Undergraduates' intention towards Entrepreneurship: Empirical evidence from Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study attempted to examine entrepreneurial intention of Sri Lankan undergraduates. The undergraduates' entrepreneurial intention was examined with entrepreneurial belief and attitude towards self-employment. Accordingly, it was rationalized that entrepreneurial intention is influenced by entrepreneurial belief and attitude towards self employment. Gender impacts on these three aspects were also examined. The study sample consisted of 149 management undergraduates of one of the leading universities in Sri Lanka and data were collected through the administration of a formal questionnaire. The results revealed that undergraduates' entrepreneurial belief, attitude towards self-employment and entrepreneurial intention were moderately positive; there were statistically significant positive modest correlation between entrepreneurial belief and entrepreneurial intention, and between attitude towards self-employment and entrepreneurial intention. Moreover, there was no significant impact of gender on entrepreneurial belief and attitude towards self-employment. However, it was found that there existed significant difference between male and female undergraduates in terms of their entrepreneurial intention.