Entrepreneurial Intention and Interest in Entrepreneurship Program Among the new Generation in Thailand

Entrepreneurship education and support are gaining great interest in Thailand. Despite the interest, less is known regarding the level of entrepreneurial intention and the interest to study in such a program. The aims of this research were (1) to study the level of entrepreneurial intention and factors affecting the entrepreneurial intention among the senior students at Suranaree University of Technology (SUT) and Rajamangala University of Technology Isan Nakhonratchasima (RMUT), the alumni, and others and (2) to study the intention to study in entrepreneurship program. This research adopted a quantitative research method using an online questionnaire to collect data. Questionnaires were developed and adapted from Lion's EIQ questionnaire. Questionnaires were posted and spread via Facebook groups and Email. Descriptive data analysis was used to analyse the data. Four hundred and twenty-nine people responded to the questionnaire. The results showed that the respondents indicated high-level of intention to be entrepreneurs, however, they indicated the medium level of readiness to be entrepreneurs. Approximately 60% of the variance of the entrepreneurial intention can be accounted for by the linear combination of the 4 measured variables, i.e., the entrepreneurial attraction, perceived social norm, perceived entrepreneurial efficacy, and perceived entrepreneurial skills. Most of the respondents intend to study entrepreneurship at the master level. The preferred characteristics of the master program in Entrepreneurship as suggested by the respondents are the practicality of the lessons, using experiential learning method, internationalization, teaching by lecturers who have experience in business & technology, ability to graduate in the program time frame, and weekend classes.