Investigating the relationship between educational support and entrepreneurial intention in Vietnam: The mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy in the theory of planned behavior

The purpose of the study is to investigate the mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the components of theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model (personal attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control) in the relationship between entrepreneurial educational support and entrepreneurial intentions of the university students in Vietnam. The participants of the study include 401 university students (undergraduate and post-graduate) from universities in Vietnam. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and structural equation model is used for testing the hypotheses of this study. The results from the analysis suggest that the entrepreneurship educational support does not impact the entrepreneurial intentions directly, but has an indirect positive effect mediated by three components of TPB and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Many studies conducted in the past tested the mediating effect of educational support on TPB component but none of the study determined the serial mediating effect of two variables of educational support on ES. Hence, this study is one of the first attempt to find this serial mediating effect. This study recommends that even though the entrepreneurial education does not have a direct impact on entrepreneurial intentions, but educational support does have a significant positive effect on TPB components and self-efficacy, which has a further effect on entrepreneurial intentions and hence it is important for the universities to develop courses which can help in developing the skills for starting new ventures through the education system in Vietnam which will further help in fostering creativity, self-dependence and innovation. The study results will be useful to fulfill government's aim to increase the number of start-ups in Vietnam in future.