whose parents run a business and those whose parents do not run a business. In addition, the study aims to investigate whether there is a significant gender difference in the entrepreneurial intention of students. The study focussed on the final year students (undergraduate level) in the Department of Business Management of a South African university. These are students that have done entrepreneurship and small business management modules. This study made use of convenience sampling. Data was collected through the use of self-administered questionnaire in a survey. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and the T-test. The results indicate that although male students have a higher level of entrepreneurial intention compared to female students, the difference is not statistically significant. The results also indicate that students whose parents are involved in business have a higher level of entrepreneurial intention compared to students whose parents are not involved in business. However, the difference is not statistically significant.