Reconsidering What Entrepreneurial Intention Implies: The Evidence from Malaysian University Students

TLDR: In this paper, the authors investigated the effect of belief and behavioural factors on entrepreneurial intention among university students in Malaysia, and found that perceived barriers and perceived support have positive impact on attitude and subjective norms respectively.

Abstract: Entrepreneurship development has been designated as a key component in economic transformation and educational programs in Malaysia. The government has introduced various initiatives to cultivate entrepreneurial spirit among younger generations, especially the university students. Despite the magnitude of these efforts, little is known whether university students today are entrepreneurial. Notwithstanding the abundance of literature on entrepreneurship, factors affecting students’ entrepreneurial intention and why the number of entrepreneurs and new businesses still remain low require continual assessment. Hence, the present study is aimed at investigating entrepreneurial intention among university students in Malaysia. The extended theory of planned behaviour is adopted to specifically look at the effect of belief and behavioural factors on entrepreneurial intention. Using field data collected from 257 university students in Malaysia, all postulated relationships are examined using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings suggest that behavioural factors, namely attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control, have significant effect on entrepreneurial intention. It is also found that perceived barriers and perceived support have positive impact on attitude and subjective norms respectively. The study highlights the need to inculcate university students with entrepreneurial knowledge as well as provide platform for them to acquire entrepreneurial experience so as to transform entrepreneurial intention into actual behaviour.