Entrepreneurial Self Efficacy, Motivation and Entrepreneurial Intent among Higher Education Students in Addis Ababa

Abstract

The major intent of this study was to measure the self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation of university students in quest of entrepreneurial intent. The study design was concurrent triangulation with mixed approach of quantitative and qualitative methods. Tabular illustration, descriptive statistics (mean and SD), one-way ANOVA, and regression analysis were employed for data analysis. The population of this study represented university students (public and private universities) from first year to prospective graduates (graduating class). By using stratified sampling technique, from different colleges/schools and year levels, 182 respondents were selected. Questionnaire, interview and FDG were instruments used for gathering data. The study revealed that few students were found to have high entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and the intrinsic motivation for being engaged in entrepreneurship was found to be poor. The self-efficacy is highly influenced by negative stories of previous graduates’ record. There was significant difference between students with employed family background and business owning family background. Those students with business owning family had better self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation toward entrepreneurship. Based on the findings, it is recommended that trainings on psychological stamina for entrepreneurship should be given as early as possible even in lower grades. Model entrepreneurial practices should also be shown for students.