| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 470.56 KB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Purpose: This study aimed to know the level of academic self-efficacy of higher education students and to verify the effect of academic self-efficacy on the intention to create new business.
Methodology: To achieve these objectives, a quantitative and cross-sectional study was carried out based on a probabilistic sample of 1329 Portuguese students out of 6500, who attended, in academic year 2018-2019, a Portuguese higher education institution. The margin of error was 2.40%. To collect the data, a questionnaire was directly applied to the students, in the classroom in the presence of the teacher, from October 2018 to January 2019. Students’ participation was voluntary and the anonymity and data confidentiality were guaranteed to all participants. The questionnaire had three sections. The first section included sociodemographic and academic variables. The second section included the adaptation of the perceived self-efficacy scale validated for the Portuguese population, in an academic context (Cerdeira, 1995). This scale consists of ten items, the answers being coded by a Likert-type scale, which ranges from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree). Finally, the third section comprised the Simões (2016) scale consisting of four items that aimed to evaluate the entrepreneurial intention of the students. The answers were coded using a Likert scale ranging from 1 (a little) to 7 (a lot). A linear regression model was estimated in order to verify if academic self-efficacy (X1) is a predictor of the intention to create a new business (Y).
Findings: Students were aged between 17 and 47 years old and attended a degree course within four different scientific areas, existent in the institution, namely Education (62.1%), Technologies and Management (21.1%), Agriculture (5.9%) and Health (10.8%). The majority was female (54.7%) and attended a 1st cycle degree course (88.3%) in an ordinary full-time attendance mode (96.5%). The students registered a moderate level of academic self-efficacy (Mean = 4.56; SD =1.08) and a moderate entrepreneurial intention (Mean = 3.87; SD = 1.49). Academic self-efficacy presents a correlation statistically significant, positive and moderate with entrepreneurial intention (R = 0.573; p-value = 0.000). The linear regression model was statistically significant (F = 649.93; p-value = 0.000). It was found that academic self-efficacy is a predictor of entrepreneurial intention. Moreover, the value of R2adjusted showed that this predictor account for 32.9% of the intention to create a new business.
Originality/value: Since self-efficacy has a significant and positive impact on entrepreneurial intention (Pihie & Bagheri, 2013) and, in an academic context, self-efficacy has a positive effect in motivation and student’s performance (Honicke & Broadbent, 2016) this original study was conducted in a higher education institution from de northeast Portugal to verify if this trend occurs is this particular institution.
Practical implications: This study provides empirical evidence that academic self-efficacy has a statistically significant and positive impact on entrepreneurial intention. So, to improve the creation of new businesses by students, the institution must focus on the development of students’ academic performance.
Description
Keywords
Academic self-efficacy Businesses Students Higher education Professional career.
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Ribeiro, Maria Isabel; Fernandes, António; Fernandes, António Pedro (2020). The effect of academic self-efficacy on the intention to create a new business: a case study involving higher education Portuguese students. In International Conference of Applied Business and Management (ICABM2020). Porto. ISBN 978-989-54164-2-4
Publisher
ISAG - European Business School