Measuring the impact of business management Student's attitude towards entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention: A case study

Journal Pre-proof Measuring the Impact of Business Management Student's Attitude towards Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Intention: A Case Study

R.K. Jena PII:

S0747-5632(20)30031-5

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106275

Reference:

CHB 106275

To appear in:

Computers in Human Behavior

Received Date:

03 December 2018

Accepted Date:

20 January 2020

Please cite this article as: R.K. Jena, Measuring the Impact of Business Management Student's Attitude towards Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Intention: A Case Study, Computers in Human Behavior (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106275

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Measuring the Impact of Business Management Student's Attitude towards Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Intention: A Case Study R K Jena, Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur, India [email protected]

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Measuring the Impact of Business Management Student's Attitude towards Entrepreneurship education on Entrepreneurial Intention: A Case Study Abstract Entrepreneurship has played an essential role in economic prosperity and social stability of many developed countries. India has the highest percentage of young population in the world and faces massive challenges with its high levels of unemployment among the youth. The unemployment scenario primarily due to lack of skill and entrepreneurial awareness among youth. The objectives of this study were to (1) examine the cognitive, affective, and behavioural components of students’ attitude towards entrepreneurship education in Indian universities/colleges, (2) measuring the impact of students' attitude towards entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention, (3) examine the role of control variables (e.g. gender and entrepreneurial family background) on the relationship between attitude towards entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention. The respondents were students from different business management colleges/universities in central India. Purposive sampling technique was used in the selection of the colleges/universities, while simple random sampling was employed in the selection of the respondents. Data from five hundred nine filled questionnaire were analysed using 'R Programing Language' to obtain the results. The results showed a significant positive impact of attitude towards entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention. Keywords: Entrepreneurship education, Attitude, Entrepreneurial Intention, Business Management student, India 1. Introduction India has an unrivalled young population in the world. More than 65% of the Indian population is below 35 years of age (Mandhana Niharika, 2018). To provide jobs and employments to such a vast population is a daunting task. To engage and create job opportunity for the young, the Government of India has started two flagship programs, i.e. Start-up India and Stand-up India program. The objectives of these programs are to nurture the entrepreneur skills of the young Indian by proving seed money and technical skills support to start new ventures. In addition to this initiative, the Government of India has begun “Industry-Academia Partnership and Incubation" programs, which focuses on the Startup India initiatives. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has announced plans for the development of "Research Parks" in partnership with higher education providers across India. An initial investment of Rs.100 crore was allocated by the government to build research parks in association with the premier institute of India. The main aim of the research park was to provide training to the budding entrepreneurs in India (Ramachandran S K, 2015). The allocated fund was aimed at to foster the start-ups by providing seed money to start a business. This research park would propel innovation

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through incubation and joint R&D efforts between academia and the industry. In the first phase, the proposed parks have started functioning at IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IISc Bangalore, IIT Gandhinagar, and IIT Delhi. Big companies like Google and Oracle have also expressed their interest to support the startup initiative. Entrepreneurship education is considered as one of the most innovative and influential forces that determine the health of the competitive economy of any country. There are many debates and discussion regarding the structures and design aspect of entrepreneurship courses in India. Ignoring the controversies on whether entrepreneurship can be taught, the majority of the top business schools in India are offering entrepreneurship education with tailored elective courses to promote entrepreneur culture in India. The primary objectives of all these courses are to inculcate a wide range of skills encompassing a multi-disciplinary approach among business management students. On the other hand, India has a pioneering status among developing countries for its early start on a variety of entrepreneurship education programs. Entrepreneurship education in postindependence India has been focused on self-employment and founding of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). From the above discussion, it is evident that the entrepreneur environment to start a new venture in India is very conducive now. So, the Government of India has directed different ministries related to education to start varieties of new entrepreneurial courses at all level of technical education in India. But, whether the students are showing their attitude or not towards entrepreneurship education particularly in higher education is the most crucial question to be answered for the success of such initiatives. This is because entrepreneurship education often improves the attitude of students towards entrepreneurship (Wei Xingjian et al., 2019). Without having a proper attitude, both cognitive competencies and non- cognitive competencies are difficult to achieve and sustain in the long run (Moberg, 2014). Therefore, this study was conducted to measure the attitude towards entrepreneurship education among Indian business management students. This study was also intended to measure the influence of attitude towards entrepreneurial intention. The findings of the study may; (1) help the educators and administrators to promote the entrepreneurship education in India; (2) identify student's potentiality & interest and encourage them to start new ventures. 1.1 Entrepreneurship Education Entrepreneurship is a multi-faceted phenomenon. In simple words, an entrepreneur can be defined as “an individual who establishes and manages a business for profit and growth” (Sally Smith et al. , 2019). Entrepreneurship is more than a mere creation of a business. Creating an entrepreneur mindset among students through proper entrepreneur education is the need of the hour. In the twenty-first century, entrepreneurship education has been recognised as one of the essential determinants that could influence students’ career decisions (Wei Xingjian et al., 2019; Robert et al. , 2018; Fayolle et al., 2013). Introducing the concept of enterprise and entrepreneur approaches in higher education can influence students' perception towards entrepreneurship as well as their awareness towards other employment options (Kassean, H et al., 2015; E. Kubberød and I.B. Pettersen, 2017). Entrepreneurial education can, therefore, influence the performance of entrepreneurs by enhancing their profitability, entrepreneurial spirit, entrepreneurial attitudes, and chances of survival (Ho M-HR, 2018). Furthermore, the importance of entrepreneurship education

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to the economy has also been recognised for ensuring rapid economic growth and a positive environment (Kassean, H et al., 2015; Warnecke, 2013). Many countries are increasingly recognising entrepreneurship as an effective means of creating jobs; increasing productivity and competitiveness; and improving the quality of life and achieving community goals. However, policymakers and educators need a thorough understanding of the diverse and alternative aims and objectives of entrepreneur education to succeed. The Ministry of Education in India in the early twenty-first century, having recognised the importance of enterprise education, has instructed all universities/colleges in India to introduce orientation courses on entrepreneurship. 1.2 Attitude towards Entrepreneur Education Attitudes are habitual ways of reacting to situations. The term ‘attitude’ is generally reserved for an opinion which represents a person’s overall inclination towards an object, idea or institution. Attitudes can be positive, negative or neutral and also dormant & more generalised. But, in entrepreneurship context, an attitude has been defined as the extent to which one perceives entrepreneurial behaviour and its consequences as valuable, beneficial and favourable (Azen,2002). Roberta Fenech et al., (2019) identified four dimensions for entrepreneurial attitude, including the need for achievement, personal control over behaviour, innovation, and self-esteem. Personal control over entrepreneurship behaviour is individuals’ perceived control and influence on venture creation outcomes. Innovation is thinking of new ideas, products etc. They measured each of the entrepreneurial attitude aspects in three dimensions, including affection (feeling and emotion), cognition (thought and belief), and conation (action and behaviour). It was the combination of all these dimensions that construct individuals’ general attitude toward entrepreneurial behaviour. Therefore, the significant components of attitude towards entrepreneurship education were cognitive, affective and behavioural. Cognitive Component (Belief, thought and knowledge) The cognitive component consists of students’ beliefs, thought and knowledge about an attitude object (Entrepreneurship Education). Belief may be correct or incorrect, true or not true; what is needed is only for the belief to exist. Similarly, beliefs are detailed thoughts that an individual hold about something. According to Orpha K et al. (2001), belief reflects an individual’s knowledge and assessment of attitude object. Belief is the accumulated feelings and priorities about something. An individual forms belief as he/she grows up into the community or associated with a reference group. Every individual learns and formulates beliefs according to their interaction in society. Beliefs are influenced mostly by the social environment of an individual (family, reference group, and so on). The belief a student towards Entrepreneurship Education course can help him/her to develop a favourable component of this attitude as time goes on. Affective Component (feeling, emotion) It is the student’s emotional reaction and feelings to an attitude object (Entrepreneurship Education). According to Cavazos-Arroyo et al. (2017), the perceived desirability of entrepreneurship and its education may be formed through intuitive thinking. That means the perceived value of entrepreneurship is built through effective attitudinal judgment. The expression "I like Entrepreneurship Education course" or "I hate Entrepreneurship Education course", is the

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expression of the emotional evaluation towards the entrepreneurship education (Ibrahim AlJubari et al., 2019). It was also observed that people evaluate the same feelings and emotions differently due to their unique motivational, personality, past experience, reference group, and physical conditions (Cavazos-Arroyo et al. 2017). That means some individuals/students may have positive feelings towards entrepreneurship education, while others could respond with an adverse reaction. Behavioural Component (behaviour, overt response and willingness) It is how individuals/students respond or react to a specific set of attitudinal object. The behavioural component reflects the desire of students’ behavioural intentions in the form of goals, objectives and aspiration, and expected responses to the attitude object (Entrepreneurship Education). For example, a student who intends to become an entrepreneur before or after graduation may develop behaviour towards attending and having a keen interest in entrepreneurship and its education. 1.3 Entrepreneurial Intention Individual’s entrepreneurial intentions are the essential variables to predict their entrepreneurial behaviours. But the literature in the past has failed to define a unique definition of an individual’s entrepreneurial intentions. On the one hand, referring to individual’s entrepreneurial intentions, few researchers have adopted similar conceptions, like career orientation (Alejandro Valencia et al. , 2018), nascent entrepreneurs (Faruk Şahin et al. , 2019) and so forth to define entrepreneurial intention. But on the other hand, researchers often give operational definitions when they define an individual’s entrepreneurial intentions, resulting in discrepancy. Zhengxia Peng et al. (2012) described the entrepreneurial intention as a mental orientation such as desire, wish and hope to influence their choice of entrepreneurship. Researchers have also defined the individual’s entrepreneurial intentions using a multivariable model to reduce errors (S. Bacq et al. , 2017). Additionally, the study of entrepreneurial intentions has several theories aimed to improve the understanding of intention (Fayolle, 2013; Alejandro Valencia et al. , 2018; Witold Nowiński et al. , 2019). Among these theories, the most used one was the "Theory of Entrepreneurial Event", "Institutional Economic Theory", and Theory of Planned Behavior (J. Carlos Díaz-Casero et al. , 2012). Compared to other frameworks, the Theory of Planned Behavior has more analytical capability (J. Carlos Díaz-Casero et al. , 2012). Therefore it is one of the most used theory to explain the antecedent and consequent of entrepreneurial intention (Iakovleva et al. , 2011; Lortie & Castogiovanni, 2015) 1.4 Objectives of the study Nowadays, entrepreneurial education is an increasingly popular discipline at all levels of education. It is usually more popular discipline in schools of business management in India. The growth of entrepreneurship education over the last 30 years has been phenomenal in India. The rationale for offering courses in entrepreneurship has often been to raise awareness of entrepreneurship as a career option. Entrepreneurial education also motivates students to consider a venturing career (Wei Xingjian et al., 2019; Robert Newbery et al. , 2018). Attitude towards

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entrepreneurship education and supportive environment also profoundly influence the entrepreneurial intention (M. Obschonka et al. , 2018). However, despite its growth and importance, there is a lack of relevant studies in this context. Therefore, this main aim of this study was to serve a basis for the future development of entrepreneurship education programs in Indian universities/colleges. The objective was to evaluate attitude towards entrepreneurship education, intention and their relationship. More precisely, the objectives of this study were:    

to determine the student's attitude towards entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention; to measure the influence of entrepreneurial attitude towards entrepreneur education on entrepreneurial intention; to study the impact of the entrepreneurial environment on entrepreneurial intention; to study the effect of control variables ( e.g. gender and entrepreneurial family background) on the relationship between attitude and intention.

2. Literature Review Concerning studies regarding students' attitude towards entrepreneurship education, a large number of researches have been conducted in developed countries. For instance, Manish K Gautam, and Sunil Kumar Singh (2015) in their study ascertained that entrepreneurship education often improves the attitude of students towards entrepreneurship. Following their research, Wei Xingjian et al. (2019) deduced that entrepreneurship education encourages students' subjective norm as well as their intentions towards entrepreneurship by enhancing students' skill, knowledge and belief. They also found that intention inspires them to opt for a career in entrepreneurship. Ediagbonya (2013) showed that entrepreneurship education impacts positively towards the attitude of students to engage in entrepreneurial ventures if their knowledge and skills are developed. Kassean et al. (2015) also found similar results which ascertain that education in entrepreneurship increases the probability of business start-ups and self-employment, which in turn brings about self-satisfaction and economic rewards. Similar studies were carried out by Zain et al. (2010) and Mapfaira and Setibi (2014). They observed that more than 50% of entrepreneurship education students had the intention of becoming entrepreneurs upon completion of the entrepreneurship education. Kabui and Maalu (2012) had confirmed these findings. They found that the majority of students who had undergone entrepreneurship training had shown a positive perception of entrepreneurship. On the other hand, the entrepreneurial intention is another important construct to create a successful entrepreneur. There are many different intention models has been proposed by researchers in the past (P. Zhang and K.W. Cain, 2017; M. Obschonka et al. , 2017; M. Obschonka and M. Stuetzer, 2017; Alexander Newman et al. 2019). Majority of the studies found that the entrepreneurial intention model can be influenced by different variables and constructs (P. Zhang and K.W. Cain, 2017; M. Obschonka et al. , 2017). These constructs were related to behavioural and psychological characteristics (Valencia et al. , 2018). Regarding the behavioural approach, constructs such as personal attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control were included in most models (Hui-Chen et al. , 2014; Zapkau et al. , 2015), and their articulation contributes to understanding the entrepreneurial intention (E. Kubberød and I.B. Pettersen, 2017). Again, the researcher observed connection between personal attitude and perceived behavioural

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control constructs (Lv, Chen & Chen, 2014; Karimi and Biemans et al. , 2016; M. Obschonka and M. Stuetzer, 2017). However, during model development, each constructor/factor can be correlated individually with several other constructs. In many cases, the theoretical and empirical research has associated psychological characteristics with entrepreneurship ( PadillaMeléndez et al. , 2014; M. Obschonka and M. Stuetzer, 2017; Alexander Newman et al. 2019). Empirical studies that have investigated the influence of attitude towards entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention of participants were less unanimous on the results. While some scholars reported positive effects ( Bae et al.,2014), others found irrelevant and mixed results (vonGraevinitz et al., 2010). Further, some scholars also reported negative findings (Do Paco et al. , 2013; Marques et al., 2012). But the importance of attitudes, both in general and towards entrepreneurship, in explaining entrepreneurial intention has also been recognised and empirically confirmed in various studies. Kwabena Nkansah Simpeh (2011) suggests that the objective of entrepreneurship theory was to help entrepreneurs to understand the consequences of their decisions, and this could be done through education. Furthermore, researchers have assessed the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and attitude towards entrepreneurship education. Research has revealed that entrepreneurship education courses and government support contribute to the development of entrepreneurial intentions (Paul Pounder and Dwayne Devonish, 2016; Kwabena Nkansah Simpeh , 2011). Other highlights of research in the past have shown that entrepreneurship education was mainly concerned with attitudes, intentions, and the support for the firm creation process. In a nutshell, all the empirical findings discussed above revealed that attitude towards entrepreneurship education impacts positively on students intention to become an entrepreneur (E. Kubberød and I.B. Pettersen, 2017; Galina Shirokova et al. , 2018). On the other hand, in the Indian context, the focus was mainly on the premise of higher education rather than that on educating entrepreneurs (Pittaway & Cope, 2016). Entrepreneurship, as a domain of business education, has an eclectic nature where the content is derived from diverse disciplines including those of strategy, finance, or marketing or strategy (Albornoz-Pardo, 2013). Given its cross-functional and cross-sectoral orientation, the structure and content of the course are often faculty-driven and is primarily aimed at the twin objectives of increasing the awareness of entrepreneurship as a career option and developing the understanding of the process of creating a new business (Albornoz-Pardo, 2013). All the above discussions emphasise the need to study the attitude towards entrepreneurship education and its impact on entrepreneurial intention in India, But unfortunately, no such rigorous study has been carried out in India to measure and relate determinant of attitude and entrepreneurial intention. Hopefully, this study may bridge the gaps in the literature. 3. Theoretical Framework and Research Methodology The purpose of this study aligns with the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). This theory proposes that the behavioural intentions are formed by an individual's attitude towards behaviour, subjective norms and perception of behavioural control (Pulka et al. , 2015). The theory states that attitude towards behaviour, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control, together shape individual behavioural intentions and behaviours. Pulka et al. (2015) argued that most behaviours are derived from an individual's intention to perform behaviour. They also revealed that the intention to

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improve the ability is to make mindful choices among alternatives and make the right decisions. As shown in figure-1, Attitude, Intention and Support Environment were the significant constructs in the proposed TPB model. Insert Figure 1 here The justification for the adoption of TPB theory was based on its power to explain human attitude towards a behaviour. The framework was also adopted because its forms appropriate theoretical basis for entrepreneurship education and its influence on the formation of entrepreneurship intention. Finally, the theory was adopted because entrepreneurship is a planned behaviour and cannot be created without adequate planning. 3.1 Hypothesis Development Based on the literature review and the proposed model illustration in Fig. 1, the following hypothesis were formulated: H1: Behavioral Component (BC) of entrepreneurial attitude towards entrepreneurship education significantly influences the Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) H2: Cognitive Component (CC) of entrepreneurial attitude towards entrepreneurship education significantly determines the Entrepreneurial Intention (EI). H3: Affective Component (AC) of entrepreneurial attitude towards entrepreneurship education strongly associates with Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) H4: There is a significant association between the entrepreneurial environment and entrepreneurial intention 3.2 Participants This study was conducted to assess the attitude towards entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurship attitude and entrepreneurial intention among business management students in India based on the theory of planned behaviour. The data was drawn from business management students across central India. This study was utilised survey research (a non-experimental field study design) to establish the relationship among proposed constructs. Gall et al. (1996) argued that survey research is a useful tool for studying sensitive opinions, attitudes, preferences, and individual behaviour. This study was followed by a mixed-method approach where samples were drawn using both purposive and random sampling strategy (Robson, 2002). This hybrid sampling technique generally used extensively in education research (Bryman and Bell, 2003). A total number of 950 questionnaires were distributed among business management students studying entrepreneur subjects as part of their course curriculum. A total number of 535 completed questionnaire were received. After initial screening, partially filled ( incomplete) questionnaires were rejected. Finally, 509 questionnaires were found suitable for further analysis. The demographic profiles of participants were shown in the below table (Table-1). Insert Table-1 Here

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The above table (Table -1) shown that 60% of the sample were boys, and 40% were girls. 56% of respondents were having a technical degree (mostly engineers), whereas 44% were the nontechnical background. Around 19% of students were from a family business background. 3.3 Study Instruments A questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. The study questionnaire was divided into five sections. Section one solicited information on respondents' demographic data. Section two was devoted to collect data regarding students' attitude towards entrepreneurship education. Questions of this section were adapted from a previous study on the attitude of management students towards entrepreneurship education (Rudhumbu et al., 2016). Section three was used to measure the entrepreneurial intention of business students in India. Entrepreneurial intentions items were adapted from Linen and Chen (2009). Section four was contained self-developed questions regarding the entrepreneurial environment in India. The questionnaire was comprised of '27' research questions covering all the aspects of the study. All the research questions were employed a 5-point Likert scale from strongly agree (SA), Agree (A), Neutral (N), Disagree (DA) to strongly disagree (SDA) with each of the points assigned a value as follows: SA =5, A=4, N=3, DA=2, SDA=1. The questionnaire was used to measure five constructs, i.e. Cognitive Attitude (CA), Affective Attitude (AA), Behavioral Attitude (BA), Entrepreneurial intention (EI) and Entrepreneurial Environment (EE). To ensure the clarity of the instrument, 10 participants were invited to check their understanding of the survey questions, which was subsequently reworded to deliver more precise ideas of the questions in the questionnaire. Furthermore, to improve the face validity of the questionnaire, two experts from the field of entrepreneur research were approached. The instrument was further refined based on their suggestions. Five constructs (CA, AA, BA, EI, and EE) measuring multidimensional perception and attitude were mainly adopted from different sources (a modified version of the original questionnaire or self-developed questionnaire). Therefore, it was necessary to examine the internal consistency and validity of the instrument before proceeding for further analysis. Several rounds of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were performed on the collected data to extract factor structure. Finally, the refined questionnaire was comprised of five constructs, with a total of 27 items. Cronbach’s alpha values for CA, AA, BA, EI, and EE were 0.76, 0.79, 0.81, 0.87 and 0.72, respectively. The refined model was also achieved good model fit parameters (χ2/df =2.76, CFI=0.96, NFI=0.92, and RMSEA=0.07). Given that this study utilised self-report data, Harman’s single-factor test (Podsakoff et al. , 2012) was carried out to examine possible common method bias. After entering all variables into an exploratory factor analysis to investigate the un-rotated factor solution, the total variance explained by a single factor was 37.2%, which was considerably lower than 50%. This suggested that there was no significant amount of common method bias exist in the data. The final survey instrument consisting of all the five constructs with 27 items can be found in Appendix A. 3.4 Data Analysis Technique PLS-SEM was used to analyse the research model, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The exploratory analysis techniques were used here to maximise the variance explained for the dependent variables (Chin,

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1998; Hair et al. , 2014). Considering that this study endeavoured to develop a multi-dimensional framework relating attitude towards entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial environment, and entrepreneurial intention, PLS-SEM technique was used. The PLS-SEM 'R' package (Sanchez, 2013) was used for data analysis. 4. Result and Analysis The research model in this study was analysed using PLS-SEM techniques. The analysis was carried out in multiple steps. Firstly, the analysis of the measurement model was performed, and secondly, the study of the structural model was conducted (Hair et al. ., 2014). Thirdly, the whole dataset was split based on gender and family background and subsequently, the multi-group comparison was carried out on the sub-datasets to examine whether there were any possible differences regarding entrepreneurial attitude and intention. 4.1 Model Measurement The measurement model of this study was investigated following four criteria's, i.e. (a) Item reliability, (b) Internal consistency, (c) Convergent validity, and (d) Discriminant validity. 4.1.1. Item reliability Item reliability was assessed by examining the loadings of survey items with their respective latent construct. The standardised loadings of the items should exceed 0.70 (Hair et al., 2014). Table 2 indicates that the loadings of all items satisfied the requirement as the loading was above 0.7. Insert Table-2 Here 4.1.2. Convergent validity This criterion investigates the extent to which survey items that were theoretically related to one another were related in practice (Hair, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2011). Convergent validity was examined by checking (a) internal consistency and (b) average variance extracted (AVE) of each latent construct (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Internal consistency: Internal consistency of a given latent construct was assessed through composite reliability. An internally consistent model should have a composite reliability of more than 0.70 (Nunnally, 1978). As shown in Table 2, the research model has confirmed the minimum requirement. AVE: AVE evaluates the amount of variance that a latent construct obtains from its indicators as compared with the amount of variance due to measurement errors. The minimum AVE value of 0.50 suggests that at least 50% of the variance of the indicators is explained (Hair et al., 2011). As indicated in Table 2, AVEs of the latent constructs in the research model was satisfied the minimum requirement of 0.50. 4.1.3. Discriminant validity The discriminant validity of the research model is generally examined in two aspects: (a) the square root of the AVE i.e. for each latent construct, the square root of the AVE should exceed its correlation coefficients with other latent constructs (Chin, 1998); and (b) survey items should load more on the latent constructs than on other latent constructs (Chin et al. , 2003). As shown in Tables 3 and 4, the two requirements of discriminant validity were supported in this study.

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Insert Table-3 Here Insert Table-4 Here 4.2. Structural model This study’s structural model was assessed through path coefficients’ significance levels and explanatory power (i.e., R2) of endogenous constructs. Fig. 2 illustrated the validation outcomes of the structural model used in this study. Bootstrapping analyses were utilised to examine the statistical significance of the path coefficients in the structural model as PLS-SEM didn't rely on distributional assumptions and thus the significance levels were not suitable to be examined through parametric approaches (Hair et al., 2014). Insert Figure 2 here Table 5 presented the bootstrapping validation outcomes. The results showed EI significantly predicted by BC, CC, AC, and EE, thereby supporting hypothesis H1, H2, H3 and H4. Furthermore, all the independent variables positively influenced the dependent variable. Insert Table-5 Here As PLS-SEM aimed to maximise the variance explained in endogenous constructs, R2 values of the endogenous constructs were viewed as the primary criterion for assessing the quality of structural models (Henseler et al. , 2009). However, due to the unavailability of commonly agreed values of R2, this research followed the guidelines of Cohen (1988). As shown in Fig. 2, the R2 values of EI was 0.41, which was established the substantial explanatory power of the model. Finally, the predictive power of the proposed model was acceptable. On the other hand, Goodnessof-Fit (GoF) (0< GoF <1) is another indicator to measure the quality of PLS-SEM technique(Tenenhaus, Amato, and Esposito Vinzi, 2004). It is generally computed as the geometric mean of the average communality and average R2. The GoF values of 0.10, 0.25, and 0.36 are defined as a small, medium, and large, respectively (Wetzels et al., 2009). GoF value of the proposed model was 0.54, which is considered as a significant value. From the above findings, it was concluded that the reliability and validity of the proposed model are confirmed and acceptable. 4.3. Multi-group Comparison Multi-group comparison was conducted by comparing differences at structural levels of research models. Specifically, path coefficients of research models based on different groups of participants were examined (Hair et al., 2014; Sanchez, 2013). The aim of path modelling with latent constructs was basically to estimate linear relationships among the constructs. The approach of bootstrap ttest was utilised following a three-step procedure: (a) the whole dataset was split into groups; (b) bootstrap samples were carried out with replacement for each group; (c) subsamples were compared through t-test in terms of standard error estimates of path coefficients. 4.3.1. Gender Table 6 revealed that there were no significant differences between gender concerning the path coefficients (BC→EI, CC→EI, AC→EI, EE→EI). Therefore gender had no significance on the

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path coefficients. That means the gender of a student doesn't influence the relationship between attitude towards entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention. Insert Table -6 here 4.3.2. Family Background Insert Table -7 here Table 7 revealed that there were significant differences between students from business background and non-business background on (a) the path coefficient of BC→EI, indicating that BC exerted a higher influence on EI for students from business background than those of nonbusiness background; (b) the path coefficient of CC→EI, implied that CC has more significant effect on EI for students belongs to business background; (c) similar results were obtained for the path AC→EI. But the student background didn't have any significant difference in the path EE→EI. 5. Discussion Entrepreneurship literature in the past claimed that entrepreneurial activity is a typical example of planned behaviour. Consequently, it can be stimulated by educational programs that increased the intentions and influenced by attitudes (behavioural, cognitive and affective) of individuals and the perceived environment. The purpose of this study was to empirically assess the relevance of a previously proposed TPB conceptual framework in India. The proposed framework tested the relationship between entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurial intention in Indian conditions. The results of this research showed that the influence of attitudes on the intention has high explanatory power and extremely relevant for increasing the entrepreneurial intention. The results obtained in this research confirmed to the results of the previous study not only in traditional psychology fields (Ajzen, 1991) but also entrepreneurship domain (Mueller, 2008; Souitaris et al., 2007; Oguntimehin et al. , 2017; Alexander Newman et al. , 2019; Liu X et al., 2019). In detail, the results indicated that each component of attitude (Affective, Behavior, and cognitive) have a substantial impact on entrepreneurial intention. Results of this research also justified and proved the previously proposed TPB model by Ajzen (1991) and were applicable to explain the entrepreneurial activity of individuals. Further, the finding of this research supported the results of previous studies (Kolvereid,1996; Viktoriia Potishuk and Jan Kratzer, 2017). Hence, this research provided evidence for a relationship between intention and attitude towards entrepreneurship education in India. When looking at the results in more detail, it was found that entrepreneurship education plays an essential role in fostering and promoting entrepreneurship activity (Souitaris et al.,2007; Viktoriia Potishuk and Jan Kratzer, 2017, Virginia Fernández-Pérez et al., 2017, Luca Ferri et al. , 2018). From the practical perspective, the knowledge gained from this research (i.e. entrepreneurship education influences entrepreneurial intention) will help to answer questions regarding the necessity of entrepreneurship programs, their structure, and teaching methods. The results also showed that the supports entrepreneurs get from the environment (Mentor, Government and Financial intuitions) could influence the entrepreneurial intention. This research also verified the effect of control groups (gender and entrepreneurial family background) on the existing

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relationship between attitude and intention. The finding further revealed that gender has no impact on the relationship between attitude and intention, which was earlier supported by Witold Nowiński et al. (2019) in their studies. On the other hand, family background significantly influenced the relationship between attitude and intention. Last but not least, findings of this research can immensely contribute towards creating an entrepreneurial mindset among young Indian through the design and implementation of a technology-driven entrepreneurial course kit at the higher education level. The main concern in this study was to strengthen the entrepreneurial intention through improving students' attitude towards entrepreneurship education. From the results and analysis, it was evident that attitude towards education affects the intention. Therefore to enhance the students' attitude and participation towards entrepreneurship education, different innovative technologies based curriculums and pedagogies can be used at a higher educational level. The findings of this study indicate theoretical significance. First, attitude towards entrepreneurship education plays critical roles in stimulating college students’ entrepreneurial intention. Previous models of entrepreneurial psychology mainly focused on the influence of an individual’s inherent characteristics, education level, family business experience, entrepreneurial career expectation prediction and other aspects of the entrepreneurial intention. But this study tested the influence of different dimension of attitude towards entrepreneurship education and the entrepreneurial environment as independent variables, and Gender and family background as a control variable. This study was also constructed as an influencing model to determine students’ entrepreneurial intention. It further tested and supplemented the Theory of Planned Behavior from the perspective of learning. The findings of this study provided a piece of empirical evidence to support existing theories, and can serve as a valuable reference for follow-up studies in future. 6. Conclusion Entrepreneurship education offers students a different way of looking at the world, irrespective of whether they choose to develop their own business or not. The primary purpose of the study was to conduct a formal assessment of the student's attitude towards entrepreneurship education and its impact on entrepreneurial intention. The study was also examined the effect of the entrepreneurial environment on entrepreneurial intention in the presence of a control variable, e.g. gender and entrepreneurial family background. All the hypothesis formulated in this study were significantly supported. The result discovered a significant positive impact of attitude towards entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention. The study also revealed that gender has no influence on the relationship between attitude and intention, but the control variable family background significantly influences the relation between attitude towards entrepreneurship education and intention. Managerial Implication Entrepreneurship educators could take advantage of the model introduced in this study as a quantitative instrument to identify the extent to which variables of the model stimulate the causes. Managers and educators can gain a better understanding of the essential factors that influence entrepreneurial intention. This model, therefore, could be of diagnostic assistance for formulating

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effective and efficient curriculum and technology-driven pedagogy to cultivate entrepreneurial activities among students, particularly in India. Furthermore, improving the image of entrepreneurship as a plausible career option could affect students’ intentions towards entrepreneurship. The universities should promote entrepreneurship through engaging business role models, to draw a positive image of entrepreneurship on the campus and to motivate students to pursue their career as an entrepreneur. It is vital to facilitate interaction between experienced entrepreneurs and the students at the higher education system to strengthen their intention towards entrepreneurship. The findings of this research can contribute to the development of entrepreneurship theories and provide valuable inspiration to Indian business management students for choosing entrepreneurship as a career. Concerning management practices, the findings of this study suggested that attitude towards entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial environment can effectively inspire college students’ entrepreneurial intention. Entrepreneurship is an activity that requires a proper mindset and entrepreneurship education. Through appropriate training, college students can able to acquire the knowledge, skills, and practical experience necessary for the entrepreneurial process, which can further improve their entrepreneurial intention. Stronger perceived entrepreneurship education can, exert students' innate entrepreneurial abilities, strengthen their entrepreneurial potential, and inspire their entrepreneurial confidence and passion. Finally, it was suggested that universities and other relevant educational institutions should pay more attention to create a conducive entrepreneurial environment to enrich the connotation of entrepreneurship education and improve their effectiveness. Limitations Despite the significant contributions offered by this study, it has some limitations and unaddressed questions. Firstly, the biggest issue, in this case, was the aspect of time. Firstly, this study was only addressed the attitudes and intentions toward expected behaviour and not the behaviour itself. That means the time-lag problem has not been discussed in this research. Therefore future research should design studies that cover time in longer perspectives. Secondly, the issue was with the sample size. Although the sample size was large enough to acquire significant results, the larger sample size needs to be utilised to make the result more generalisable. Besides, future research studies might concentrate more on experimental designs and include more control groups. Furthermore, the research should cover pan India to increase the generalizability of results and discover some cultural differences in the result. Last but not least, the psychological model used in this study did not enable an adequate exploration of the relationships between participated variables. So more detailed studies may require in future. References Alejandro Valencia-Arias, Ivan Montoya, Alexandra Montoya (2018). Constructs and relationships in the study of entrepreneurial intentions in university students. International journal of environmental and Science Education,13(1), 31-52. Alexander Newman, Martin Obschonka, Susan Schwarz, Michael Cohen, Ingrid Nielsen (2019). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy: A systematic review of the literature on its theoretical foundations, measurement, antecedents, and outcomes, and an agenda for future research. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110, 403-419.

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Appendix A: Study Survey instrument. Construct Behavioral Component (BC)

BC1 BC2 BC3* BC4 BC4 BC5 BC6 BC7 BC8*

I enjoyed lectures on entrepreneurship as offered in the university/colleges. Lectures on entrepreneurship I received in University/colleges have increased my interest to pursue an entrepreneurial career I consider entrepreneurship as a very important course in the university/college. Entrepreneurship education courses I have undergone in the university/college have prepared me to make informed decisions on entrepreneurial career choices. I am happy to have had entrepreneurship education in my university/college I sincerely consider entrepreneurship a desired career option Entrepreneurship education I received in university/college has encouraged me to venture into entrepreneurship after graduation My entrepreneurship lecturers have helped me to meet and interact with successful entrepreneurs My university/college entrepreneurship staffers help students to meet successful entrepreneurs who provide motivation to students to become entrepreneurs.

Cognitive Component(CC) CC1 University/college entrepreneurship courses have enabled me to identify business related opportunities. CC2 Entrepreneurship courses I took in the university have taught me to create services and/or products that can satisfy the needs of customers.

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CC3 CC4 CC5* CC6 CC7 CC8 CC9

University/college entrepreneurship courses have taught me to develop business plans successfully Due to the university’s/colleges's entrepreneurship education programme, I now have skills to can create a new business With the university’s/college's entrepreneurship education program I had undergone, I can now successfully identify sources of business chance Entrepreneurship education program of the university/college has taught me to perform feasibility studies The university’s/college's entrepreneurship courses have stimulated my interest in entrepreneurship Through the university’s/college's entrepreneurship program, my skills, knowledge and interest in entrepreneurship have all improved Overall, I am very satisfied with how entrepreneurship education programme is being taught in my university/college

Affective Component(AC) AC1 I would want to be an entrepreneur after my study AC2 The idea to become an entrepreneur and work for my self is appealing to me AC3 I really consider self-employment as something very important AC4 The entrepreneurship programme in university/college has effectively prepared me to establish a career in entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial Intention(EI) EI1 A career as an entrepreneur is attractive to me EI2* If I had the opportunity and resources, I would like to start a business EI3* People I care about would approve of my intentions to become an entrepreneur E14 Most people who are important to me would approve of me becoming an entrepreneur EI5 Being an entrepreneur gives me satisfaction EI6 Being an entrepreneur implies more advantages than disadvantage to me EI7 Amongst various options, I would rather be an entrepreneur Entrepreneurial Environment in India(EE) EE1 India is an excellent country to start a business EE2 My local community/government supports entrepreneurs EE3 It would be very difficult to raise the money needed to start a new business in India EE4* I know how to have access to the assistance I would need to start a new business

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EE5

I am aware of programmes the country provides to help people start businesses Note. Items marked as '*' were removed after factor analyses Appendix B: Detailed information of the bootstrap validation of the research model

Hypothesis

Original Path Mean. Boot SD Percentile(0.025) Percentile(0.975) coefficients H1 BC→EI 0.525** 0.527 0.05 0.367 0.589 H2 BC→EI 0.629* 0.621 0.03 0.411 0.678 H3 BC→EI 0.591* 0.596 0.03 0.387 0.610 H4 BC→EI 0.559** 0.560 0.06 0.401 0.669 Note. Three decimal places were kept in order to illustrate detailed statistical outcomes; the bold hypothesis highlight the hypotheses that were supported in this study. ( * Significant at the p= 0.05 level; ** significant at the p = 0.01 level)

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Attitude towards entrepreneurship education Behavioral Component (BC) Cognitive Component (CC)

Entrepreneurial Intention(EI)

Affective Component (AC)

 Gender  Family Background Entrepreneurial Environment

Figure 1: The proposed research model based on TPB

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Attitude towards Entrepreneurship Education Behavioral Component (BC)

0.52**

Cognitive Component (CC)

0.62* 0.58**

Affective Component (AC)

Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) R2 = 0.41

0.55**

Entrepreneurial Environment

Figure 2: SEM results for the proposed model

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Highlights    

This study presented an approach to understanding the entrepreneurial intention among management students. Positive attitude towards entrepreneurship education impacted profoundly on entrepreneurial intention The entrepreneurial environment is positively influenced the entrepreneurial intention Family background plays a vital role in entrepreneurial intention.

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Table 1: Description of important demographic profiles Demographic Profile Count Gender Boys 306 Girls 203 Education background Technical 286 Non-technical 223 Family Background Entrepreneurial Family 96 Background NonEntrepreneurial 413 Family Background Source: Author Table 2: Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, average variance extracted (AVE), and factor loadings of the constructs and items in the research model (N= 509). Constructs/Items Cronbach’s Composite AVE Factor M (SD) alpha reliability loadings Behavioral Component (BC) BC1 BC2 BC3 BC4 BC5 BC6

0.87

0.88 Cognitive Component(CC)

0.89

0.89

0.69

0.83

EI1 EI2 EI3 EI4

0.87

0.89

0.80 0.85 0.81 0.82 0.88 0.82 0.84 0.82

3.11(0.98) 2.98(0.85) 2.95(0.37) 2.99(1.01) 3.09(0.92) 3.06(1.22) 3.01(0.81) 2.93(0.71)

0.79 0.81 0.81 0.77

2.97(0.41) 2.93(0.65) 2.96(0.17) 3.03(0.98)

0.86 0.87 0.83 0.84

3.21(1.08) 3.14(0.91) 3.09(0.97) 3.11(1.08)

0.67

AC1 AC2 AC3 AC4

Entrepreneurial Intention(EI)

2.89(0.89) 3.12(0,21) 3.15(0.91) 3.01(1.02) 2.91(0.86) 3.01(0.67)

0.72

CC1 CC2 CC3 CC4 CC5 CC6 CC7 CC8 0.79 Affective Component(AC)

0.81 0.81 0.82 0.81 0.79 0.82

0.76

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EI5

Entrepreneurial 0.82 Environment in India(EE)

0.84

0.81

3.17(1.01)

0.82 0.81 0.79 0.82

3.14(1.12) 2.98(0.78) 3.07(0.92) 2.91(0.98)

0.69

EE1 EE2 EE3 EE4 Source: Author Table 3: Discriminant validity of the research model (N=509).

Constructs BC CC AC EI EE

BC 0.83 0.51 0.45 0.61 0.57

CC

AC

EI

EE

0.85 0.52 0.56 0.53

0.82 0.51 0.54

0.87 0.57

0.83

Source: Author Note. The bold values in the diagonal row are the square roots of the average variance extracted for the constructs in the research model.

Table 4: Cross-loadings of variables in the research model (N=509). Constructs/Items

BC

CC

AC

EI

EE

Behavioral Component (BC) BC1 BC2 BC3 BC4 BC5 BC6

0.81 0.81 0.82 0.81 0.79 0.82

0.41 0.45 0.47 0.37 0.31 0.31

0.39 0.34 0.38 0.29 0.31 0.29

0.42 0.41 0.39 0.48 0.45 0.44

0.48 0.45 0.42 0.46 0.41 0.43

0.42 0.41 0.44 0.39 0.33 0.31 0.32 0.31

0.80 0.85 0.81 0.82 0.88 0.82 0.84 0.82

0.33 0.41 0.38 0.34 0.29 0.31 0.32 0.29

0.41 0.44 0.41 0.48 0.46 0.39 0.43 0.43

0.45 0.45 0.42 0.44 0.41 0.46 0.42 0.41

0.41

0.34

0.79

0.42

0.44

Cognitive Component(CC) CC1 CC2 CC3 CC4 CC5 CC6 CC7 CC8

Affective Component(AC) AC1

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AC2 AC3 AC4

0.29 0.31 0.33

0.34 0.33 0.27

0.81 0.81 0.77

0.51 0.46 0.42

0.42 0.44 0.43

0.44 0.46 0.43 0.43 0.47

0.41 0.45 0.44 0.46 0.42

0.47 0.41 0.46 0.47 0.42

0.86 0.87 0.83 0.84 0.81

0.48 0.47 0.51 0.48 0.46

0.46 0.46 0.42 0.45

0.41 0.39 0.42 0.44

0.39 0.38 0.41 0.41

0.46 0.46 0.45 0.47

0.82 0.81 0.79 0.82

Entrepreneurial Intention(EI) EI1 EI2 EI3 EI4 EI5

Entrepreneurial Environment in India(EE) EE1 EE2 EE3 EE4

Source: Author Note. The bold values are the loadings of each item on its latent variable in the research model.

Table 5 : Bootstrap validation outcomes for the research model (N=509). Hypothesis Path coefficients Decision H1 BC→EI 0.52** Supported H2 CC→EI 0.62* Supported H3 AC→EI 0.58* Supported H4 EE→EI 0.55** Supported Source: Author Note. ** p<.01; *** p<.001; The bootstrap analysis did not support the statistical significance of the path coefficient (see Appendix B) due to the possible risk of over fitting issue; The bold rows highlight the hypotheses that were supported in this study.

Table 6: Comparison between Boys and Girls (N= 509). Hypothesis Global Group: Boys Group: Girls H1 BC→EI H2 CC→EI H3 AC→EI H4 EE→EI Source: Author

0.43 0.51 0.36 0.53

0.41 0.56 0.34 0.56

0.44 0.49 0.39 0.47

t

df

p

2.89 1.78 1.49 2.39

503 503 503 503

0.067 0.053 0.098 0.10

Sig. (0.05) No No No No

Table 7 : Comparison of Family Background( Business family vs Non-Business Family (N=509). Hypothesis Global Group: Group: Non- t df p Sig. Business Business (0.05) H1 BC→EI 0.61 0.71 0.49 2.09 503 0.00 Yes

Journal Pre-proof

H2 CC→EI 0.47 0.53 0.41 1.97 503 0.01 Yes H3 AC→EI 0.51 0.59 0.46 1.89 503 0.03 Yes H4 EE→EI 0.47 0.42 0.49 2.08 503 0.81 No Source: Author Note: The bold row indicates the paths where faculty members of lower-grades significantly differed from those of higher-grades