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Investigating entrepreneurial intention among public sector university students of Pakistan Naimatullah Shah College of Business Administration, Al Yamamah University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Department of Public Administration, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan, and

Public sector university students of Pakistan 841 Received 11 November 2016 Revised 2 May 2017 Accepted 12 May 2017

Bahadur Ali Soomro Area Study Centre, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan Abstract Purpose – Nowadays, entrepreneurship is regarded as an indispensable means for economic development. In this regard, promoting entrepreneurship is a necessity for every economy. The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that may influence students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual framework underlying this study is the theory of planned behavior, and the study proposes a descriptive methodology in which cross-sectional data are randomly collected from the different public sector universities of Pakistan. A survey questionnaire was used as a means for data collection. The respondents were bachelor’s as well as master’s degree students who are pursuing degrees in entrepreneurship or education. After cleaning the data, 385 usable answers were analyzed. The response rate was 60 percent. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21.0 was used for data analysis. Findings – The results of Pearson’s correlation and multiple regression analysis showed that attitudes toward behavior and subjective norms have a positive and significant relationship with entrepreneurial intention. On the other hand, perceived behavioral control has no significant relationship with entrepreneurial intention. Originality/value – Such a study may provide useful insights into the state of entrepreneurship education for policy makers and planners in universities as well as in government, regarding the younger generation, particularly, to reduce the burden of graduate unemployment. Keywords Subjective norms, Entrepreneurial intention, Perceived behavioural control, Attitude towards behaviour Paper type Research paper

Introduction Entrepreneurship is an important ingredient in modern global economic development (Phillips and Kirchhoff, 1989; Keeble, 1990) because of its role in creation of new businesses and jobs, bringing about stronger competition, and even increasing productivity through technological changes (Hindle and Rushworth, 2000; Kuip and Verheul, 2004; Fitzsimmons and Douglas, 2005; Gibb and Hannon, 2006; Mohar et al., 2007; Johansen et al., 2012). Researchers have extensively studied its social and economic significance (Ahmed et al., 2010). In developing countries, there is a great need to inspire youth to perform entrepreneurial activities (Awogbenle and Iwuamadi, 2010) by providing self-employment to break down unemployment and poverty. With regard to Pakistan, a majority of students indicate a future acceptance for entrepreneurship as a profession, and preferred the entrepreneurial option for earning more money. In other words, students are engaged in the promotion of entrepreneurial activities through innovation, which is considered to be one of the primary traits of entrepreneurs (Ali et al., 2011). Unfortunately, Pakistani students have only moderate intention to become entrepreneurs (Tanveer et al., 2013). To nurture the entrepreneurs, developing individuals’ entrepreneurial intentions is a basic requirement for every society. According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB),

Education + Training Vol. 59 No. 7/8, 2017 pp. 841-855 © Emerald Publishing Limited 0040-0912 DOI 10.1108/ET-11-2016-0168


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an individual’s will, effort or intention to do something is shaped by three factors: attitudes toward behavior, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1991). It underlines the number (occurrences) of efforts that have been put into performing a behavior by an enthusiast. Most studies have utilized TPB for examining entrepreneurial intention among university students (Peterman and Kennedy, 2003; Mentoor and Friedrich, 2007; Ferreira et al., 2012). TPB has been tested by various scholars in different contexts, but seldom in Pakistan (Khan et al., 2011; Bangash and Naeem, 2014; Shabbir et al., 2016). There is a strong need for empirical evidence to measure entrepreneurial intentions in Pakistan because of the high rate of unemployment in the region. The purpose of the present study is to meet this need by investigating entrepreneurial intentions among university students of Pakistan, using TPB as a theoretical framework. This research could provide useful insights regarding entrepreneurial intentions for policy makers and planners in universities as well as in government regarding young adults, particularly in addressing the problem of unemployment among college graduates. It may contribute to the literature regarding developing countries, and also to the literature on TPB. Literature review In such a world, the role of entrepreneurship is considered to be of prodigious significance in fast-tracking the pace of economic development and growth. It has brought big changes in both developing as well as developed countries during recent decades. It is responsible for individuals attaining extraordinary prosperity by pursuing their own goals, desires and dreams via new firm creation (Fauchart and Gruber, 2011). It is known as a pillar for creating job opportunities and innovation (Formica, 2002; Postigo and Tamborini, 2002) for the economy. It not only brings changes through innovation but also increases societal development (Carney and Rayan, 2010). Given these benefits, developing individuals’ entrepreneurial motivation is very important. In the entrepreneurship literature, many scholars have discussed the factors that are the most important influences on entrepreneurial intentions (Ferreira et al., 2012; Tanveer et al., 2013; Khuong and An, 2016). Krueger et al. (2000) specified that any planned behavior regarding entrepreneurship is only predicted by intentions. Personal and situational variables classically have an indirect influence on entrepreneurship by influencing key attitudes and general motivation to act. Autio et al. (2001) conducted a study on the London Business School students in the entrepreneurial intention domain. In their study, no significant effect of subjective norms was found on entrepreneurial intent. On the other hand, attitudes toward entrepreneurship and perceived behavioral control over career choice were found to significantly relate to entrepreneurial intention. In the same manner, Erich and Schwarz (2003) found in a survey of students that attitude toward entrepreneurship and attitude toward money were the most relevant predictors of entrepreneurial intent. In addition, attitude toward autonomy has an impact on students’ interest in becoming an entrepreneur. By applying the survey questionnaire, the study of Francis et al. (2004) found positive and significant associations among attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and intentions. Kraft et al. (2005) conducted a quantitative study in Norway that found perceived confidence to be a strong predictor of exercise intention, but not of recycling intention. Furthermore, perceived behavioral control was found to be a strong predictor of recycling intention, but not exercise intention. According to Solesvik et al. (2014), students who have perceived feasibility, perceived desirability and creative culture for entrepreneurship can be considered as strong individuals with entrepreneurial mindset. Similarly, Fayolle et al. (2014) proposed that two factors, values and motivations, are crucial for developing intentional background. According to Nabi et al. (2015), entrepreneurial education still mostly consists of an emphasis on short-term and particular outcome procedures. Similarly, more recently,


Westhead and Solesvik (2016) strongly recommended that entrepreneurial education should develop the strength of entrepreneurial intention. As compared to males, females have less entrepreneurial intention. In a similar vein, in the Mid-Western region, Stone et al. (2007) underlined that carefulness is positively and significantly correlated with the components of TPB such as attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control and negatively related with intention to chat. However, no such relationship was found between adjustment and TPB factors. In Spain and Taiwan, entrepreneurial intention is predicted by personal attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (Linan and Chen, 2009). The subjective norms are positively and significantly correlated with perceived behavioral control and personal attitudes. In the same vein, Ferreira et al. (2012) emphasized that entrepreneurial intention is formed by the factors such as perceived behavioral control, subjective norms and personal attitudes. Tanveer et al. (2013) found a moderately high intention among Pakistani students to become entrepreneurs. Family business background and personal experience factors were found to be positive predictors while gender had no significant impact. Finally, age was found to be inversely related to the likelihood of starting a business. In a study conducted in Britain and Spain, Linan et al. (2013) found that enhancing the level of knowledge and awareness about entrepreneurship increased self-efficacy perceptions and hence entrepreneurial intentions. In contrast, Olakitan (2014) did not find a significant relationship between entrepreneurial intention and self-efficacy. Also, personal control was found to have no relationship with entrepreneurial intention. More recently, Ramoni (2016) found in Nigeria that entrepreneurship education, innovation and risk taking propensity have a positive and significant relationship with entrepreneurial intention. Most research conducted in Pakistan has examined the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and factors such as personal traits, demographic characteristics, entrepreneurship education (Khan et al., 2011), personal educational support, self-confidence (Bangash and Naeem, 2014) and entrepreneurial skills (Shabbir et al., 2016). In line with this view, we propose to investigate the entrepreneurial intentions among students in the public sector universities of Pakistan. Theoretical framework and hypotheses development Nowadays, intention has become an important factor among students because it has a relationship with the strength of mind. The central problem in the entrepreneurship research is about understanding entrepreneurial intention. Ajzen’s (1991) TPB provides a useful theoretical framework for predicting entrepreneurial intention. The entrepreneurial intention concept deals with the individual’s will or effort to do something in a specific way. From the perspective of Ajzen’s theory, entrepreneurial intention can be predicted based on three factors, attitudes toward behavior, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. Intention is designated as the number (occurrences) of efforts that an enthusiast has put into performing a behavior and captures the motivational factors which influence a behavior. It also gives an idea about the willingness, hard work and efforts of an individual to perform the behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Intention is a conscious state of mind that directs concentration, and consequently actions and experiences, in the direction of particular objectives or the pathway to accomplish these objectives. However, most studies revealed that intention is antecedent to venture creation and that venture creation is possible only through entrepreneurial intention. In the same sense, intentions have a capability to predict both organizational outcomes, such as development, growth and survival, and individual behaviors. On the other hand, entrepreneurial intention is statistically related to the support of universities. Indeed, the TPB has been shown to be a very useful theory for predicting the intentions and behavior of individuals (Ajzen, 1991; Autio et al., 2001; Khuong and An, 2016) in the

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different contexts of both developed and developing countries (Buli and Yesuf, 2015; Malebana and Swanepoel, 2015). In the Pakistani context, TPB has largely been ignored by the domain researchers (Khan et al., 2011; Bangash and Naeem, 2014; Shabbir et al., 2016). However, there is a strong need to test a good model for investigating entrepreneurial intention within the public sector universities of Pakistan because on average students only have a moderate intention to become entrepreneurs (Tanveer et al., 2013). To address this need, on the basis of Ajzen’s (1991) TPB, the present research examined factors associated with the entrepreneurial intentions of university students in Pakistan. The relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and the various predictive factors according to Ajzen’s model have been depicted in Figure 1. Attitude toward behavior is one of these factors, according to TPB. The term entrepreneurial attitude refers to a person’s positive attitude toward taking responsibility for his/her own learning, career and life related to entrepreneurship. It also points to a desire and value within the available firms and involvement in the awareness of the individual desirability of performing an entrepreneurial behavior (Krueger et al., 2000). Regarding the entrepreneurship domain, the previous literature highlights a positive and significant relationship between attitude toward entrepreneurial behavior and entrepreneurial intention (Kolvereid, 1996; Krueger et al., 2000; Autio et al., 2001; Souitaris et al., 2007; Gelderen et al., 2008; Gird and Bagraim, 2008; Pihie, 2009; Schwarz et al., 2009; Ariff et al., 2010; Ferreira et al., 2012). However, Kumara (2012) found a moderate impact of attitude toward self-employment on entrepreneurial intention among undergraduates. On the other hand, Douglas (1999) strongly stressed that a person’s attitude toward his or her work effort is negatively correlated with entrepreneurial intention. Subjective norm is the most important factor of TPB. It is defined as a person’s perception that others, such as friends and family members, believe that he or she should or should not perform the behavior (Cameron et al., 2012). In other words, it refers to perceived social pressure for or against performing the behavior in question (Ajzen, 1987). Subjective norms also play a very crucial role in the development of entrepreneurial intention which determines a specific behavior and situation (Ajzen, 1991, 2002). Several studies found a significant impact of subjective norms on intentions (Kolvereid, 1996; Tkachev and Kolvereid, 1999; Kolvereid and Isaksen, 2006), while other studies do not support this finding (Krueger et al., 2000; Autio et al., 2001; Linan and Chen, 2009). Engle et al. (2010) found subjective norms to be significantly related to intentions in

Age

Attitude toward behavior

Subjective norms

Entrepreneurial Intention

Perceived behavioural control

Figure 1. Theoretical framework

Gender


12 countries. Moriano et al. (2012) found that subjective norms were significantly related to intentions in only two out of the six countries in their study. Otuya et al. (2013) proposed that subjective norms contribute the least to entrepreneurial intentions. Perceived behavioral control is the third and final predictor of intentions in Ajzen’s (1991) TPB. It reflects the perceived ability to perform the target behaviors and is connected with the individual’s perception of the ease or difficulty of performing the behavior (Ajzen, 1987). Previous research has found a significant positive relationship between perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention (Mathieson, 1991; Krueger et al., 2000; Autio et al., 2001; Souitaris et al., 2007; Gelderen et al., 2008; Gird and Bagraim, 2008; Linan et al., 2011; Solesvik et al., 2012). There is a positive relationship between perceived behavioral control and the intention to become an entrepreneur among business students compared to non-business students (Sihombing, 2012). Kaijun and Sholihah (2015) compared the two cultures of Indonesia and China and found that there is an indirect effect of perceived behavioral control on entrepreneurial intention in both societies. Especially in the context of Pakistan, entrepreneurship researchers have seldom utilized TPB (Khan et al., 2011; Bangash and Naeem, 2014; Shabbir et al., 2016), even though research suggests that it is an excellent predictor of entrepreneurial intention. TPB is regarded as the most powerful (and is the most popular) framework for predicting human behavior (Ajzen and Cote, 2008). In addition to a few studies on entrepreneurial intention among university students, there have also been studies on small samples of business or IT professionals (Ahmed et al., 2010; Khan et al., 2011; Ali et al., 2014; Shabbir et al., 2016). Our study proposes the following hypotheses for investigation regarding a large sample of 385 bachelor’s and master’s degree students at universities throughout Pakistan who were studying entrepreneurship or related courses: H1. Attitude toward behavior have a positive and significant relationship with entrepreneurship intention in Pakistan. H2. Subjective norms have a positive and significant relationship with entrepreneurship intention in Pakistan. H3. Perceived behavioral control has a positive and significant relationship with entrepreneurship intention in Pakistan. Research methodology The present study consists of a quantitative survey that was adapted based on prior research supporting its use (Ajzen, 1991; Krueger et al., 2000; Autio et al., 2001; Ariff et al., 2010). According to Baruch and Holtom (2008), a survey questionnaire can provide information regarding individual perceptions and intentions (p. 1140). In addition, Babbie (1990) strongly recommended that quantitative perceptual research involving the use of Likert response scales provides more reliable data than other approaches because of the large number of choices of answers available for the respondents (Oppenheim, 1992, p. 200). Moreover, this strategy has been common in entrepreneurship research (Ajzen, 1991; Linan and Chen, 2009). The adapted questionnaire was based on the model variables such as attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and entrepreneurial intention. It provides extensive coverage of a wide range of situations and is economical with regards to time and money. A random sample was selected for the survey from the students of public sector universities in Pakistan (see Table I). The sample size was selected according to Krejcie and Morgan’s (1970) guidelines regarding appropriate sample size (n) based on the size of the population (N ). There is little to be gained to warrant the expense and energy to



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Table I. Universities selected for sampling

S. No

Name of university

Province/Area

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Allama Iqbal University International Islamic University Quaid-i-Azam University Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan Islamia University, Bahawalpur University of the Punjab, Lahore University of Karachi, Karachi University of Sindh, Jamshoro Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur University of Peshawar, Peshawar University of Swat, Swat Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan University of Balochistan, Quetta University of Turbat, Turbat Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University, Quetta

Islamabad Islamabad Islamabad Punjab Punjab Punjab Sindh Sindh Sindh Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Balochistan Balochistan Balochistan

sample beyond about 385 cases. The participants were administered a survey instrument in the English language. Questionnaires were distributed to the participants through a mix of personal visits, e-mail and postal mail. We ascertained their willingness to participate in the study before distribution of questionnaires. We followed a procedure that if no response was obtained from the participants within two weeks of distributing the questionnaire, at least three reminders were sent requesting the participant to return the completed research questionnaire. Those who did not return it after the third reminder were dropped from the research. The response rate was 60 percent. Measurement scales This study is based on TPB, in which three independent variables – attitude toward behavior, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control – were used to investigate entrepreneurial intention. Attitude toward behavior. Attitude toward behavior was measured using five items adapted from Ajzen (1991). Participants responded to the items on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Sample items from this scale included “Being an entrepreneur implies more advantages than disadvantages to me” and “My friends would approve of the decision to start a business.” Subjective norms. This factor was measured via six items adapted from Ajzen (1991). Participants responded to these items on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Sample items from this scale included “My colleagues would approve of the decision to start a business” and “I would have complete control over the situation if I start and run a business.” Perceived behavioral control. Perceived behavioral control was measured on six items adapted from Ajzen (1991) that have been used in TPB. Likert scale was used with options ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Sample items from this scale included “I am prepared to do anything to be an entrepreneur” and “If I wanted to, I could easily start and run a business.” Entrepreneurial intention. Intention was measured with three items on a Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The items were also adapted from TPB developed by Ajzen (1991). Sample items from this scale included “I am ready to do anything to be an entrepreneur” and “I am determined to create a business venture in the future.”


Data analysis Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach’s α reliability were calculated using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21.0 for Windows. In the end, hypotheses were tested by applying Pearson’s Correlation and multiple regression analysis (MRA).

Public sector university students of Pakistan

Results Sample Of the 700 surveys distributed to the students from 15 different public sector universities around the country, we received a reply for 422, showing a response rate of around 60 percent. Among these, 22 surveys were incomplete and 15 were found to be outliers. Thus, 37 participants were excluded from the final data analysis. The sample details for the gender of the participants revealed that 70.1 percent (n ¼ 270) participants were male and 29 percent (n ¼ 115) were female. With regard to age, the majority of respondents (77.7 percent) were between 21 and 30 years of age (Table II).

847

Descriptive statistics and reliability assessment The mean and standard deviation were examined for the background information of the respondents. The range of means was noted to be 2.72 to 3.58. On the other hand, the range of standard deviations was 1.25 to 1.54 (Table III). As noted previously, Cronbach’s α reliability was calculated to examine the internal consistency among the items. The overall reliability of the instrument was 0.78, and the individual factors’ reliability was satisfactory (Table III). EFA EFA was carried out to inspect the arrangement of the measurement items related to the variables in the conceptual framework (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007, p. 633). To get suitable results from the factor analysis, to measure the sampling adequacy, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test was performed. Additionally, communalities among items (total difference or variance of an original variable communal with other variables), eigenvalues and scree plots were assured for estimating and confirming the number of factors (Hair et al., 2006; Demography

Category

Gender

Male Female Less than 21 21-30 31-40 41-50

Age

Frequency 270 115 73 299 13 0

Table II. Demographic information of respondents

Note: n ¼ 385

No.

Variables

M

1 Entrepreneurship intention 2.85 2 Attitudes toward behavior 3.58 3 Subjective norms 3.04 4 Perceived behavioral control 2.72 Notes: M ¼ mean; SD ¼ standard deviation; α ¼ Cronbach’s α reliability

SD

α

1.5456 1.4312 1.254 1.3622

0.803 0.897 0.898 0.868

Table III. Descriptive statistics and Cronbach’s α


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Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007). The factor loading through rotated pattern matrix was conducted for interpreting the items which together represent their factors as a group (Pallant, 2010). Initially, 20 items were examined for factor loading. Four items were then excluded that had loadings of less than 0.5 (Field, 2006) (Table IV). Scores of factor loading remained above 0.71; that is, considered to be excellent (Comrey and Lee, 1992).

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Hypotheses testing Two steps were applied for testing the hypotheses. In the first step, Pearson’s correlations were computed to determine the strength of relationship between dependent and independent variables (Pearson, 1957). In the second step, MRA was conducted to determine the effect of independent variables on dependent variable (Zikmund, 2003). There was a significant positive correlation between attitudes toward behavior and entrepreneurial intention (r ¼ 0.332**) (see Table V); attitudes toward behavior made a

Factor loading

Factors and related items Entrepreneurial intention (ITEN) There is no doubt that I will become self-employed as soon as possible There is no doubt that I will become self-employed as soon as possible I plan on becoming self-employed sometime after the successful completion of my studies

Table IV. Factor loadings

Subjective norms (SUNO) My closest friends think that I should pursue a career as self-employment I care what people who are important to me think when I decide whether or not to pursue a career as self-employed I care what my closest friends think when I decide whether or not to pursue a career as self-employed A career as an entrepreneur is attractive to me Being an entrepreneur implies more advantages than disadvantages to me

0.877 0.842 0.811 0.781

Attitude toward behavior (ATBE) Among various options, I would rather be an entrepreneur A career as an entrepreneur is attractive to me If I had the opportunity and resources, I would love to start a business Being an entrepreneur would give me great satisfaction

0.881 0.874 0.848 0.809

Perceived behavioral control (PBCO) For me, being self-employed would be very easy The number of events outside my control, which could prevent me being self-employed If I pursue a career as self-employed, the chances of failure would be As self-employed, I have complete control over the situation

0.868 0.858 0.853 0.844

Variables

Table V. Pearson’s correlation

0.931 0.928 0.805

1

2

3

4

5

0.879

6

1. ITEN – 2. ATBE 0.332** – 3. SUNO 0.498** 0.314** – 4. PBCO 0.114 0.215** 0.127* – 5. Age 0.231* 0.340** 0.120 0.293* – 6. Gender 0.125 0.234* 0.376** 0.321** 0.210* – Notes: ITEN, entrepreneurial intention; ATBE, attitude toward behavior; SUNO, subjective norms; PBCO, perceived behavioral control. *,**Significant at the 0.05 and 0.01 levels (two-tailed), respectively


significant independent contribution to entrepreneurial intention ( β ¼ 0.325**; p o0.01; t ¼ 7.321) (see Table VI). Therefore, H1 is accepted. There was a significant positive correlation between subjective norms and entrepreneurial intention (r ¼ 0.498**) (see Table V); subjective norms made a significant independent contribution to entrepreneurial intention ( β ¼ 0.471**; p o0.01; t ¼ 9.271) (see Table VI). Therefore, H2 is accepted. Neither the correlation between perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention (r ¼ 0.114) (see Table V) nor the independent effect of perceived behavioral control on entrepreneurial intention ( β ¼ −0.103; p W0.01; t ¼ 0.321) (see Table VI) were significant. Therefore, H3 is not accepted.


Discussion and conclusion The purpose of the study was to investigate the entrepreneurial intention of public sector university students. The relationship between attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention was the focus of the research. TPB was applied to determine factors most associated with entrepreneurial intention among students. Based on TPB, three hypotheses were developed regarding the relationship between the predictive variables of attitude toward behavior, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention. H1 stated that attitudes toward entrepreneurial behavior would be positively related to entrepreneurial intention; H2 stated that subjective norms regarding entrepreneurial behavior would be positively related to it; and H3 stated that perceived behavioral control would be positively related to it. Consistent with previous research (Krueger et al., 2000; Autio et al., 2001; Linan and Chen, 2009; Ariff et al., 2010; Ferreira et al., 2012; Chea, 2014), H1 and H2 were both supported; however, H3 was not. In the literature, negative associations between perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention were found by various scholars such as Ferreira et al. (2012) and Kaijun and Sholihah (2015). These researchers investigated negative and indirect relationship between perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention. On the other hand, such results were in contradiction with many scholars such as Krueger et al. (2000), Autio et al. (2001), Souitaris et al. (2007), Gelderen et al. (2008), Gird and Bagraim (2008), Linan et al. (2011) and Solesvik et al. (2012). In short, the findings revealed that attitude toward behavior and subjective norms were found to be predictors for entrepreneurial intention, but perceived behavioral control was not. The latter result is consistent with Kaijun and Sholihah (2015) but contradicts Krueger et al. (2000), Autio et al. (2001), Ariff et al. (2010) and Ferreira et al. (2012). Thus, the positive results of H1 and H2 may have occurred due to a positive attitude toward starting one’s own business or the desire of individuals to perform entrepreneurial

Control and independent variables Attitude toward behavior Subjective norms Perceived behavioral control Age Gender F value R2 Adjusted R2 Notes: *p o0.10; **p o 0.05

Dependent variable Entrepreneurial intention β 0.325** 0.471** −0.103 0.223* 0.375** 28.069** 0.285 0.271

Table VI. Multiple regression analysis


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behavior, keeping in mind that the students are still in the phase of searching out their career choices. On the other hand, the contradictory results may be due to the association of individual’s perception of difficulties or easiness in the accomplishment of such behavior. The positive results supported the TPB of Ajzen (1991), making this theory more predictive and constructive among Pakistani students. Overall, results revealed that Pakistani students are more willing (desire) to work and start their own business, even though they have under pressure from family, friends, teachers and experts to select the career choice perceptions. However, perceived behavioral control factor was not proved as a predictor of entrepreneurial intention among the students of Pakistan. It may negatively reflect the perceived ability of Pakistani students to perform the target behaviors because of uncertainty due to political and economic crisis. According to the literature, and based on the theoretical framework of Ajzen’s (1991) TPB, entrepreneurial intention is predicted by the following three factors: attitude toward behavior, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. A similar prediction was made for this study of university students in Pakistan. The overall results of the study were that attitude toward behavior and subjective norms were positively related to entrepreneurial intention. Such positive results revealed that Pakistani students are more interested in performing the entrepreneurship activities by working and starting their own business. In addition to fragile economic and political situation, Pakistani students are under tremendous pressure for choosing their career choice perceptions. On the other hand, the negative association between perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention showed that there is a limited perception of bearing difficulty or easiness regarding performance of entrepreneurship behavior. In conclusion, it was revealed that Pakistani graduates are more willing to work and start their own business after completion of their degrees, but they need the support of their families, friends, teachers and experts for selecting the career choice perceptions. Limitations and implications We have identified four limitations of the present research. First, this study is only based on a single source of data from the students of public sector universities of Pakistan. According to Rafferty and Simons (2006), when measures come from a single source, a defect in the source may contaminate both measures, presumably in the same fashion and in the same direction (p. 346). The second limitation is from the perspective of time horizon because it is a cross-sectional study. The third limitation is that limited variables were used to examine the entrepreneurial intention. Finally, this research is restricted only to bachelor’s and master’s degree students who are studying entrepreneurship. This research has several implications. The findings show young graduates’ degree of interest in developing entrepreneurial activities. The findings also support the notion that policy makers and curriculum planners of the universities should consider courses that help young graduates’ study of entrepreneurship. If that occurs, new generations may develop more positive attitudes and intentions toward entrepreneurship. However, in the future, we propose to examine TPB along with environmental and attitudinal factors, which might collectively affect entrepreneurial intention. We also propose to collect data from more sources and provide more authentications of the results. Finally longitudinal data may give more confirmation of findings. The findings of the current study may contribute to the general literature of the field of entrepreneurship, particularly within Asian culture. The findings may provide useful insights about the young generation to policy makers and planners of curricula in universities and governments, particularly in addressing the problem of unemployment among graduates and postgraduates. Pakistan may possibly boost its economy through the promotion of entrepreneurial activities because enterprise education has a great


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Further reading Ajzen, I. (2005), Attitudes, Personality and Behavior, 2nd ed., Open University Press, Berkshire. Ajzen, I. (2012), “The theory of planned behavior”, in Lange, P.A.M., Kruglanski, A.W. and Higgins, E.T. (Eds), Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology, Vol. 1, Sage, London, pp. 438-459. Choi, J., Peters, M. and Mueller, R.O. (2010), “Co relational analysis of ordinal data: from Pearson’s r to Bayesian poly choric correlation”, Asia Pacific Education Review, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 459-466. Iakovleva, T., Kolvereid, L. and Stephan, U. (2011), “Entrepreneurial intentions in developing and developed countries”, Education + Training, Vol. 53 No. 5, pp. 353-370. Ishfaq Ahmed, I., Nawaz, M.M., Ahmad, Z., Shaukat, M.Z., Usman, A., Rehman, W. and Ahmed, N. (2010), “Determinants of students’ entrepreneurial career intentions: evidence from business graduates”, European Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 14-22. Mailoor, D.J, Pangemanan, S. and Pandowo, M. (2014), “Entrepreneurship proclivity: an explanatory study on students entrepreneurial intentions by using theory of planned behaviour”, Journal EMBA, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 325-334. Mann, C.J. (2003), “Observational research methods, research design II: cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control studies”, Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 54-60. Miller, R.L. and Brewer, J.D. (2003), The A-Z of Social Research: A Dictionary of Key Social Science Research Concepts, Sage Publication, London.

Corresponding author Naimatullah Shah can be contacted at: [email protected]

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