Entrepreneurial intentions: Making the case for entrepreneurship education

Abstract

Recognition of entrepreneurship as a key economic tool has propelled interest in entrepreneurship research and entrepreneurship education. Despite the rapid evolution of entrepreneurship education and its multidisciplinary nature, it is predominantly taught in business schools. In this research, I investigated the influence of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention of construction-industry workers in several northeastern and mid-Atlantic states of the United States. The purpose of the study was to provide empirical support of the influence of entrepreneurship education on intentions, fill an important nonstudent demographic literature gap, and determine the applicability of the theory of planned behavior as a cognition-intention model for entrepreneurship. The methodology employed to answer the research questions was a nonexperimental quantitative survey design using a validated survey to measure entrepreneurial intentions: the Entrepreneurial Intention Questionnaire. The data gathered from the survey and analyzed using binary logistic regression, provided gainful insight into entrepreneurial intentions of construction-industry workers, the influence of entrepreneurship education, and demographic variables on intentions. Results from the sample ( N = 148) indicated attitude toward entrepreneurship to be positively related to entrepreneurial intentions. The data revealed exposure to entrepreneurship education significantly increased the odds of engaging in entrepreneurship, as well as significantly influencing perceived behavioral control. Results also revealed that family history of business ownership provided an alternative explanation for entrepreneurial intentions.