Effect of College Students’ Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy on Entrepreneurial Intention: Career Adaptability as a Mediating Variable

Year 2019, , 305 - 313, 15.08.2019

Xiaoping Qiao Jian-hao Hua

https://doi.org/10.12973/ijem.5.3.305

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship among college students’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy, career adaptability, and entrepreneurial intention. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior（TPB）, this study adopted the entrepreneurial self-efficacy scale, career adaptability scale and entrepreneurial intention scale to investigate 1039 college students from a university in ShanDong province, China. The results indicated the following: (a) entrepreneurial self-efficacy of college student significantly and positively affected entrepreneurial intention; (b) entrepreneurial self-efficacy of college student significantly and positively affected career adaptability; (c) career adaptability significantly and positively affected entrepreneurial intention; and (d) career adaptability partially mediated the effect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intention. The results of this study can serve as a reference for universities wishing to implement career education and provide entrepreneurship guidance.

Keywords

Entrepreneurial self-efficacy, career adaptability, entrepreneurial intention

References

• Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179-211.
• Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173.
• Bird, B. (1988). Implementing entrepreneurial ideas: The case for intention. Academy of Management Review, 13(3), 442-453.
• Blustein, D. L. (1989). The role of goal instability and career self-efficacy in the career exploration process. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 35(2), 194-203.
• Bosma, N., Acs, Z., Autio, E., Coduras, A., & Levie, J. (2009). Global entrepreneurship monitor (GEM) 2008 executive report. Babson Park, MA: Babson College and Global Entrepreneurship Research Consortium.
• Carr, J. C., & Sequeira, J. M. (2007). Prior family business exposure as intergenerational influence and entrepreneurial intent: A theory of planned behavior approach. Journal of Business Research, 60(10), 1090-1098.
• Chen, C. C., Greene, P. G., & Crick, A. (1998). Does entrepreneurial self-efficacy distinguish entrepreneurs from managers? Journal of Business Venturing, 13(4), 295-316.
• Clegg, S. (1990). Modern organizations: Organization studies in the postmodern world. London, England: Sage.
• De Guzman, A. B., & Choi, K. O. (2013). The relations of employability skills to career adaptability among technical school students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 82(3), 199-207.
• De Noble, A. F., Jung, D., & Ehrlich, S. B. (1999). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy: The development of a measure and its relationship to entrepreneurial action. Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 1999(1), 73-87.
• Freling, T. H., & Forbes, L. P. (2005). An empirical analysis of the brand personality effect. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 14(7), 404-413.
• Gao, J., Lin Y., Cui J., & Wen, Z. (2018). Future work self salience and proactive career behavior: a moderated mediation model. Psychological Exploration, 38(5), 475-480.
• Gartner, W. B. (1985). A conceptual framework for describing the phenomenon of new venture creation. Academy of Management Review, 10(4), 696-706.
• Grundstén, H. (2004). Entrepreneurial intentions and the entrepreneurial environment: A study of technology-based new venture creation. Helsinki University of Technology.
• Gupta, V. K., Turban, D. B., & Bhawe, N. M. (2008). The effect of gender stereotype activation on entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(5), 1053-1070.
• Hindle, K., & Rushworth, S. (2000). Yellow pages global entrepreneurship monitor (gem) australia 2000. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership Historical Research Reference in Entrepreneurship.
• Hirschi, A. (2009). Career adaptability development in adolescence: Multiple predictors and effect on sense of power and life satisfaction. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74(2), 145-155.
• Hisrich, R., Langan-Fox, J., & Grant, S. (2007). Entrepreneurship research and practice: a call to action for psychology. American Psychologist, 62(6), 575.
• Kolvereid, L., & Isaksen, E. (2006). New business start-up and subsequent entry into self-employment. Journal of Business Venturing, 21(6), 866-885.
• Krueger Jr, N. F., & Brazeal, D. V. (1994). Entrepreneurial potential and potential entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 18(3), 91-104.
• Krueger Jr, N. F., Reilly, M. D., & Carsrud, A. L. (2000). Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Business Venturing, 15(5-6), 411-432.
• Krueger, N. (1993). The impact of prior entrepreneurial exposure on perceptions of new venture feasibility and desirability. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 18(1), 5-21.
• Kuratko, D. F. (2003). Entrepreneurship education: Emerging trends and challenges for the 21st century. White Paper, US Association of Small Business Education, 22, 2003.Lee, L., Wong, P. K., Der Foo, M., & Leung, A. (2011). Entrepreneurial intentions: The influence of organizational and individual factors. Journal of Business Venturing, 26(1), 124-136.
• Leroy, H., Maes, J., Meuleman, M., Sels, L., & Debrulle, J. (2009). Gender effect on entreprenurial intentions: A TPB multi-group analysis at factor and indicator level. In Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Date: 2009/08/07-2009/08/11, Location: Chicago (USA)
• Li, X., Hou, Z. J. & Feng, M. (2013). Relationships between parental career expectation, proactive personality, career adaptability and career decision-making difficulty among Chinese college students. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 21(2), 263-267.
• Liang, M. H. & Yi, L. F., (2017). The relations of career adaptability with entrepreneurial self-efficiency and entrepreneurial intention among university students. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 15(3), 366-371.
• Logan, J. R., Alba, R. D., & Stults, B. J. (2003). Enclaves and entrepreneurs: Assessing the payoff for immigrants and minorities. International Migration Review, 37(2), 344-388.
• Luzzo, D. A. (1993). Value of career-decision-making self-efficacy in predicting career-decision-making attitudes and skills. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 40(2), 194-199.
• Matthews, C. H., & Moser, S. B. (1996). A longitudinal investigation of the impact of family background. Journal of Small Business Management, 34(2), 29-43.
• Niles, S. G., & Sowa, C. J. (1992). Mapping the nomological network of career self‐efficacy. The Career Development Quarterly, 41(1), 13-21.
• Rauch, A., & Frese, M. (2007). Let's put the person back into entrepreneurship research: A meta-analysis on the relationship between business owners' personality traits, business creation, and success. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 16(4), 353-385.
• Savickas, M. L. (1997). Career adaptability: An integrative construct for life‐span, life‐space theory. The Career Development Quarterly, 45(3), 247-259.
• Savickas, M. L. (2005). The theory and practice of career construction. Career development and counseling: Putting Theory and Research to Work, 1(1), 42-70.Savickas, M. L. (2013). Career construction theory and practice. Career development and counseling: Putting Theory and Research to Work, 2(1), 144-180.
• Savickas, M. L., Briddick, W. C., & Watkins Jr, C. E. (2002). The relation of career maturity to personality type and social adjustment. Journal of Career Assessment, 10(1), 24-49.
• Schumpeter, J. A. (1936). Review of Keynes’s general theory. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 31(196), 791-795.
• Shane, S., & Venkataraman, S. (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 217-226.
• Super, D. E., & Kidd, J. M. (1979). Vocational maturity in adulthood: Toward turning a model into a measure. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14(3), 255-270.
• Super, D. E., & Knasel, E. G. (1981). Career development in adulthood: Some theoretical problems and a possible solution. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 9(2), 194-201.
• Thatcher, S. M., & Patel, P. C. (2012). Group faultlines: A review, integration, and guide to future research. Journal of Management, 38(4), 969-1009.
• Thompson, E. R. (2009). Individual entrepreneurial intent: Construct clarification and development of an internationally reliable metric. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 33(3), 669-694.
• Tolentino, L. R., Sedoglavich, V., Lu, V. N., Garcia, P. R. J. M., & Restubog, S. L. D. (2014). The role of career adaptability in predicting entrepreneurial intentions: A moderated mediation model. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 85(3), 403-412.
• Wilson, F., Kickul, J., & Marlino, D. (2007). Gender, entrepreneurial self–efficacy, and entrepreneurial career intentions: Implications for entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 31(3), 387-406.
• Wilson, F., Marlino, D., & Kickul, J. (2004). Our entrepreneurial future: Examining the diverse attitudes and motivations of teens across gender and ethnic identity. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 9(3), 177.
• Yang, S. H., Tien, H. L., Wu, H. L., & Chu, H. (2015). The relationship among career self-efficacy, career adaptability and work adjustment of adult workers in Taiwan. Chinese Journal of Guidance and Counseling 37(1), 21-42.Zacher, H. (2014). Career adaptability predicts subjective career success above and beyond personality traits and core self-evaluations. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 84(1), 21-30.
• Zhao, H., Seibert, S. E., & Hills, G. E. (2005). The mediating role of self-efficacy in the development of entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(6), 1265-1772.