THE IMPACT OF UNIVERSITY EDUCATION ON ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION

It is well known that university education has an important impact on the diversity and success of entrepreneurs. Clearly, educated enterprisers have an advantage given their specialized knowledge. However, lesser studied is superior education's effect on entrepreneurial intention - does the university itself or the subject it imparts have a repercussion on a student's choice to start a business? Data from this study came from a semi-structured questionnaire of 583 university students from a broad range of subjects and grade level. The proposed model adds two variables to the model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, and the reliability of the scales was evaluated using structural equations. Our results confirm that the university, the institution as well as the subjects do have an effect on entrepreneurial intention. Consequently, higher education must go beyond theory and concentrate on fostering an environment that encourages and creates awareness about entrepreneurship.