EFFECT OF THE UNIVERSITY IN THE ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION OF FEMALE STUDENTS

Abstract

Many researchers have studied gender differences in the entrepreneurial intention of students by analyzing the influence of several intrinsic and extrinsic factors on the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention. Fewer researchers have analyzed the influence of the university’s environment and support system on the precursors of the entrepreneurial intention of students in general and of female students in particular. This study aims to fill that gap by analyzing the influence of the university’s environment and support system on the precursors of entrepreneurial intention of female students at a university in Atlantic Canada. Findings of this study confirm that two precursors of entrepreneurial intention—i.e., attitude toward behavior and perceived behavioral control—mediate the effects of the university’s environment and support system on the entrepreneurial intention of female students. They also confirm that the university’s environment and support system comprises three distinct but interrelated dimensions, namely entrepreneurship training, start-up support, and entrepreneurial milieu. Results of this study also suggest that the university’s environment and support system has a positive relation with the perceived behavioral control of female students. However, findings of this study also suggest that the university’s environment and support system has a positive but negligible influence on the attitude toward the behavior of the same students. The outcomes of this study will help the university assess the efficacy of its innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives in promoting entrepreneurial activities. By understanding its entrepreneurial efficacy, the institution will be better equipped to raise the perceptions of venture feasibility and desirability, thus increasing students’ perceptions of opportunity.