WORLD ACADEMIC JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & APPLIED SCIENCES-MARCH-OCTOBER 2013 EDITION

International Journal of Business & Management (IJBM)

October 2013 VOL.1, No.8

Entrepreneurial Career Intentions among Malay Ethnic University Students in Malaysia

Dr.Nor Khasimah Aliman (Corresponding author) 1 & Dr.Hayati Abdul Jalal 2 1. Associate Professor, Faculty of Business & Management 2. Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business & Management Universiti Teknologi Mara (Perak), 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia Accepted 17 October 2013 Abstract This research explores the associations between demographic characteristics (i.e. gender and family background), personality traits of innovativeness, entrepreneurship knowledge, environment, and entrepreneurial career intentions among undergraduate university students in Malaysia. Written questionnaire were completed by 230 students and exploratory factor analysis of the constructs created one new interpretable component for entrepreneurial factor (i.e. attitude towards entrepreneurship). The results indicate that more than 70 per cent of the respondents have favourable attitude towards entrepreneurship. The results also provide evidence that gender and family background, personality traits of innovativeness, entrepreneurial knowledge, environment and attitude towards entrepreneurship are important predictors for entrepreneurial career intentions. Attitude towards entrepreneurship was found to be the most important predictor to entrepreneurial career intentions, followed by innovativeness, entrepreneurial environment and knowledge. These findings will be a value addition in Malaysia scenario and are likely to help Malaysian government in evaluating the success implementation of entrepreneurship program among undergraduates. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Innovativeness, Entrepreneurial Intentions, Demographics 1. Introduction Graduate unemployment due to difficulties in securing jobs that correspond to academic background and expectation has consequently become a major object of intense both academic and manager evaluations. The imbalances ratio between labor market demand and the number of undergraduates applying for jobs further contribute to a substantial amount of unemployment rate (Ismail, 2011). Entrepreneurship is considered to be an engine for creating job opportunities, economic growth, and social adjustment through the creation of nonmonetary rewards of self-independence (Bianchi, 2012). A considerable agreement exists on the importance of promoting entrepreneurship to stimulate economic development and employability (Ahmed, Nawaz, Ahmad, Shaukat, Usman, Wasim-ul-Rehman & Ahmad, 2010; Turker & Selcuk, 2009; Luiz & Mariotti, 2008). Evidence from the literature also suggests that entrepreneurship and self-employment are the best solution in transforming the joblessness or unemployed graduates (Ahmed et al., 2010; Turker & Selcuk, 2009; Luiz &
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Mariotti, 2008). Thus, one possible approach in this direction is to embrace entrepreneurship and encourage self-employment that may create job independence for satisfaction (Bianchi, 2012). The better understanding of the nature of business supported by the policy maker is among forces that may drive the joblessness among graduates successfully make the transition into business. Governmental efforts through the critical agenda program of entrepreneurship may initiate path for the undergraduates to choose entrepreneurship as a convincing career choice. Nevertheless, entrepreneurship requires consistent efforts in relation to individual personality traits, demographic characteristics, and entrepreneurship education (Ahmed et al., 2010; Car & Sequeira, 2007; Davidsson, 1995; Frank & Luthje, 2004; Linan et al., 2011; Pihie & Afsaneh, 2009; Shapero & Sokol, 1982). The literature also acknowledged the importance of innovativeness as the core personality traits of entrepreneurs (Davidsson, 1995; Drucker, 1985). The primary focus of this study is to enhance understanding on the underlying factors of entrepreneurial career intentions among undergraduates. In particular, this research explores determinants (i.e. demographic characteristics, personality traits of innovativeness, entrepreneurship knowledge and environment) contributing to the entrepreneurial career intentions among undergraduates in Malaysia. The main objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between demographic characteristics, innovativeness, entrepreneurial knowledge and environment on the entrepreneurial career intentions among university students. 2. Literature review Entrepreneurship is said to be function of various factors e.g. personality traits, education, experience, social and economic conditions, law and order and many other issues. According to the Institutional Economic Theory, the contextual factors were determinants of entrepreneurship. Those factors included political and economic rules and contract, codes of conduct, attitudes, values, norms of behavior, and conventions (Veciana, Aponte & Urbano, 2005). Luthje and Franke (2003) incorporated both personality traits and contextual factors as determinants of entrepreneurial intentions. The study by Turker, Onvural, Kursunluoglu and Pinar (2005) also considered the impacts of both internal factors (motivation and self-confidence) and external factors (perceived level of education, opportunities and support) on entrepreneurial propensity of university students. In short, there was a general agreement that attitudes towards the entrepreneur, entrepreneurial activity, and its social functions were determinant factors for university students to decide an entrepreneurial career (Erich, Malgorzata, Daniel, & Robert, 2009; Frank & Luthje, 2005; Segal, Borgia, & Schoenfeld, 2005) 2.1 Entrepreneurial Intentions Entrepreneurial intent has proven to be a primary predictor of future entrepreneurial behavior (Krueger, Reilly, & Carsrund, 2000). This variable examines how much a respondent is interested to be an entrepreneur either in present scenario or may be some time later in future. Entrepreneurial intentions are an important first step in the entrepreneurship process. In social psychology, intention is considered as the most immediate and important antecedent of behavior (Abraham & Sheeram, 2003). Ajzen (1991) and Bagozzi and Yi (1989) both indicated that intention is a strong predictor of entrepreneurial activity. Linan, Carlos, and Jose (2008) concluded that entrepreneurial intentions as one of the strongest predictor for startup decisions. 2.2 Demographic and Entrepreneurial Intentions According to Shapero and Sokol, (1982), exogenous influences including demographics, skills and society, traits, financial support, and culture affect the attitudes and also the intentions indirectly and behaviors to become entrepreneurs. Socio-demographic factors have an indirect influence on entrepreneurial intention (Kolvereid, 1996). However, there is a lack of agreement on the variables that determine the individuals decision to start a venture. Therefore, there is a need to clarify which elements play the most influential role in shaping the personal decision to start a firm (Linan et al., 2011).
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2.2.1 Gender differences and entrepreneurial intentions Several researchers found that males have a higher preference for entrepreneurship behavior than females (Delmar & Davidsson, 2000; Matthews & Moser, 1995). Ghazali, Ghosh and Tay (1995) found gender differences in the self-employment rate among non-professional degree holders (science, computer science, arts, and business) but not for professional degree holders (engineering, medicine, law, accountancy). Kolvereid (1996) found that males have significantly higher preference for self-employment than females. Wang and Wong (2004) revealed that besides family business experience and educational level, gender was a significant factor in explaining entrepreneurial interest in Singapore. Pihie and Afsaneh (2009) found a significant difference between male and female students in Malaysia on entrepreneurial intention where the male students obtained higher mean score. Ahmed et al. (2010) however discovered that gender does not have significant affect on entrepreneurial intentions of students in Pakistan. 2.2.2 Family background and entrepreneurial intentions Parents act as initial role models and the parents active in a family business influence the future entrepreneurial intentions through changing attitudes and beliefs (Shapero & Sokol, 1982, Krueger et al.,2000). Exposures to entrepreneurship both from the family side and personal have an impact on entrepreneurial intentions (Carr & Sequeira, 2007; Basu & Virick, 1993). Raijman (2001) pointed that self-employment experience was directly related with entrepreneurial intentions of students. Other researchers discovered that family characteristics have implication on emergence of new business, recognition of opportunity, start up decisions and resource mobilizations (Wang & Wong, 2004; Aldrich & Cliff, 2003; Ghazali et al., 1995; Scott & Twomey, 1988). The involvement of family members in business symbolized for entrepreneurship and can be in assistance for both financial and non-financial. These factors have direct influence on individuals entrepreneurial intentions. Further, Ahmed et al. (2010) revealed that prior business experience and family business experience are one of the important predictor of entrepreneurial intentions. In addition, Wang, Lu and Millington (2011) claimed that family business background will contribute to the formation of entrepreneurial intentions. Athanasios, Hadjimanolis, Panikkos, and Poutziouris (2011) claimed that there was a statiscally significant correlation between a family business background and the intention to start a new business. 2.3 Entrepreneurial innovativeness and entrepreneurial intentions Personality via psychological traits shown to have impact on entrepreneurial intentions (Davidsson, 1995; Frank, Lueger & Korunka, 2007; Lu, Wang & Millington, 2010; Wang et al., 2011). Yosuf, Sandu and Jain (2007) revealed that there is a positive relationship between personality traits and entrepreneurship intentions. Drucker (1985) indicated that the innovation is the most basic role of entrepreneur. A few researchers claimed that innovativeness as one of the most important trait of entrepreneurs (e.g. Ang & Hong, 2000; Ahmed et al., 2010). Carland and Carland (1991) found that successful entrepreneurs are much more innovative than non-entrepreneurs. Sexton and Bowman-Upton (1986) claimed that students who opt entrepreneurship as their major (specialization) appeared more innovative than students of business administration. Goldsmith and Kerr (1991) discovered that students who have gone through from the entrepreneurship courses proved to be much more innovative than the other students of business. The researchers who employed Kirtons (1996) scale also found entrepreneurship students were more innovative than general business management students (Goldsmith & Kerr, 1991). Ahmed et al. (2010) suggested that there was a strong relationship between students innovativeness and their intentions to become entrepreneur in future. 2.4 Entrepreneurial knowledge and entrepreneurial intentions Dyer (1994) has suggested that entrepreneurship courses, or training in relation to establishment of new business, contributes towards starting a new business and gives confidence and courage to the students. Lack of
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entrepreneurial educations leads to low level of entrepreneurial intentions of students (Franke & Luthje, 2004). Entrepreneurial education program are source of entrepreneurial attitude and overall intentions to become future entrepreneur (Souitaris, Zerbinati, & Al-Laham Andreas, 2007). Entrepreneurship education has been considered one of the key instruments to increase the entrepreneurial attitudes of both potential and nascent entrepreneurs (Linan et al., 2011). According to Ahmed et al. (2010), entrepreneurial subjects were not determinants of entrepreneurial intentions of students. However, the researchers found that study year was an important predictor of entrepreneurial intentions, suggesting that the higher the level of awareness and knowledge about the field and market, the higher students preferences to become entrepreneurship will be. 2.5 Entrepreneurial environment and entrepreneurial intentions In previous research, personal and environment-based had been identified as determinants of entrepreneurial intent (Davidsson, 1995; Franke & Luthje, 2004; Segal, Borgia & Schoenfeld, 2005). Entrepreneurial environment covers both the university and outside university environment. Luiz and Mariotti (2008) grouped the environment into two: campus environment and country environment. Both environments contributed to positive entrepreneurial intentions. Turker and Selcuk (2009) on the other hand classified the environment into three: Educational support (university), relational support (family and friends) and structural support (private, public and non-government organizations). The research findings identified that all the three supports were related to entrepreneurial intentions. Erich, Malgorzata, Daniel and Robert (2009) recognized university environment as significant predictor of students entrepreneurial intentions in Austria. However, the researchers did not found significant impact of financial support for entrepreneurs or bureaucratic procedures related to opening a firm on entrepreneurial intentions. 3. Methodology 3.1 Theoretical Framework This research is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (Azjen, 2002; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). The theory explains that intents towards a specific behavior are subject to influence from different factors. For this study, both internal and external factors are considered as predictors of entrepreneurial career intentions. Demographic characteristics Gender Family Background

Entrepreneurial I ti Entrepreneurial Knowledge Entrepreneurial Environment

Entrepreneurial Career

Figure 1: Conceptual Research Model

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3.2 Research Hypotheses H1: Demographic characteristics determine entrepreneurial career intentions. H1 (a): Gender influences entrepreneurial career intentions. H1(b): As compared to female, male students have higher intentions to be entrepreneurs. H1(c): Family background influences entrepreneurial career intentions. H1(d): Students with family background in business have higher intentions to be entrepreneurs. H2: Entrepreneurial innovativeness has an impact on entrepreneurial career intentions. H3: Entrepreneurial knowledge has an impact on entrepreneurial career intentions. H4: Entrepreneurial environment will determine entrepreneurial career intentions. 3.3 Sample The targeted sample size for this study was 300 students. 350 survey questionnaires were distributed to the diploma and degree students from business and non-business background at a public university known as Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Perak. Purposive convenience sampling was employed to select the respondents. This sampling method was used to ensure that research respondents consist of male and female students who pursue their studies at both Diploma and Degree level in various programs offered by the university. This sample size is consistent with other research conducted in other countries such as Linan et al. (2011) that used 354 students in Spain, Ahmed et al.s research (2010) used 276 Pakistani business graduate students, Turker and Selcuks (2009) and Eileens (2008) research both utilizing 300 university students in Turkey, and 273 students in Ireland respectively. 3.4 Instrument and measurement The survey questionnaire consists of three sections. Section 1 consist six (6) questions in relation to entrepreneurship. In Section 2, the survey instrument was based on scales constructed from previous studies. Likert five-point scales were used to measure the predictors and criterion variables. An entrepreneurial career intention (dependent variable) was measured using 11 items adapted from Pihie (2009), Linan and Chen (2009), and Linan et al. (2011). Entrepreneurial environment was measured using 9 items adapted from Luiz and Mariotti (2008), entrepreneurial knowledge was measured using 10 items adapted from Linan et al. (2011), and entrepreneurial innovativeness was operationalized using 10 items adapted from Jackson (1994) Jackson Personality Inventory. In Section 3, four (4) questions on demographic variables were asked. 3.5 Data Analysis and Hypotheses Testing Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the completed data. Exploratory Factor Analysis with orthogonal varimax rotation was used to define the basic structure and to determine each dimension forming this structure separately as well as to increase the interpretability of factor rotation (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 1998). KMO value and Barletts test of sphericity were used to examine the strength of relationship among factors. The reliability test using Cronbachs alpha was applied for each of emerged factor to determine
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which items within the scale most reliably represented each construct. Hypotheses were tested using cross tabulation and regression analysis. 4. Results 4.1 Respondents Profile Based on the 230 sample of UiTM (Perak) students, the percentage of male and female respondents are 32.2 and 67.8 per cent respectively. While majority of the respondents are below 20 years old (i.e. 52.6 per cent of total respondents), another 47.4 per cent are within the age range of 20 to 25 years old. 31.3 per cent of the sample is in Year 1, whilst those in Year 2 and Year 3 make up 52.6 per cent and 16.1 per cent of the total sample respectively. In term of study program, students are pursuing their studies in business administration, accountancy, computer science, statistics, office management, art and design, actuarial science, town planning, architecture, quantity survey, building, geometric science both at the Diploma and Degree levels. 42.1 per cent of them are science students and 57.9 per cent are social science students (see Appendix-Table 1). When Section 1 of the survey questionnaire is examined (see Appendix Table 2), 42.2 per cent of the students have attended entrepreneurial course. Majority (72.2 per cent) of the participants have a favorable attitude towards entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, 87 per cent of them have no financial support (i.e. money) to start the business. While 48.3 per cent of the total sample has business experience, respondents that have family business oriented background (i.e. parents involve in business) account for 27.4 per cent. 4.2 Pilot test Results from the pilot testing with 20 respondents show that majority of the items has more than 3.50 mean score (see Appendix Table 3). As such, similar questionnaire were distributed to the targeted sample. 4.3 Cross tabulation Cross-tabulation was run to examine whether there is a significant difference between demographic variables and entrepreneurial intentions. Table 4 of the cross-tabulation results (refer to Appendix) indicate that all variables have significant positive relationship with entrepreneurial intentions but the relationship is quite weak/low (contingency coefficient are less than 0.50). A comparison between male and female respondents on entrepreneurial intentions was also examined. A significant different between gender (=0.00) suggests that female students have higher intentions to be an entrepreneur. Thus, H1 (b) is rejected. The present finding however, was inconsistent with Pihie and Afsanehs (2009), and Wang and Wongs (2004) research, which were conducted in Malaysia and Singapore respectively. This may be due to the ethnic homogeneity effect as all respondents are Malay students. Furthermore, more than 60 per cent of the respondents are female. A significant different between students who have parents involve in business and those who are not on the entrepreneurial intentions (=0.00) indicates that family-business oriented value do not influence the respondents career intentions. Students who brought up in the non-business oriented parents have higher intentions to become entrepreneurs. As such, Hypothesis H1(d) is rejected. However, previous research suggests this is not always the case (for example Wang and Wong (2004) Singapore, Drennan et al. (2005) Australia, Mariano et al. (2007), and Hadjimanolis, et al. (2011) Cyprus). In Malaysia, those who have parents involve in business usually may have more advantages to success in their lives. The findings of the present study however, may suggest that female students are very ambitious, venturing themselves into the business and become entrepreneurs for living despite no family (i.e. parents) business orientation values are nourished. 4.4 Factor Analysis and Reliability Exploratory factor analysis had identified the Eigenvalue, KMO and Barletts Test score. The varimax rotation method was performed and the numbers of factors was determined based on the eigenvalue criterion ( > 1).
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Barletts Test of Sphercity was statistically significant (5180.86, p = 0.00) and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value was 0.930. Factor loadings for all predictor items were shown in Appendix Table 5. Principal component analysis revealed the presence of seven factors with eigenvalues exceeding more than 1, explaining 61.08 per cent of the total variance, which exceeds the 60% threshold used in social sciences (Hair et al., 1995). Factor 1, Factor 2, Factor 4 and Factor 5 are predictor variables. Factor 1 clearly represents Entrepreneur Knowledge that comprises eight items, explaining 36.73 percent of the variance with eigenvalues of 14.70. Factor 2 contributes 6.40 percent of the total variance with eigenvalues of 2.56 is known as Entrepreneur Environment consisting of nine items. While Factor 4 is considered as Entrepreneur Innovativeness that comprises nine items, a newly emerged factor 5 consisting of four items, was renamed as Attitude towards Entreprenership. They both are explaining 3.92 and 2.69 percent of variance with eigenvalues of 1.57 and 1.15 respectively. According to Autio et al. (1997), there is a positive impact of attitude toward entrepreneurship on entrepreneurial conviction. Krueger et al. (2000) and Erich et al. (2009) indicate that attitude toward entrepreneurship acts as a primary determinant of students willingness to be self-employed. Franke and Luthje (2004) suggest that the more students value the entrepreneurial career path, the stronger the interest to start a business will be. Factor 3 (criterion variable) represents Entrepreneurial Career Intentions consists seven items, explaining 5.92 percent variance with eigenvalues of 2.37. Factor 6 and 7 were dropped from subsequent analysis due to less than three items loaded in both factors and the alpha score is too low. The alpha values were calculated (see Table 5) to assess the internal consistency reliabilities of the scales. Alpha values for predictors and criterion variables are as follows: Factor 1- entrepreneurial knowledge (=0.803), Factor 2 entrepreneurial environment (=0.887), Factor 4 entrepreneurial innovativeness (=0.766), Factor 5 attitude towards entrepreneurship ( = 0.774), and Factor 3 entrepreneurial career intentions ( = 0.883). All variables had above 0.70 Cronbachs alpha values. According to Sekaran and Bougie (2013), the closer Cronbachs alpha is to 1, the higher its internal consistency reliability. A reliability less than 0.60 is considered poor, those in the 0.7 range, is acceptable and over 0.80 is good. 4.5 Regression Analysis and Discussion The hypotheses of the study were tested using hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Overall, the model was fit (F-change=99.97; F-sig=0.00). There was a strong relationship between demographics characteristics, entrepreneurial innovativeness, entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial environment, attitude towards entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intentions (R=0.82). 66.6 per cent of the changes in entrepreneurial intentions were explained by the predictors (R2=0.666) refer Table 6. In Model 1, the demographic variables of gender and family background were regressed towards entrepreneurial career intentions. The results showed in Table 6 suggest that both gender and family background are significant predictors to entrepreneurial career intentions. Both gender (=0.269; t=2.955; =0.003) and family background (=0.262; t=2.748; =0.006) have positive significant relationship with entrepreneurial career intentions. This finding is consistent with previous researches in this area (Ahmed et al., 2010; Carr & Sequeira, 2007; Wang & Wong, 2004; Aldrich & Cliff, 2003; Ghazali et al., 1995; Scott & Twomey, 1988). Thus, H1, H1 (a) and H1 (c) are all supported. In Model 2, other predictors (entrepreneurial innovativeness, entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial environment and attitude toward entrepreneurship) were entered into the model. The results showed that innovativeness, entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial environment and attitude toward entrepreneurship have significant influence on entrepreneurial career intentions. Attitude toward entrepreneurship (=0.346; t=7.087; =0.000) is identified as the most important predictor for entrepreneurial career intentions. This finding provides support to the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 2002) and other researchers general agreement that
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attitudes towards entrepreneurship is a determinant for university students to decide an entrepreneurial career (Veciana et al.,2005; Linan et al., 2011). Innovativeness (=0.462; t=6.584; = 0.00) is identified as the second most important predictor for entrepreneurial career intentions. This finding supports Ahmed et al.s (2010) research. The third significant determinant is entrepreneurial knowledge (=0.109; t=2.429; =0.016). It lends support to the research conducted by Linan et al. (2011), Souitaris et al. (2007), and Franke and Luthje (2004), however, it contradicts to Ahmed et al.s findings (2010). The fourth significant determinant is entrepreneurial environment (=0.125; t=2.404; =0.017). The result supports other researchers findings in this area such as Turker and Selcuk (2009) and Luiz and Mariotti (2008). In summary, these findings provide support to H2, H3, and H4, suggesting that all predictors have positive and significant relationship with entrepreneurial career intentions. 5. Conclusion This study confirmed the importance of demographic variables (i.e. Gender and family background), entrepreneurial knowledge, environment, innovativeness, and individuals attitude towards entrepreneurship for entrepreneurial career intentions. The present evidence also suggests that financial support (i.e. money) for venturing into business is vital as majority of the respondents have favorable attitude towards entrepreneurship. Financial constraints may impede the increase of the business profits, but an increased in the value of being independence is highly regarded for job satisfaction (Bianchi, 2012). Thus, the university educators and administrators as well as policy makers should further develop students interest towards entrepreneurship, promoting successful entrepreneurial role models and conducting entrepreneurship educational programs for job creation and growth. The attainment of this objective is undeniable for the long run, provided that initiative to nurture positive attitude towards entrepreneurship among individuals, aligning them to the business-fit venture, as well as providing the necessary supports are well developed. This is because individuals, firms and supports are the three important balancing ingredients in creating remarkable entrepreneurs. Conducive entrepreneurial environment is also vital in creating business growth. All involved parties should critically think of removing bureaucratic procedures or regulatory constraints for business start-ups, willingly to offer more incentives (such as training, mentor-mentee approach, etc.) to the young entrepreneurs, and promoting social acceptance of less fortunate entrepreneurs. The government program of implementing incubator entrepreneurs should be supported and promoted to the young generations. Students should also be exposed to the real business environment for increasing their self-confidence level and further develops their risk taking attitude. Academic trips to the industries and well-structured industrial attachment are among the initiatives that should be planned for the students. Hence, university and industrial linkages provide important platforms for motivating and nourishing the creative and innovative values among students. For example, a contribution in relation to funding from the organization for students to present their innovative ideas in both local and internationals is highly regarded. Specifically, this research highlights the importance of knowledge, innovativeness, environment, and attitude towards entrepreneurship for entrepreneurial career intentions. However, as with any research, issues came to light through the course of the study which imposed limitation. This related to the sample as only one ethnic of multiracial Malaysia in Perak state is selected (i.e. Malays ethnic of UiTM (Perak) undergraduate students). Future research can extend the present study in several directions. One possible direction would be to replicate the same questionnaire with other UiTM state campuses at the undergraduate level. One could also conduct the same study on undergraduate students in other public and private universities in Malaysia. In addition to that, future research may consider self-confidence as a moderating variable between predictors and intentions. Attitude towards entrepreneurship may also be considered as mediating variable between predictors and intentions.
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Sekaran, U. (2006). Research Method for Business: A Skill Building Approach. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sekaran, U. & Bougie, R. (2013). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. West Sussex, UK. Sexton, D. L., & Bowman-Upton, N. B. (1986). Validation of personality index: Comparative psychological characteristics analysis of female entrepreneurs, managers, entrepreneurship students and business students. In R. Ronstadt, J. Hornaday, R. Peterson, & K. Vesper (Ed.), Frontiers of entrepreneurship research, Wellesley, MA: Babson College. Shapero, A., & Sokol, L. (1982). Social dimensions of entrepreneurship. In Kent, C., Sexton, D. & Vesper, C. (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, Souitaris, V., Zerbinati, S., & Al-Laham Andreas (2007). Do entrepreneurship programmers raise entrepreneurial intention of science and engineering students? The effect of learning, inspiration and resources, Journal of Business Venturing, 22, 566-591. Turker, D., Onvural, B., Kursunluoglu, E., & Pinar, C. (2005). Entrepreneurial propensity: A field study on the Turkish university students. International Journal of Business, Economics and Management, 1(3), 15-27. Turker, D., & Selcuk, S. S. (2009). Which factors affect entrepreneurial intention of university students? Journal of European Industrial Training, 33(2), 142-159. Veciana, J. M., Aponte, M., & Urbano, D. (2005). University students attitudes towards entrepreneurship: A two countries comparison. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 1(2), 165-182. Wang, C. K., & Wong P. K. (2004). Entrepreneurial interest of university students in Singapore. Technovation, 24, 163-172. Wang, W., Lu, W., & Millington, J. K. (2011). Determinants of entrepreneurial intention among college students in China and USA. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, winter & spring, 1 (1), 35-44. Yosuf, M., Sandu, M. S., & Jain, K. K. (2007). Relationship between psychological characteristics and entrepreneurial inclination: A case study of students at university Tun Abdul Razak. Journal of Asia Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, 3 (2), 12-19. APPENDIX Table 1: Respondents characteristics (n=230) Frequency GENDER Female Male AGE Below 20 20-25 156 74 % 67.8 32.2 PROGRAM Science Technology Social Science YEAR OF STUDY Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 and Frequency 97 133 % 42.1 57.9

121 109 230

52.6 47.4 100.0

72 121 37 230

31.3 52.6 16.1 100.0

Table 2: Related Information on Entrepreneurship (n=230)

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Frequency Entrepreneurial courses attended Yes No Business experiences Yes No Entrepreneurial parents Yes No 111 119

% Money to start business

Frequency

97 133

42.2 57.8

Yes No Favorable attitude towards entrepreneurship Yes No

30 200

13.0 87.0

48.3 51.7

166 64

72.2 27.8

63 167

27.4 72.6

Table 3: Descriptive Statistics for Pilot Test (n =20) Min. Entrepreneurial Intentions CI1 CI2 CI3 CI4 CI5 CI6 CI7 CI8 CI9 CI10 CI11 Innovativeness IN1 IN2 IN3 IN4 IN5 IN6 IN7 Max. Mean Std. Deviation

3.00 3.00 3.00 1.00 1.00 4.00 2.00 3.00 2.00 3.00 2.00

5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00

4.10 4.40 4.60 4.05 3.70 4.15 3.90 4.35 4.00 4.30 3.70

.718 .598 .598 1.050 1.128 .366 .718 .670 .858 .656 .864

3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 1.00 2.00 3.00

374

5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 4.00 5.00 5.00

4.00 4.15 4.10 3.60 2.50 3.65 4.05

.458 .489 .640 .680 .945 .670 .394

WORLD ACADEMIC JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & APPLIED SCIENCES-MARCH-OCTOBER 2013 EDITION

IN8 IN9 IN10 Entrepreneurial Knowledge EK1 EK2 EK3 EK4 EK5 EK6 EK7 EK8 EK9 Entrepreneurial Environment EE1 EE2 EE3 EE4 EE5 EE6 EE7 EE8 EE9 EE10 Note : Likert scales 1-5 points was employed

2.00 3.00 3.00

5.00 5.00 5.00

3.80 4.00 3.80

.695 .561 .695 . .686 .833 .833 .745 .910 .732 .640 .510 .550

3.00 1.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 3.00 3.00 3.00

5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 4.00 5.00

3.95 3.80 3.80 3.65 3.75 3.70 3.90 3.55 3.75

3.00 3.00 2.00 2.00 4.00 2.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 2.00

5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00

4.05 4.15 3.75 4.25 4.40 4.20 4.10 4.00 4.30 3.85

.686 .587 .716 .786 .502 .767 .718 .458 .732 .875

Table 4: Cross-tabulation (Demographic variables and intentions) Gender Total Female Male Intentions: Low 24 50 Pearson Chi-Square Sig.
375

88 68

112 High 118 11.55 0.00**

WORLD ACADEMIC JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & APPLIED SCIENCES-MARCH-OCTOBER 2013 EDITION

Contingency coefficient Family as entrepreneur Total

0.219

Yes No Intentions: Low 91 76 Pearson Chi-Square Sig. Contingency coefficient 112 High 118 8.20 0.00** 0.185 42 21

Table 5: Factor Analysis and Reliability Analysis of the variables (n=231) Factor Eigenvalues Factor Loading % Variance Explained 36.73 0.649 0.665 0.681 0.416 0.728 0.710 0.757 0.665

Factor 1: Entrepreneur Knowledge ( = 0.803) EK2 I know how to develop an entrepreneurial project. EK3 I know the necessary practical details to start a business. EK4 I have some knowledge related to young entrepreneur training. EK5 I have the ability to make networking and professional contacts. EK6 I have some knowledge related to the financing aid to start a business. EK7 I have some knowledge on associations related to entrepreneurship. EK8 I have some knowledge related to the technical aid to start a business. EK9 I have some knowledge on support organizations related to entrepreneurship. Factor 2: Entrepreneur Environment ( = 0.887) EE1 My country government support entrepreneurs. EE2 Entrepreneurial examples are included in classes. EE3 A small amount of grant would encourage
376

14.70

2.559 0.715 0.520 0.457

6.398

WORLD ACADEMIC JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & APPLIED SCIENCES-MARCH-OCTOBER 2013 EDITION

entrepreneurship. EE4 There is many entrepreneurial opportunities in Malaysia. EE5 My university encouraged to pursue entrepreneurship ventures. EE6 More business sector interaction would encourage entrepreneurship. EE7 Having a mentor would help students to pursue entrepreneurship ventures. EE8 Private sectors support for student entrepreneurs would result in more university based business start-up. EE9 Ministry of Higher Education promotes entrepreneurship programs to university students. Factor 3: Entrepreneur Career Intentions ( = 0.883) CI3 I want to be a boss to my own business. CI4 I will start my business in the next 5 years. CI6 Im determined to create a business in the future. CI7 I am prepared to do anything to be an entrepreneur. CI8 I have a strong intention to start a business someday. CI9 Ill make every effort to start and run my own business. IN10 I am willingly to take risk and start a new business venture. Factor 4: Innovativeness ( = 0.766) IN1 I value new ideas. IN2 I like to improvise. IN3 I prefer challenging activities. IN4 I am a creative individual. IN5 I am a conservative thinker.(R) IN6 I am an inventive individual. IN7 I like to try new technology. IN8 I am able to produce original thought. IN9 I am motivated to develop new solutions to problems. 2.368

0.708 0.763 0.610 0.620 0.488 0.715

5.920 0.636 0.607 0.689 0.612 0.621 0.630 0.505

1.569 0.661 0.719 0.674 0.667 -0.495 0.515 0.603 0.411 0.469

3.922

Factor 5: Attitude towards entrepreneurship ( = 0.774) CI1 I will choose a career as an entrepreneur. CI2 I put effort to make more money. CI11 I have thought seriously to start my own business after completing my study.
377

1.147 0.530 0.497 0.543

2.868

WORLD ACADEMIC JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & APPLIED SCIENCES-MARCH-OCTOBER 2013 EDITION

EE10 A programmed to defer student loan payments would encourage more students to pursue a business after graduation. Factor 6 ( = 0.211) - deleted EK1 I have some knowledge about business opportunities. CI5 I will start my business in the next 10 years. Factor 7 - deleted CI10 I prefer to be an entrepreneur rather than be an employee in a company. 1.086

0.650

2.715 0.648 0.562

1.002 0.431

2.506

KMO Barletts Test Sig. Total variance

0.930 5180.86 0.00 61.08%

Table 6: Result of hierarchical regression on entrepreneurial intentions Model 1 Gender Family background R R2 F-change F-sig B 0.269 0.262 0.258 0.067 8.097 0.00** Model 2 Gender Family background Innovativeness Entrepreneurial knowledge Entrepreneurial environment Attitude toward entrepreneurship B 0.008 0.098 0.462 0.109 0.125 0.346 0.005 0.066 0.339 0.119 0.125 0.382 t 0.136 1.685 6.584 2.429 2.404 7.087 Sig. 0.892 0.093 0.000** 0.016* 0.017* 0.000** R R2 F-change 0.816 0.666 99.97
378

0.189 0.176

t 2.955 2.748

Sig. 0.003** 0.006**

WORLD ACADEMIC JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & APPLIED SCIENCES-MARCH-OCTOBER 2013 EDITION

F-sig

0.00**

Notes: Significant at 0.05 level (*p<0.05; **p<0.01)

379