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Measuring the Impact of Business Management Student's Attitude towards

Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Intention: A Case Study

R.K. Jena

PII: S0747-5632(20)30031-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106275
Reference: CHB 106275

To appear in: Computers in Human Behavior

Received Date: 03 December 2018

Accepted Date: 20 January 2020

Please cite this article as: R.K. Jena, Measuring the Impact of Business Management Student's
Attitude towards Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Intention: A Case Study,
Computers in Human Behavior (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106275

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Measuring the Impact of Business Management Student's Attitude

towards Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Intention:
A Case Study

R K Jena,
Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur, India
[email protected]
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Measuring the Impact of Business Management Student's Attitude

towards Entrepreneurship education on Entrepreneurial Intention:
A Case Study

Abstract
Entrepreneurship has played an essential role in economic prosperity and social stability of many
developed countries. India has the highest percentage of young population in the world and faces
massive challenges with its high levels of unemployment among the youth. The unemployment
scenario primarily due to lack of skill and entrepreneurial awareness among youth. The objectives
of this study were to (1) examine the cognitive, affective, and behavioural components of students’
attitude towards entrepreneurship education in Indian universities/colleges, (2) measuring the
impact of students' attitude towards entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention, (3)
examine the role of control variables (e.g. gender and entrepreneurial family background) on the
relationship between attitude towards entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention.
The respondents were students from different business management colleges/universities in central
India. Purposive sampling technique was used in the selection of the colleges/universities, while
simple random sampling was employed in the selection of the respondents. Data from five hundred
nine filled questionnaire were analysed using 'R Programing Language' to obtain the results. The
results showed a significant positive impact of attitude towards entrepreneurship education on
entrepreneurial intention.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship education, Attitude, Entrepreneurial Intention, Business
Management student, India

1. Introduction
India has an unrivalled young population in the world. More than 65% of the Indian population is
below 35 years of age (Mandhana Niharika, 2018). To provide jobs and employments to such a
vast population is a daunting task. To engage and create job opportunity for the young, the
Government of India has started two flagship programs, i.e. Start-up India and Stand-up India
program. The objectives of these programs are to nurture the entrepreneur skills of the young
Indian by proving seed money and technical skills support to start new ventures. In addition to this
initiative, the Government of India has begun “Industry-Academia Partnership and Incubation"
programs, which focuses on the Startup India initiatives. The Union Ministry of Human Resource
Development has announced plans for the development of "Research Parks" in partnership with
higher education providers across India. An initial investment of Rs.100 crore was allocated by
the government to build research parks in association with the premier institute of India.
The main aim of the research park was to provide training to the budding entrepreneurs in
India (Ramachandran S K, 2015). The allocated fund was aimed at to foster the start-ups by
providing seed money to start a business. This research park would propel innovation
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through incubation and joint R&D efforts between academia and the industry. In the first
phase, the proposed parks have started functioning at IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT
Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IISc Bangalore, IIT Gandhinagar, and IIT Delhi. Big companies
like Google and Oracle have also expressed their interest to support the startup initiative.
Entrepreneurship education is considered as one of the most innovative and influential forces that
determine the health of the competitive economy of any country. There are many debates and
discussion regarding the structures and design aspect of entrepreneurship courses in India. Ignoring
the controversies on whether entrepreneurship can be taught, the majority of the top business
schools in India are offering entrepreneurship education with tailored elective courses to promote
entrepreneur culture in India. The primary objectives of all these courses are to inculcate a wide
range of skills encompassing a multi-disciplinary approach among business management students.
On the other hand, India has a pioneering status among developing countries for its early start on
a variety of entrepreneurship education programs. Entrepreneurship education in post-
independence India has been focused on self-employment and founding of Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs).
From the above discussion, it is evident that the entrepreneur environment to start a new venture
in India is very conducive now. So, the Government of India has directed different ministries
related to education to start varieties of new entrepreneurial courses at all level of technical
education in India. But, whether the students are showing their attitude or not towards
entrepreneurship education particularly in higher education is the most crucial question to be
answered for the success of such initiatives. This is because entrepreneurship education often
improves the attitude of students towards entrepreneurship (Wei Xingjian et al., 2019). Without
having a proper attitude, both cognitive competencies and non- cognitive competencies are
difficult to achieve and sustain in the long run (Moberg, 2014). Therefore, this study was
conducted to measure the attitude towards entrepreneurship education among Indian business
management students. This study was also intended to measure the influence of attitude towards
entrepreneurial intention. The findings of the study may; (1) help the educators and administrators
to promote the entrepreneurship education in India; (2) identify student's potentiality & interest
and encourage them to start new ventures.

1.1 Entrepreneurship Education

Entrepreneurship is a multi-faceted phenomenon. In simple words, an entrepreneur can be defined

as “an individual who establishes and manages a business for profit and growth” (Sally Smith et
al. , 2019). Entrepreneurship is more than a mere creation of a business. Creating an entrepreneur
mindset among students through proper entrepreneur education is the need of the hour. In the
twenty-first century, entrepreneurship education has been recognised as one of the essential
determinants that could influence students’ career decisions (Wei Xingjian et al., 2019; Robert et
al. , 2018; Fayolle et al., 2013). Introducing the concept of enterprise and entrepreneur approaches
in higher education can influence students' perception towards entrepreneurship as well as their
awareness towards other employment options (Kassean, H et al., 2015; E. Kubberød and I.B.
Pettersen, 2017). Entrepreneurial education can, therefore, influence the performance of
entrepreneurs by enhancing their profitability, entrepreneurial spirit, entrepreneurial attitudes, and
chances of survival (Ho M-HR, 2018). Furthermore, the importance of entrepreneurship education
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to the economy has also been recognised for ensuring rapid economic growth and a positive
environment (Kassean, H et al., 2015; Warnecke, 2013). Many countries are increasingly
recognising entrepreneurship as an effective means of creating jobs; increasing productivity and
competitiveness; and improving the quality of life and achieving community goals. However,
policymakers and educators need a thorough understanding of the diverse and alternative aims and
objectives of entrepreneur education to succeed. The Ministry of Education in India in the early
twenty-first century, having recognised the importance of enterprise education, has instructed all
universities/colleges in India to introduce orientation courses on entrepreneurship.

1.2 Attitude towards Entrepreneur Education

Attitudes are habitual ways of reacting to situations. The term ‘attitude’ is generally reserved for
an opinion which represents a person’s overall inclination towards an object, idea or institution.
Attitudes can be positive, negative or neutral and also dormant & more generalised. But, in
entrepreneurship context, an attitude has been defined as the extent to which one perceives
entrepreneurial behaviour and its consequences as valuable, beneficial and favourable
(Azen,2002). Roberta Fenech et al., (2019) identified four dimensions for entrepreneurial attitude,
including the need for achievement, personal control over behaviour, innovation, and self-esteem.
Personal control over entrepreneurship behaviour is individuals’ perceived control and influence
on venture creation outcomes. Innovation is thinking of new ideas, products etc. They measured
each of the entrepreneurial attitude aspects in three dimensions, including affection (feeling and
emotion), cognition (thought and belief), and conation (action and behaviour). It was the
combination of all these dimensions that construct individuals’ general attitude toward
entrepreneurial behaviour. Therefore, the significant components of attitude towards
entrepreneurship education were cognitive, affective and behavioural.

Cognitive Component (Belief, thought and knowledge)

The cognitive component consists of students’ beliefs, thought and knowledge about an attitude
object (Entrepreneurship Education). Belief may be correct or incorrect, true or not true; what is
needed is only for the belief to exist. Similarly, beliefs are detailed thoughts that an individual hold
about something. According to Orpha K et al. (2001), belief reflects an individual’s knowledge
and assessment of attitude object. Belief is the accumulated feelings and priorities about
something. An individual forms belief as he/she grows up into the community or associated with
a reference group. Every individual learns and formulates beliefs according to their interaction in
society. Beliefs are influenced mostly by the social environment of an individual (family,
reference group, and so on). The belief a student towards Entrepreneurship Education course can
help him/her to develop a favourable component of this attitude as time goes on.

Affective Component (feeling, emotion)

It is the student’s emotional reaction and feelings to an attitude object (Entrepreneurship

Education). According to Cavazos-Arroyo et al. (2017), the perceived desirability of
entrepreneurship and its education may be formed through intuitive thinking. That means the
perceived value of entrepreneurship is built through effective attitudinal judgment. The expression
"I like Entrepreneurship Education course" or "I hate Entrepreneurship Education course", is the
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expression of the emotional evaluation towards the entrepreneurship education (Ibrahim Al-
Jubari et al., 2019). It was also observed that people evaluate the same feelings and emotions
differently due to their unique motivational, personality, past experience, reference group, and
physical conditions (Cavazos-Arroyo et al. 2017). That means some individuals/students may
have positive feelings towards entrepreneurship education, while others could respond with an
adverse reaction.

Behavioural Component (behaviour, overt response and willingness)

It is how individuals/students respond or react to a specific set of attitudinal object. The

behavioural component reflects the desire of students’ behavioural intentions in the form of goals,
objectives and aspiration, and expected responses to the attitude object (Entrepreneurship
Education). For example, a student who intends to become an entrepreneur before or after
graduation may develop behaviour towards attending and having a keen interest in
entrepreneurship and its education.

1.3 Entrepreneurial Intention

Individual’s entrepreneurial intentions are the essential variables to predict their entrepreneurial
behaviours. But the literature in the past has failed to define a unique definition of an individual’s
entrepreneurial intentions. On the one hand, referring to individual’s entrepreneurial intentions,
few researchers have adopted similar conceptions, like career orientation (Alejandro Valencia et
al. , 2018), nascent entrepreneurs (Faruk Şahin et al. , 2019) and so forth to define entrepreneurial
intention. But on the other hand, researchers often give operational definitions when they define
an individual’s entrepreneurial intentions, resulting in discrepancy. Zhengxia Peng et al. (2012)
described the entrepreneurial intention as a mental orientation such as desire, wish and hope to
influence their choice of entrepreneurship. Researchers have also defined the individual’s
entrepreneurial intentions using a multivariable model to reduce errors (S. Bacq et al. , 2017).
Additionally, the study of entrepreneurial intentions has several theories aimed to improve the
understanding of intention (Fayolle, 2013; Alejandro Valencia et al. , 2018; Witold Nowiński et
al. , 2019). Among these theories, the most used one was the "Theory of Entrepreneurial Event",
"Institutional Economic Theory", and Theory of Planned Behavior (J. Carlos Díaz-Casero et al. ,
2012). Compared to other frameworks, the Theory of Planned Behavior has more analytical
capability (J. Carlos Díaz-Casero et al. , 2012). Therefore it is one of the most used theory to
explain the antecedent and consequent of entrepreneurial intention (Iakovleva et al. , 2011; Lortie
& Castogiovanni, 2015)
1.4 Objectives of the study
Nowadays, entrepreneurial education is an increasingly popular discipline at all levels of
education. It is usually more popular discipline in schools of business management in India. The
growth of entrepreneurship education over the last 30 years has been phenomenal in India. The
rationale for offering courses in entrepreneurship has often been to raise awareness of
entrepreneurship as a career option. Entrepreneurial education also motivates students to consider
a venturing career (Wei Xingjian et al., 2019; Robert Newbery et al. , 2018). Attitude towards
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entrepreneurship education and supportive environment also profoundly influence the

entrepreneurial intention (M. Obschonka et al. , 2018). However, despite its growth and
importance, there is a lack of relevant studies in this context. Therefore, this main aim of this study
was to serve a basis for the future development of entrepreneurship education programs in Indian
universities/colleges.
The objective was to evaluate attitude towards entrepreneurship education, intention and their
relationship. More precisely, the objectives of this study were:
 to determine the student's attitude towards entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial
intention;
 to measure the influence of entrepreneurial attitude towards entrepreneur education on
entrepreneurial intention;
 to study the impact of the entrepreneurial environment on entrepreneurial intention;
 to study the effect of control variables ( e.g. gender and entrepreneurial family
background) on the relationship between attitude and intention.

2. Literature Review

Concerning studies regarding students' attitude towards entrepreneurship education, a large

number of researches have been conducted in developed countries. For instance, Manish K
Gautam, and Sunil Kumar Singh (2015) in their study ascertained that entrepreneurship education
often improves the attitude of students towards entrepreneurship. Following their research, Wei
Xingjian et al. (2019) deduced that entrepreneurship education encourages students' subjective
norm as well as their intentions towards entrepreneurship by enhancing students' skill, knowledge
and belief. They also found that intention inspires them to opt for a career in entrepreneurship.
Ediagbonya (2013) showed that entrepreneurship education impacts positively towards the attitude
of students to engage in entrepreneurial ventures if their knowledge and skills are developed.
Kassean et al. (2015) also found similar results which ascertain that education in entrepreneurship
increases the probability of business start-ups and self-employment, which in turn brings about
self-satisfaction and economic rewards. Similar studies were carried out by Zain et al. (2010) and
Mapfaira and Setibi (2014). They observed that more than 50% of entrepreneurship education
students had the intention of becoming entrepreneurs upon completion of the entrepreneurship
education. Kabui and Maalu (2012) had confirmed these findings. They found that the majority of
students who had undergone entrepreneurship training had shown a positive perception of
entrepreneurship. On the other hand, the entrepreneurial intention is another important construct
to create a successful entrepreneur. There are many different intention models has been proposed
by researchers in the past (P. Zhang and K.W. Cain, 2017; M. Obschonka et al. , 2017; M.
Obschonka and M. Stuetzer, 2017; Alexander Newman et al. 2019). Majority of the studies found
that the entrepreneurial intention model can be influenced by different variables and constructs (P.
Zhang and K.W. Cain, 2017; M. Obschonka et al. , 2017). These constructs were related to
behavioural and psychological characteristics (Valencia et al. , 2018). Regarding the behavioural
approach, constructs such as personal attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control
were included in most models (Hui-Chen et al. , 2014; Zapkau et al. , 2015), and their articulation
contributes to understanding the entrepreneurial intention (E. Kubberød and I.B. Pettersen, 2017).
Again, the researcher observed connection between personal attitude and perceived behavioural
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control constructs (Lv, Chen & Chen, 2014; Karimi and Biemans et al. , 2016; M. Obschonka and
M. Stuetzer, 2017). However, during model development, each constructor/factor can be
correlated individually with several other constructs. In many cases, the theoretical and empirical
research has associated psychological characteristics with entrepreneurship ( PadillaMeléndez et
al. , 2014; M. Obschonka and M. Stuetzer, 2017; Alexander Newman et al. 2019).

Empirical studies that have investigated the influence of attitude towards entrepreneurship
education on entrepreneurial intention of participants were less unanimous on the results. While
some scholars reported positive effects ( Bae et al.,2014), others found irrelevant and mixed results
(vonGraevinitz et al., 2010). Further, some scholars also reported negative findings (Do Paco et
al. , 2013; Marques et al., 2012). But the importance of attitudes, both in general and towards
entrepreneurship, in explaining entrepreneurial intention has also been recognised and empirically
confirmed in various studies. Kwabena Nkansah Simpeh (2011) suggests that the objective of
entrepreneurship theory was to help entrepreneurs to understand the consequences of their
decisions, and this could be done through education. Furthermore, researchers have assessed the
relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and attitude towards entrepreneurship education.
Research has revealed that entrepreneurship education courses and government support contribute
to the development of entrepreneurial intentions (Paul Pounder and Dwayne Devonish, 2016;
Kwabena Nkansah Simpeh , 2011). Other highlights of research in the past have shown that
entrepreneurship education was mainly concerned with attitudes, intentions, and the support for
the firm creation process. In a nutshell, all the empirical findings discussed above revealed that
attitude towards entrepreneurship education impacts positively on students intention to become an
entrepreneur (E. Kubberød and I.B. Pettersen, 2017; Galina Shirokova et al. , 2018).

On the other hand, in the Indian context, the focus was mainly on the premise of higher education
rather than that on educating entrepreneurs (Pittaway & Cope, 2016). Entrepreneurship, as a
domain of business education, has an eclectic nature where the content is derived from diverse
disciplines including those of strategy, finance, or marketing or strategy (Albornoz-Pardo, 2013).
Given its cross-functional and cross-sectoral orientation, the structure and content of the course
are often faculty-driven and is primarily aimed at the twin objectives of increasing the awareness
of entrepreneurship as a career option and developing the understanding of the process of creating
a new business (Albornoz-Pardo, 2013).

All the above discussions emphasise the need to study the attitude towards entrepreneurship
education and its impact on entrepreneurial intention in India, But unfortunately, no such rigorous
study has been carried out in India to measure and relate determinant of attitude and entrepreneurial
intention. Hopefully, this study may bridge the gaps in the literature.

3. Theoretical Framework and Research Methodology

The purpose of this study aligns with the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). This theory proposes
that the behavioural intentions are formed by an individual's attitude towards behaviour, subjective
norms and perception of behavioural control (Pulka et al. , 2015). The theory states that attitude
towards behaviour, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control, together shape individual
behavioural intentions and behaviours. Pulka et al. (2015) argued that most behaviours are derived
from an individual's intention to perform behaviour. They also revealed that the intention to
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improve the ability is to make mindful choices among alternatives and make the right decisions.
As shown in figure-1, Attitude, Intention and Support Environment were the significant constructs
in the proposed TPB model.

Insert Figure 1 here

The justification for the adoption of TPB theory was based on its power to explain human attitude
towards a behaviour. The framework was also adopted because its forms appropriate theoretical
basis for entrepreneurship education and its influence on the formation of entrepreneurship
intention. Finally, the theory was adopted because entrepreneurship is a planned behaviour and
cannot be created without adequate planning.

3.1 Hypothesis Development

Based on the literature review and the proposed model illustration in Fig. 1, the following
hypothesis were formulated:

H1: Behavioral Component (BC) of entrepreneurial attitude towards entrepreneurship

education significantly influences the Entrepreneurial Intention (EI)
H2: Cognitive Component (CC) of entrepreneurial attitude towards entrepreneurship
education significantly determines the Entrepreneurial Intention (EI).
H3: Affective Component (AC) of entrepreneurial attitude towards entrepreneurship education
strongly associates with Entrepreneurial Intention (EI)
H4: There is a significant association between the entrepreneurial environment and
entrepreneurial intention

3.2 Participants

This study was conducted to assess the attitude towards entrepreneurship education on
entrepreneurship attitude and entrepreneurial intention among business management students in
India based on the theory of planned behaviour. The data was drawn from business management
students across central India. This study was utilised survey research (a non-experimental field
study design) to establish the relationship among proposed constructs. Gall et al. (1996) argued
that survey research is a useful tool for studying sensitive opinions, attitudes, preferences, and
individual behaviour. This study was followed by a mixed-method approach where samples were
drawn using both purposive and random sampling strategy (Robson, 2002). This hybrid sampling
technique generally used extensively in education research (Bryman and Bell, 2003). A total
number of 950 questionnaires were distributed among business management students studying
entrepreneur subjects as part of their course curriculum. A total number of 535 completed
questionnaire were received. After initial screening, partially filled ( incomplete) questionnaires
were rejected. Finally, 509 questionnaires were found suitable for further analysis. The
demographic profiles of participants were shown in the below table (Table-1).

Insert Table-1 Here

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The above table (Table -1) shown that 60% of the sample were boys, and 40% were girls. 56% of
respondents were having a technical degree (mostly engineers), whereas 44% were the non-
technical background. Around 19% of students were from a family business background.

3.3 Study Instruments

A questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. The study questionnaire was divided
into five sections. Section one solicited information on respondents' demographic data. Section
two was devoted to collect data regarding students' attitude towards entrepreneurship education.
Questions of this section were adapted from a previous study on the attitude of management
students towards entrepreneurship education (Rudhumbu et al., 2016). Section three was used to
measure the entrepreneurial intention of business students in India. Entrepreneurial intentions
items were adapted from Linen and Chen (2009). Section four was contained self-developed
questions regarding the entrepreneurial environment in India. The questionnaire was comprised of
'27' research questions covering all the aspects of the study. All the research questions were
employed a 5-point Likert scale from strongly agree (SA), Agree (A), Neutral (N), Disagree (DA)
to strongly disagree (SDA) with each of the points assigned a value as follows: SA =5, A=4, N=3,
DA=2, SDA=1. The questionnaire was used to measure five constructs, i.e. Cognitive Attitude
(CA), Affective Attitude (AA), Behavioral Attitude (BA), Entrepreneurial intention (EI) and
Entrepreneurial Environment (EE).
To ensure the clarity of the instrument, 10 participants were invited to check their understanding
of the survey questions, which was subsequently reworded to deliver more precise ideas of the
questions in the questionnaire. Furthermore, to improve the face validity of the questionnaire, two
experts from the field of entrepreneur research were approached. The instrument was further
refined based on their suggestions.

Five constructs (CA, AA, BA, EI, and EE) measuring multidimensional perception and attitude
were mainly adopted from different sources (a modified version of the original questionnaire or
self-developed questionnaire). Therefore, it was necessary to examine the internal consistency
and validity of the instrument before proceeding for further analysis. Several rounds of exploratory
factor analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were performed on the collected
data to extract factor structure. Finally, the refined questionnaire was comprised of five constructs,
with a total of 27 items. Cronbach’s alpha values for CA, AA, BA, EI, and EE were 0.76, 0.79,
0.81, 0.87 and 0.72, respectively. The refined model was also achieved good model fit parameters
(χ2/df =2.76, CFI=0.96, NFI=0.92, and RMSEA=0.07).

Given that this study utilised self-report data, Harman’s single-factor test (Podsakoff et al. , 2012)
was carried out to examine possible common method bias. After entering all variables into an
exploratory factor analysis to investigate the un-rotated factor solution, the total variance explained
by a single factor was 37.2%, which was considerably lower than 50%. This suggested that there
was no significant amount of common method bias exist in the data. The final survey instrument
consisting of all the five constructs with 27 items can be found in Appendix A.

3.4 Data Analysis Technique

PLS-SEM was used to analyse the research model, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The exploratory analysis
techniques were used here to maximise the variance explained for the dependent variables (Chin,
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1998; Hair et al. , 2014). Considering that this study endeavoured to develop a multi-dimensional
framework relating attitude towards entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial environment, and
entrepreneurial intention, PLS-SEM technique was used. The PLS-SEM 'R' package (Sanchez,
2013) was used for data analysis.

4. Result and Analysis

The research model in this study was analysed using PLS-SEM techniques. The analysis was
carried out in multiple steps. Firstly, the analysis of the measurement model was performed, and
secondly, the study of the structural model was conducted (Hair et al. ., 2014). Thirdly, the whole
dataset was split based on gender and family background and subsequently, the multi-group
comparison was carried out on the sub-datasets to examine whether there were any possible
differences regarding entrepreneurial attitude and intention.
4.1 Model Measurement
The measurement model of this study was investigated following four criteria's, i.e. (a) Item
reliability, (b) Internal consistency, (c) Convergent validity, and (d) Discriminant validity.
4.1.1. Item reliability
Item reliability was assessed by examining the loadings of survey items with their respective latent
construct. The standardised loadings of the items should exceed 0.70 (Hair et al., 2014). Table 2
indicates that the loadings of all items satisfied the requirement as the loading was above 0.7.

Insert Table-2 Here

4.1.2. Convergent validity

This criterion investigates the extent to which survey items that were theoretically related to one
another were related in practice (Hair, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2011). Convergent validity was
examined by checking (a) internal consistency and (b) average variance extracted (AVE) of each
latent construct (Fornell & Larcker, 1981).

Internal consistency: Internal consistency of a given latent construct was assessed through
composite reliability. An internally consistent model should have a composite reliability of more
than 0.70 (Nunnally, 1978). As shown in Table 2, the research model has confirmed the minimum
requirement.

AVE: AVE evaluates the amount of variance that a latent construct obtains from its indicators as
compared with the amount of variance due to measurement errors. The minimum AVE value of
0.50 suggests that at least 50% of the variance of the indicators is explained (Hair et al., 2011). As
indicated in Table 2, AVEs of the latent constructs in the research model was satisfied the
minimum requirement of 0.50.

4.1.3. Discriminant validity

The discriminant validity of the research model is generally examined in two aspects: (a) the square
root of the AVE i.e. for each latent construct, the square root of the AVE should exceed its
correlation coefficients with other latent constructs (Chin, 1998); and (b) survey items should load
more on the latent constructs than on other latent constructs (Chin et al. , 2003). As shown in
Tables 3 and 4, the two requirements of discriminant validity were supported in this study.
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Insert Table-3 Here

Insert Table-4 Here

4.2. Structural model

This study’s structural model was assessed through path coefficients’ significance levels and
explanatory power (i.e., R2) of endogenous constructs. Fig. 2 illustrated the validation outcomes
of the structural model used in this study. Bootstrapping analyses were utilised to examine the
statistical significance of the path coefficients in the structural model as PLS-SEM didn't rely on
distributional assumptions and thus the significance levels were not suitable to be examined
through parametric approaches (Hair et al., 2014).

Insert Figure 2 here

Table 5 presented the bootstrapping validation outcomes. The results showed EI significantly
predicted by BC, CC, AC, and EE, thereby supporting hypothesis H1, H2, H3 and H4.
Furthermore, all the independent variables positively influenced the dependent variable.

Insert Table-5 Here

As PLS-SEM aimed to maximise the variance explained in endogenous constructs, R2 values of

the endogenous constructs were viewed as the primary criterion for assessing the quality of
structural models (Henseler et al. , 2009). However, due to the unavailability of commonly agreed
values of R2, this research followed the guidelines of Cohen (1988). As shown in Fig. 2, the R2
values of EI was 0.41, which was established the substantial explanatory power of the model.
Finally, the predictive power of the proposed model was acceptable. On the other hand, Goodness-
of-Fit (GoF) (0< GoF <1) is another indicator to measure the quality of PLS-SEM
technique(Tenenhaus, Amato, and Esposito Vinzi, 2004). It is generally computed as the geometric
mean of the average communality and average R2. The GoF values of 0.10, 0.25, and 0.36 are
defined as a small, medium, and large, respectively (Wetzels et al., 2009). GoF value of the
proposed model was 0.54, which is considered as a significant value. From the above findings, it
was concluded that the reliability and validity of the proposed model are confirmed and acceptable.

4.3. Multi-group Comparison

Multi-group comparison was conducted by comparing differences at structural levels of research
models. Specifically, path coefficients of research models based on different groups of participants
were examined (Hair et al., 2014; Sanchez, 2013). The aim of path modelling with latent constructs
was basically to estimate linear relationships among the constructs. The approach of bootstrap t-
test was utilised following a three-step procedure: (a) the whole dataset was split into groups; (b)
bootstrap samples were carried out with replacement for each group; (c) subsamples were
compared through t-test in terms of standard error estimates of path coefficients.

4.3.1. Gender
Table 6 revealed that there were no significant differences between gender concerning the path
coefficients (BC→EI, CC→EI, AC→EI, EE→EI). Therefore gender had no significance on the
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path coefficients. That means the gender of a student doesn't influence the relationship between
attitude towards entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention.

Insert Table -6 here

4.3.2. Family Background

Insert Table -7 here

Table 7 revealed that there were significant differences between students from business
background and non-business background on (a) the path coefficient of BC→EI, indicating that
BC exerted a higher influence on EI for students from business background than those of non-
business background; (b) the path coefficient of CC→EI, implied that CC has more significant
effect on EI for students belongs to business background; (c) similar results were obtained for the
path AC→EI. But the student background didn't have any significant difference in the path
EE→EI.

5. Discussion
Entrepreneurship literature in the past claimed that entrepreneurial activity is a typical example of
planned behaviour. Consequently, it can be stimulated by educational programs that increased the
intentions and influenced by attitudes (behavioural, cognitive and affective) of individuals and the
perceived environment. The purpose of this study was to empirically assess the relevance of a
previously proposed TPB conceptual framework in India. The proposed framework tested the
relationship between entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurial intention in Indian conditions.
The results of this research showed that the influence of attitudes on the intention has high
explanatory power and extremely relevant for increasing the entrepreneurial intention. The results
obtained in this research confirmed to the results of the previous study not only in traditional
psychology fields (Ajzen, 1991) but also entrepreneurship domain (Mueller, 2008; Souitaris et al.,
2007; Oguntimehin et al. , 2017; Alexander Newman et al. , 2019; Liu X et al., 2019). In detail,
the results indicated that each component of attitude (Affective, Behavior, and cognitive) have a
substantial impact on entrepreneurial intention. Results of this research also justified and proved
the previously proposed TPB model by Ajzen (1991) and were applicable to explain the
entrepreneurial activity of individuals. Further, the finding of this research supported the results of
previous studies (Kolvereid,1996; Viktoriia Potishuk and Jan Kratzer, 2017). Hence, this research
provided evidence for a relationship between intention and attitude towards entrepreneurship
education in India. When looking at the results in more detail, it was found that entrepreneurship
education plays an essential role in fostering and promoting entrepreneurship activity (Souitaris et
al.,2007; Viktoriia Potishuk and Jan Kratzer, 2017, Virginia Fernández-Pérez et al., 2017, Luca
Ferri et al. , 2018).
From the practical perspective, the knowledge gained from this research (i.e. entrepreneurship
education influences entrepreneurial intention) will help to answer questions regarding the
necessity of entrepreneurship programs, their structure, and teaching methods. The results also
showed that the supports entrepreneurs get from the environment (Mentor, Government and
Financial intuitions) could influence the entrepreneurial intention. This research also verified the
effect of control groups (gender and entrepreneurial family background) on the existing
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relationship between attitude and intention. The finding further revealed that gender has no impact
on the relationship between attitude and intention, which was earlier supported by Witold
Nowiński et al. (2019) in their studies.
On the other hand, family background significantly influenced the relationship between attitude
and intention. Last but not least, findings of this research can immensely contribute towards
creating an entrepreneurial mindset among young Indian through the design and implementation
of a technology-driven entrepreneurial course kit at the higher education level. The main concern
in this study was to strengthen the entrepreneurial intention through improving students' attitude
towards entrepreneurship education. From the results and analysis, it was evident that attitude
towards education affects the intention. Therefore to enhance the students' attitude and
participation towards entrepreneurship education, different innovative technologies based
curriculums and pedagogies can be used at a higher educational level.
The findings of this study indicate theoretical significance. First, attitude towards entrepreneurship
education plays critical roles in stimulating college students’ entrepreneurial intention. Previous
models of entrepreneurial psychology mainly focused on the influence of an individual’s inherent
characteristics, education level, family business experience, entrepreneurial career expectation
prediction and other aspects of the entrepreneurial intention. But this study tested the influence of
different dimension of attitude towards entrepreneurship education and the entrepreneurial
environment as independent variables, and Gender and family background as a control variable.
This study was also constructed as an influencing model to determine students’ entrepreneurial
intention. It further tested and supplemented the Theory of Planned Behavior from the perspective
of learning. The findings of this study provided a piece of empirical evidence to support existing
theories, and can serve as a valuable reference for follow-up studies in future.
6. Conclusion
Entrepreneurship education offers students a different way of looking at the world, irrespective of
whether they choose to develop their own business or not. The primary purpose of the study was
to conduct a formal assessment of the student's attitude towards entrepreneurship education and its
impact on entrepreneurial intention. The study was also examined the effect of the entrepreneurial
environment on entrepreneurial intention in the presence of a control variable, e.g. gender and
entrepreneurial family background. All the hypothesis formulated in this study were significantly
supported. The result discovered a significant positive impact of attitude towards entrepreneurship
education on entrepreneurial intention. The study also revealed that gender has no influence on the
relationship between attitude and intention, but the control variable family background
significantly influences the relation between attitude towards entrepreneurship education and
intention.

Managerial Implication
Entrepreneurship educators could take advantage of the model introduced in this study as a
quantitative instrument to identify the extent to which variables of the model stimulate the causes.
Managers and educators can gain a better understanding of the essential factors that influence
entrepreneurial intention. This model, therefore, could be of diagnostic assistance for formulating
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effective and efficient curriculum and technology-driven pedagogy to cultivate entrepreneurial

activities among students, particularly in India.
Furthermore, improving the image of entrepreneurship as a plausible career option could affect
students’ intentions towards entrepreneurship. The universities should promote entrepreneurship
through engaging business role models, to draw a positive image of entrepreneurship on the
campus and to motivate students to pursue their career as an entrepreneur. It is vital to facilitate
interaction between experienced entrepreneurs and the students at the higher education system to
strengthen their intention towards entrepreneurship. The findings of this research can contribute to
the development of entrepreneurship theories and provide valuable inspiration to Indian business
management students for choosing entrepreneurship as a career.

Concerning management practices, the findings of this study suggested that attitude towards
entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial environment can effectively inspire college
students’ entrepreneurial intention. Entrepreneurship is an activity that requires a proper mindset
and entrepreneurship education. Through appropriate training, college students can able to acquire
the knowledge, skills, and practical experience necessary for the entrepreneurial process, which
can further improve their entrepreneurial intention. Stronger perceived entrepreneurship education
can, exert students' innate entrepreneurial abilities, strengthen their entrepreneurial potential, and
inspire their entrepreneurial confidence and passion. Finally, it was suggested that universities and
other relevant educational institutions should pay more attention to create a conducive
entrepreneurial environment to enrich the connotation of entrepreneurship education and improve
their effectiveness.

Limitations
Despite the significant contributions offered by this study, it has some limitations and unaddressed
questions. Firstly, the biggest issue, in this case, was the aspect of time. Firstly, this study was only
addressed the attitudes and intentions toward expected behaviour and not the behaviour itself. That
means the time-lag problem has not been discussed in this research. Therefore future research
should design studies that cover time in longer perspectives. Secondly, the issue was with the
sample size. Although the sample size was large enough to acquire significant results, the larger
sample size needs to be utilised to make the result more generalisable. Besides, future research
studies might concentrate more on experimental designs and include more control groups.
Furthermore, the research should cover pan India to increase the generalizability of results and
discover some cultural differences in the result. Last but not least, the psychological model used
in this study did not enable an adequate exploration of the relationships between participated
variables. So more detailed studies may require in future.

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Appendix A: Study Survey instrument.

Construct
Behavioral
Component (BC)
BC1 I enjoyed lectures on entrepreneurship as offered in the
university/colleges.
BC2 Lectures on entrepreneurship I received in University/colleges have
increased my interest to pursue an entrepreneurial career
BC3* I consider entrepreneurship as a very important course in the
university/college.
BC4 Entrepreneurship education courses I have undergone in the
university/college have prepared me to make informed decisions on
entrepreneurial career choices.
BC4 I am happy to have had entrepreneurship education in my
university/college
BC5 I sincerely consider entrepreneurship a desired career option
BC6 Entrepreneurship education I received in university/college has
encouraged me to venture into entrepreneurship after graduation
BC7 My entrepreneurship lecturers have helped me to meet and interact
with successful entrepreneurs
BC8* My university/college entrepreneurship staffers help students to meet
successful entrepreneurs who provide motivation to students to
become entrepreneurs.
Cognitive
Component(CC)
CC1 University/college entrepreneurship courses have enabled me to
identify business related opportunities.
CC2 Entrepreneurship courses I took in the university have taught me to
create services and/or products that can satisfy the needs of customers.
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CC3 University/college entrepreneurship courses have taught me to

develop business plans successfully
CC4 Due to the university’s/colleges's entrepreneurship education
programme, I now have skills to can create a new business
CC5* With the university’s/college's entrepreneurship education program I
had undergone, I can now successfully identify sources of business
chance
CC6 Entrepreneurship education program of the university/college has
taught me to perform feasibility studies
CC7 The university’s/college's entrepreneurship courses have stimulated
my interest in entrepreneurship
CC8 Through the university’s/college's entrepreneurship program, my
skills, knowledge and interest in entrepreneurship have all improved
CC9 Overall, I am very satisfied with how entrepreneurship education
programme is being taught in my university/college
Affective
Component(AC)
AC1 I would want to be an entrepreneur after my study
AC2 The idea to become an entrepreneur and work for my self is appealing
to me
AC3 I really consider self-employment as something very important
AC4 The entrepreneurship programme in university/college has effectively
prepared me to establish a career in entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial
Intention(EI)
EI1 A career as an entrepreneur is attractive to me
EI2* If I had the opportunity and resources, I would like to start a business
EI3* People I care about would approve of my intentions to become an
entrepreneur
E14 Most people who are important to me would approve of me becoming
an entrepreneur
EI5 Being an entrepreneur gives me satisfaction
EI6 Being an entrepreneur implies more advantages than disadvantage to
me
EI7 Amongst various options, I would rather be an entrepreneur
Entrepreneurial
Environment in
India(EE)
EE1 India is an excellent country to start a business
EE2 My local community/government supports entrepreneurs
EE3 It would be very difficult to raise the money needed to start a new
business in India
EE4* I know how to have access to the assistance I would need to start a
new business
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EE5 I am aware of programmes the country provides to help people start

businesses
Note. Items marked as '*' were removed after factor analyses

Appendix B: Detailed information of the bootstrap validation of the research model

Hypothesis Original Path Mean. Boot SD Percentile(0.025) Percentile(0.975)
coefficients
H1 BC→EI 0.525** 0.527 0.05 0.367 0.589
H2 BC→EI 0.629* 0.621 0.03 0.411 0.678
H3 BC→EI 0.591* 0.596 0.03 0.387 0.610
H4 BC→EI 0.559** 0.560 0.06 0.401 0.669
Note. Three decimal places were kept in order to illustrate detailed statistical outcomes; the bold
hypothesis highlight the hypotheses that were supported in this study. ( * Significant at the p=
0.05 level; ** significant at the p = 0.01 level)
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Attitude towards entrepreneurship

education

Behavioral
Component (BC)

Cognitive Component
Entrepreneurial
(CC)
Intention(EI)

Affective
Component (AC)

 Gender
 Family Background
Entrepreneurial
Environment

Figure 1: The proposed research model based on TPB

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Attitude towards Entrepreneurship

Education

Behavioral
Component (BC) 0.52**

Cognitive Component 0.62* Entrepreneurial

(CC) Intention (EI)
R2 = 0.41
0.58**
Affective
Component (AC)
0.55**

Entrepreneurial
Environment

Figure 2: SEM results for the proposed model

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Highlights
 This study presented an approach to understanding the entrepreneurial intention among
management students.
 Positive attitude towards entrepreneurship education impacted profoundly on
entrepreneurial intention
 The entrepreneurial environment is positively influenced the entrepreneurial intention
 Family background plays a vital role in entrepreneurial intention.
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Table 1: Description of important demographic profiles

Demographic Profile Count
Gender Boys 306
Girls 203
Education background Technical 286
Non-technical 223
Family Background Entrepreneurial Family 96
Background
Non- Entrepreneurial 413
Family Background
Source: Author

Table 2: Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, average variance extracted (AVE), and factor
loadings of the constructs and items in the research model (N= 509).
Constructs/Items Cronbach’s Composite AVE Factor M (SD)
alpha reliability loadings
Behavioral 0.87 0.89 0.69
Component (BC)
BC1 0.81 2.89(0.89)
BC2 0.81 3.12(0,21)
BC3 0.82 3.15(0.91)
BC4 0.81 3.01(1.02)
BC5 0.79 2.91(0.86)
BC6 0.82 3.01(0.67)
Cognitive 0.88 0.89 0.72
Component(CC)
CC1 0.80 3.11(0.98)
CC2 0.85 2.98(0.85)
CC3 0.81 2.95(0.37)
CC4 0.82 2.99(1.01)
CC5 0.88 3.09(0.92)
CC6 0.82 3.06(1.22)
CC7 0.84 3.01(0.81)
CC8 0.82 2.93(0.71)
Affective 0.79 0.83 0.67
Component(AC)
AC1 0.79 2.97(0.41)
AC2 0.81 2.93(0.65)
AC3 0.81 2.96(0.17)
AC4 0.77 3.03(0.98)
Entrepreneurial 0.87 0.89 0.76
Intention(EI)
EI1 0.86 3.21(1.08)
EI2 0.87 3.14(0.91)
EI3 0.83 3.09(0.97)
EI4 0.84 3.11(1.08)
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EI5 0.81 3.17(1.01)

Entrepreneurial 0.82 0.84 0.69
Environment in
India(EE)
EE1 0.82 3.14(1.12)
EE2 0.81 2.98(0.78)
EE3 0.79 3.07(0.92)
EE4 0.82 2.91(0.98)
Source: Author
Table 3: Discriminant validity of the research model (N=509).
Constructs BC CC AC EI EE
BC 0.83
CC 0.51 0.85
AC 0.45 0.52 0.82
EI 0.61 0.56 0.51 0.87
EE 0.57 0.53 0.54 0.57 0.83
Source: Author
Note. The bold values in the diagonal row are the square roots of the average variance extracted for the
constructs in the research model.

Table 4: Cross-loadings of variables in the research model (N=509).

Constructs/Items BC CC AC EI EE
Behavioral
Component (BC)
BC1 0.81 0.41 0.39 0.42 0.48
BC2 0.81 0.45 0.34 0.41 0.45
BC3 0.82 0.47 0.38 0.39 0.42
BC4 0.81 0.37 0.29 0.48 0.46
BC5 0.79 0.31 0.31 0.45 0.41
BC6 0.82 0.31 0.29 0.44 0.43
Cognitive
Component(CC)
CC1 0.42 0.80 0.33 0.41 0.45
CC2 0.41 0.85 0.41 0.44 0.45
CC3 0.44 0.81 0.38 0.41 0.42
CC4 0.39 0.82 0.34 0.48 0.44
CC5 0.33 0.88 0.29 0.46 0.41
CC6 0.31 0.82 0.31 0.39 0.46
CC7 0.32 0.84 0.32 0.43 0.42
CC8 0.31 0.82 0.29 0.43 0.41
Affective
Component(AC)
AC1 0.41 0.34 0.79 0.42 0.44
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AC2 0.29 0.34 0.81 0.51 0.42

AC3 0.31 0.33 0.81 0.46 0.44
AC4 0.33 0.27 0.77 0.42 0.43
Entrepreneurial
Intention(EI)
EI1 0.44 0.41 0.47 0.86 0.48
EI2 0.46 0.45 0.41 0.87 0.47
EI3 0.43 0.44 0.46 0.83 0.51
EI4 0.43 0.46 0.47 0.84 0.48
EI5 0.47 0.42 0.42 0.81 0.46
Entrepreneurial
Environment in
India(EE)
EE1 0.46 0.41 0.39 0.46 0.82
EE2 0.46 0.39 0.38 0.46 0.81
EE3 0.42 0.42 0.41 0.45 0.79
EE4 0.45 0.44 0.41 0.47 0.82
Source: Author
Note. The bold values are the loadings of each item on its latent variable in the research model.

Table 5 : Bootstrap validation outcomes for the research model (N=509).

Hypothesis Path coefficients Decision
H1 BC→EI 0.52** Supported
H2 CC→EI 0.62* Supported
H3 AC→EI 0.58* Supported
H4 EE→EI 0.55** Supported
Source: Author
Note. ** p<.01; *** p<.001; The bootstrap analysis did not support the statistical significance of the path coefficient
(see Appendix B) due to the possible risk of over fitting issue; The bold rows highlight the hypotheses that were
supported in this study.

Table 6: Comparison between Boys and Girls (N= 509).

Hypothesis Global Group: Boys Group: Girls t df p Sig.
(0.05)
H1 BC→EI 0.43 0.41 0.44 2.89 503 0.067 No
H2 CC→EI 0.51 0.56 0.49 1.78 503 0.053 No
H3 AC→EI 0.36 0.34 0.39 1.49 503 0.098 No
H4 EE→EI 0.53 0.56 0.47 2.39 503 0.10 No
Source: Author

Table 7 : Comparison of Family Background( Business family vs Non-Business Family (N=509).

Hypothesis Global Group: Group: Non- t df p Sig.
Business Business (0.05)
H1 BC→EI 0.61 0.71 0.49 2.09 503 0.00 Yes
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H2 CC→EI 0.47 0.53 0.41 1.97 503 0.01 Yes

H3 AC→EI 0.51 0.59 0.46 1.89 503 0.03 Yes
H4 EE→EI 0.47 0.42 0.49 2.08 503 0.81 No
Source: Author
Note: The bold row indicates the paths where faculty members of lower-grades significantly
differed from those of higher-grades