Proceedings of 9th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
5 - 6 November 2015, Bayview Hotel, Singapore, ISBN: 978-1-922069-87-0
Entrepreneurial Attitudes and Intentions of Dubai Students
Jeanette Teh*, Hassan Al-Dhaafri** and Adrienne A. Isakovic***
The objective of our study was to determine if having an entrepreneurial attitude or
potential had a positive impact on the intentions of 135 undergraduate students in
Dubai to become entrepreneurs. In addition, we investigated whether having
entrepreneur role models or a university providing entrepreneurship training and
assistance would have a moderating effect on the relationship between
entrepreneurial attitude on entrepreneurial intentions, which had not been previously
studied. In line with previous research from western countries, regression analysis of
our 62-question paper survey confirmed that entrepreneurial attitude was positively
and significantly related to entrepreneurial intentions. Further, having a university
play a greater role in providing entrepreneurship training and assistance would also
increase students’ intentions to become entrepreneurs, confirming the applicability of
prior research findings to the Middle East context. However, contrary to our
expectations and to some previous literature, having a family member as an
entrepreneur did not increase our respondents’ intentions to be an entrepreneur. We
discuss the practical implications of our findings and recommendations for policy
makers.
Field of Research: Management – Entrepreneurship
Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurial attitude,
entrepreneurship potential, entrepreneurship self-efficacy, UAE, Middle East, Dubai.
1. Introduction
Shapero (1985) described entrepreneurship as the type of decision-making process
that is necessary for the survival, development, and even freedom in a society.
Through their innovation, entrepreneurs create value and wealth for the economy not
only through increased competition and the provision of their products and services,
but perhaps more importantly through their monumental role in job creation (World
Bank, 2014; Eunni, 2010; Ahmadand Seymour, 2008; Lee et al., 2006; Leo, 2001).
Given the importance of entrepreneurship to the development of the economy,
especially in developing nations (Eunni, 2010; Van Wyk, Boshoff and Bester, 2003),
it is imperative that the antecedents of entrepreneurship are properly understood in
order to facilitate its growth.
While there is a plethora of entrepreneurship intentions research from American and
European countries (e.g. Solesvik, 2013; Athayde, 2012; Athayde, 2009; Liñán and
Santos, 2007), there are relatively few studies representing those in developing
nations (Bahrami, 2014; Mehrez, 2014;Gallant, Majumdar and Varadarajan, 2010;
Davey, Plewa and Struwig, 2011; Todorovic and McNaughton, 2007). Since various
institutional factors such as the availability of capital, resources, legal framework,
and infrastructures as well as cultures of developing countries could facilitate or
inhibit entrepreneurship (Todorovic and McNaughton, 2007), it is necessary to
conduct studies in emerging economies to comprehend the variables that could
contribute to entrepreneurship intentions.
__________________________________________________________
*Ms. Jeanette Teh, Assistant Professor, School of Business Administration, Canadian University
Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, e-mail: jeanette@cud.ac.ae
**Dr. Hassan Al-Dhaafri, Assistant Professor, College of Business Administration, American University
in the Emirates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, e-mail: hassan_saleh3@hotmail.com
***Dr. Adrienne A. Isakovic, Lead Faculty, School of Management, Walden University, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, United States America, email: adrienne.isakovic@waldenu.edu
Proceedings of 9th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
5 - 6 November 2015, Bayview Hotel, Singapore, ISBN: 978-1-922069-87-0
Of the literature coming from emerging economies, fewer still have been undertaken
in nations such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Majumdar and Varadaraja,
2013;Ryan, Tipu, and Zeffane, 2011; Gallant, Majumdar and Varadarajan, 2010),
which, while newly categorized as an emerging market (MCSI Inc., 2015), is
sufficiently different from its less affluent counterparts. For instance, the low quality
entrepreneurship, borne out of necessity rather than being innovative or creating
change, that traditionally exists in developing economies which have lower income
per capita and a non-materialistic culture (Todorovic and McNaughton, 2007), may
not apply to the UAE which has the 27th highest gross national income per capita at
USD 43,480 (World Bank, 2015).
In addition, while the UAE has been favourably ranked on various economic and
entrepreneurship indices (World Economic Forum, 2015; Heritage Foundation, 2015;
The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute, 2015), it has the second
lowest rate of established entrepreneurs compared to other innovation-driven
economies (Global Research Association, 2011), creating a need for more
entrepreneurshipincentives.
Given that small, medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) comprise 95% of all companies
in Dubai (Dubai SME, 2013) and the UAE’s desire to reduce the nation’s reliance on
oil-based revenues, entrepreneurship is an oft-repeated focus of both federal and
emirate-level government agencies which have developed laws and established
funding (Khalifa Fund, 2014) and a dedicated division of the Department of
Economic Development to help support SMEs (UAE Ministry of Economy, 2014),
unlike many governments of emerging nations which do not do enough to stimulate
entrepreneurship (Mehrez, 2014;Tong, McCrohan and Erogul, 2012).
With the ultimate goal of SMEs contributing 70% to the country’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) by 2021 and an increase in youth-founded enterprises (UAE Ministry
of Economy, 2014), the upcoming Expo 2020 to be hosted by Dubai,and the UAE
Vision 2021 National Agenda, the latter two of which include the promotion of
entrepreneurship and innovation (Expo 2020 Dubai, 2012-2015; Prime Minister’s
Office, 2010),it has never been more timely to study the entrepreneurial intentions of
university students in Dubai.
More specifically, we will be investigating whether students’ entrepreneurial attitude
has a positive impact on their intentions to become entrepreneurs while also
ascertaining whether the existence of entrepreneurial role models and university’s
provision of entrepreneurial guidance or traininghave a moderating effect on their
entrepreneurial intentions. To our knowledge, a study of the interaction of these
variables has not previously been undertaken, a gap which we seek to address.
2. Literature Review
Determining the factors that influence entrepreneurial intentions is critical to
encouraging entrepreneurship (Ferreira et al., 2012)since choosing a career is
complex and multi-faceted(Scherer et al., 1989).
Personality traits or dispositions of entrepreneurs such as independence,
confidence, creativity, self-efficacy, or risk-taking behaviourhave generally been
positively related to entrepreneurial intentions in that the higher the individual scored
in these traits, the more likely they were to have intentions to become entrepreneurs
(Santos, Caetano and Curral, 2013; Peng, Lu, and Kang, 2012; Ferreira et al., 2012;
Liñán, Rodríguez-Cohard, and Rueda-Cantuche, 2011; Pruett et al., 2009; Douglas
and Shepherd, 2002).
However, as personality traits are usually stable and do not take into account
situational variables, these theories have been criticized for their lack of convergent
validity and the fact that these psychological theories were not intended for
Proceedings of 9th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
5 - 6 November 2015, Bayview Hotel, Singapore, ISBN: 978-1-922069-87-0
measurement of entrepreneurship (Florin, Karri and Rossiter,2007; Robinson et al.,
1991; Ajzen, 1991).
(a) Attitude towards Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Potential
In the quest to improve upon earlier theories, the attitude toward entrepreneurship
modelsemerged (Liñán and Santos, 2007). An attitude is a “learned predisposition
to respond in a predictable manner to the object of that attitude” (Florin, Karri and
Rossiter,2007, p. 20) and includes three components – emotions, behaviour, and
cognitive beliefs.
The central belief of these models, largely based upon Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of
Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Shapero and Sokol’s (1982) Model of Entrepreneurial
Event (SEE), is that since entrepreneurial behaviour is planned, i.e. individuals
choose and plan to become entrepreneurs, it would be more accurate to
examineentrepreneurs’ underlying cognitive processes that result in their decision to
become entrepreneurs,namely their attitudes towards entrepreneurshipand
perceived behavioural control (Liñán, 2008; Liñán and Santos, 2007; Krueger and
Carsrud,1993; Robinson et al., 1991; Ajzen, 1991; Bird, 1988).
As attitudes do not exist in isolation, but take place for specific situations and
contexts, they have a high predictability factor resulting in entrepreneurial intentions
being the most studied antecedent to entrepreneurship behaviour (Ferreira et al.,
2012).
Entrepreneurial self-efficacy, which helps shape entrepreneurial potential, includes
being comfortable with working under uncertainty, taking risks, having a perception
of being in control, and being proactive and innovative (Zeffane, 2013; Krueger and
Brazeal, 1994); it is also linked to the ability to see and capitalize on opportunities, a
critical attribute of an entrepreneur. Literature has documented that entrepreneurial
self-efficacy, which is developed through learning how to master a particular
behaviour and from watching credible models undertaking that behaviour (Peng, Lu
and Kang, 2012; Krueger and Brazeal, 1994), is the strongest predictor of
entrepreneurial intentions (Santos, Caetano and Curral, 2013; Pruett et al., 2009).
Combining the TPB school of thought that entrepreneurship is an intentional process
and the concept of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and potential, Athayde (2012, 2009)
developed a survey to measure what she calls Attitude To Enterprise Test (ATE).
The ATE used similar dimensions as Robinson et al.’s (1991) Entrepreneurial
Attitude Orientation (EAO) which comprised of four attitudes towards achievement in
business, innovation in business, perceived personal control of business outcomes,
and perceived self-esteem in business.
Athayde (2012, 2009) developed the ATE to apply to students, measuring attitudes
towards five constructs, with each dimension including all three aspects of an
attitude – emotions, behaviour, and cognitive beliefs. We adopted Athayde’s (2012)
ATE for our survey as will be discussed in further detail below.
Although there have been studies investigating students’ entrepreneurship intentions
(Bahrami, 2014; Ryan, Tipu, and Zeffane, 2011; Varadarajan, Majumdar, and
Gallant, 2010) and entrepreneurial potential(Majumdar and Varadaraja, 2013;
Zeffane, 2013) in the UAE, to our knowledge, there have not been any research
undertaken about the impact entrepreneurial attitude has on entrepreneurial
intentions in the UAE.
As literature from other countries(e.g. Santos, Caetano and Curral, 2013; Pruett et
al., 2009) has indicated that entrepreneurial potential is a strong predictor of
entrepreneurial intentions and that qualities, skills, and attitudes are drivers of
entrepreneurial behaviour (Florin, Karri and Rossiter, 2007), our first hypothesis is as
follows:
Proceedings of 9th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
5 - 6 November 2015, Bayview Hotel, Singapore, ISBN: 978-1-922069-87-0
H1: Entrepreneurial Attitude (EA) has a positive effect on the Entrepreneurial
Intentions (EI) of university students.
(b) Social Factors of Entrepreneurship
Since individuals do not exist in isolation, the impact of others on the entrepreneur’s
decision to start up a business cannot be understated. It has been demonstrated by
previous research that personally knowing an entrepreneur can be a great predictor
of entrepreneurial activity (Huang et al., 2013).
Parentswho are entrepreneurs can serve as role models (Peng, Lu and Kang, 2012)
because their children can learn vicariously through observing what they do (Van
Auken et al., 2006; Scherer et al., 1989; Scott and Twomey, 1988). Based on
Bandura’s social learning theory, role modelling is the process by which a person
learns by example as opposed to through actual, direct experience (Scherer et al.,
1989).
Entrepreneurial role models, especially parents who exert the most influence on our
behaviour, increase perceived desirability and feasibility of self-employment (Van
Auken et al., 2006; Krueger, Reilly, and Carsrud, 2000; Krueger and Brazeal, 1994),
particularly in cultures with strong family influence (Van Auken et al., 2006), thereby
improving one’s self-efficacy and confidence in one’s own ability to become
entrepreneurs.
However, entrepreneur role models will only increase entrepreneurship intentions if
these behaviours modelled are positive experiences, specifically in respect of
success from a profitable business and work satisfaction (Scherer et al., 1989).
The notion of family support which Pruett et al. (2009) identify as the expected family
reaction to entrepreneurship plans significantly impact entrepreneurial intentions
since opinions of those closest to us carry the most weight. However, while family
approval of entrepreneurship as a career choice may make us more inclined to
become entrepreneurs, it does not also necessarily result in our confidence in the
feasibility of our becoming entrepreneurs (Liñán and Santos, 2007).
Given the large, positive impact that personally knowing an entrepreneur would have
on entrepreneurial intentions demonstrated from the aforementioned studies, we
predict the following:
H2: Having an entrepreneur role model moderatesthe impact of
Entrepreneurial Attitude on Entrepreneurial Intentionsby increasing the desire
to become an entrepreneur.
(c) Entrepreneurship Education and the Role of the University
There has been significant research on the positive effect that
entrepreneurshipeducation and training has on increasing entrepreneurial potential,
motivations,confidence, and intentions (Ramoni, 2015; Solesvik, 2013; Athayde,
2012; Davey, Plewa and Struwig, 2011; Athayde, 2009; Lee et al., 2005; Zhao,
Seibert, and Hills, 2005; Peterman and Kennedy, 2003). By entrepreneurship
education, we mean specific courses and training about entrepreneurship and not
general management courses that have no impact on entrepreneurial intentions
(Lüthje and Franke, 2002).
Santos, Caetano and Curral (2013) suggested that since entrepreneurial potential
has to first exist before people intend to become entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship
education plays a criticalrole in developing entrepreneurial potentialby creating
awareness of entrepreneurship as a valid career choice (Majumdarand Varadaraja,
2013).
Proceedings of 9th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
5 - 6 November 2015, Bayview Hotel, Singapore, ISBN: 978-1-922069-87-0
However, entrepreneurship education is not merely about teaching management,
finance or business plan writing skills, but also about developing creative thinking,
technical skills,and the entrepreneurial mind set, particularly in cultures where
innovation and entrepreneurial thinking are lacking(Leo, 2001).
The key to effective entrepreneurship education lies in the provision of experiential
learning and real-world experiences such as competitions, industry projects,
internships, focus groups to help identify opportunities, and providing links to the
entrepreneur network (De Faoite et al., 2003; Lüthje and Franke, 2002).
Further, since individuals with previous experience with entrepreneurship are more
likely to return to self-employment (Davey, Plewa and Struwig, 2011; Zhao, Seibert,
and Hills, 2005), students who have engaged in entrepreneurship projects at
university are more likely to have intentions to become self-employed.
With empirical studies (Davey, Plewa and Struwig, 2011; Gallant, Majumdar and
Varadarajan, 2010) demonstrating that entrepreneurial education and assistance
provided by the university with entrepreneurship ventures increase entrepreneurial
intentions, our third hypothesis is:
H3: The role of the university will have a moderating effect on the relationship
between Entrepreneurial Attitude on Entrepreneurship Intentions such that the
more active the university is anticipated to be in providing entrepreneurship
education and support, the more likely it is that respondents will have
intentions to become entrepreneurs.
3. Methodology
The 62-question paper survey was administered to approximately 197
undergraduate students at two universities in Dubai during the period between
January and May 2015. Students were informed that their participation in the survey
was both voluntary and anonymous. 160 questionnaires were collected, and of those
collected, 25 were not useable. Therefore the final response rate for this study was
68.5%.
Our survey questions were categorized into four sections as summarized in Table 1
below.
Table 1: Summary of the questions contained in the questionnaire
Variable
Entrepreneurship
Attitude
Number of
statements / Type of questions
questions
Sources
30
Five-point Likert scale
Athayde (2012)
Entrepreneur Role
Model
10
Selection
Athayde (2012)
Role of University
10
Five-point Likert scale
Davey, Plewa and
Struwig (2011)
Entrepreneurial
Intentions
12
Five-point Likert scale,
Selection
Note: Overall Cronbach alpha for questionnaire = 0.798
Athayde (2012);
Davey, Plewa and
Struwig (2011)
Proceedings of 9th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
5 - 6 November 2015, Bayview Hotel, Singapore, ISBN: 978-1-922069-87-0
The first section was adopted from Athayde’s (2012) Attitude To Enterprise Test,
which we have abbreviated to Entrepreneurial Attitude (EA). The EA was composed
of 30 statements rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from “Strongly disagree” to
“Strongly agree”, with six statements from each of the following five constructs:
(i) Achievement orientation in project work: This category determines if
respondents work hard in projects and have pride in a job well done, e.g. they were
asked the degree to which they agreed with statements like “It’s important to finish
off a project as well as you can”.
(ii) Perceived personal control over their future careers: This is similar to Ajzen’s
(1991) behavioural control in believing that career success would be dependent on
their efforts or on external parties, e.g. “I think my future career success is largely up
to me”.
(iii) Perceptions about creativity at school: Statements here ascertained whether
students believe they are creative and whether they enjoy innovation, e.g. “I enjoy
lessons where the lecturer tries out different ways of teaching”.
(iv) Self-perceptions of ability to lead others: This construct measures whether
respondents believed they were able to influence and lead others, e.g. “I am good at
getting people to work well together”.
(v) Intuition in problem solving: These statements refer to whether the students
were able to cope with uncertainty in solving problems, e.g. “I’ll keep trying out
different solutions to a problem rather than give up”.
In our research model, Entrepreneurial Attitude (EA) is the independent variable and
the two moderator variables are Entrepreneur Role Models and the Role of
University (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: The Research Model
Role
Model
Entrepreneurial
Intention
Entrepreneurial
Attitude
University
Role
The first moderator variable, Entrepreneur Role Model, refers to whether anyone in
the respondent’s immediate or extended family and circle of friends or acquaintances
has ever owned a business.
The second moderator variable, Role of University, asks whether the respondent’s
interest, rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from “Strongly disagree” to
“Strongly agree”, in new business creation would be improved if the university
provided them with entrepreneurial knowledge and assistance, such as providing
students with business ideas, arranging conferences on entrepreneurship, financial
capital, offered competitions, etc. The questions were adopted from Davey, Plewa
and Struwig (2011).
Proceedings of 9th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
5 - 6 November 2015, Bayview Hotel, Singapore, ISBN: 978-1-922069-87-0
The dependent variable in our model, Entrepreneurial Intention (EI), is a twopronged question designed to determine the respondent’s career plans after
graduation (i.e. “working in a large organization”, “working in a small business”,
“having my own business”, “working in a profession”, “being unemployed”, “studying
for a higher degree”, “other, please specify”) based on the same five-point Likert
scale. The second part, to confirm internal validity, entailed respondents selecting
one of the following statements about starting a business: “no interest to do so”,
“could imagine starting a company, “I have an idea which I believe could be
successful”, “I am currently thinking about it”, “I have taken steps to start a business”,
“Yes, I have founded a company”. These were adopted from Athayde (2012) and
Davey, Plewa and Struwig (2011), respectively.
4. Results/ Analysis
To test the hypotheses of this study, regression analysis has been undertaken
through SPSS software.
The statistical test resultsare presented in Figure 2, Table 3, and Table 4.
Table 3: Correlations Results
Std.
EA
EI
Deviation
Role of
University
Variable
Mean
Entrepreneurial
Attitude
3.727
0.328
1
Entrepreneurial
Intention
3.162
0.616
0.436**
1
Role of
University
3.975
0.718
0.341**
0.085
1
Role Model
2.106
1.662
0.030
-0.163*
0.058
Role
Model
1
* Correlation is significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed)
** Correlation is significant at 0.001 level (2-tailed)
The mean, standard deviation, and correlations of the variables are displayed in
Table 3. Mean of the Role of University has the highest mean which reflects
respondents’view that an increased role of the university would increase their
entrepreneurial intention. Additionally, the mean of EA has robust results with 3.727
and the lowest standard deviation of 0.328 which reflect the high impact that EA has
on the dependent variable EI.
Overall, correlations among variables are relatively modest, ranging from -0.163 to
0.436 with significant correlations only between EA, EI, and role of university.
The R square of IE is 0.19 which means that 19% of the dependent variable (IE) is
explained by the independent variable (AE). To test H1, we used regression through
SPSS software. As Figure 2 and Table 4 indicate, the relationship between
Entrepreneurial Attitude and Entrepreneurial Intention was found positive and
significant (β=0.173, t=6.094) at a 0.001 level of significance, supporting H1. The
moderating effect of role model on the relationship between EA and EI was negative
and insignificant (β=-0.008, t=0.448, p>0.1), therefore, not supporting H2. However,
Proceedings of 9th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
5 - 6 November 2015, Bayview Hotel, Singapore, ISBN: 978-1-922069-87-0
the moderating effect of university role on the relationship between EA and EI was
positive and significant (β=0.005, t=1.909, p<0.05), thereby supporting H3.
Figure 2: Results of the Model
Role
Model
Entrepreneurial
Attitude
t= -0.448
(p> 0.1)
t= 6.094
(p<0.001)
Entrepreneurial
Intention
t= 1.909
(p<0.05)
University
Role
Table 4: Hypotheses Testing Results
Hypothesis
Hypothesis Description
Path
Coefficient
Standard
Error
T Value
P Value
Decision
H1
Entrepreneurial Attitude
------> Entrepreneurial Intention
0.173
0.028
6.094
0.000
Supported
H2
Entrepreneurial Attitude* Role
Model
------> Entrepreneurial Intention
-0.008
0.018
-0.448
0.654
Not
Supported
H3
Entrepreneurial Attitude*
University Role
------> Entrepreneurial Intention
0.005
0.002
1.909
0.05
Supported
5. Discussion
The main purpose of this study was to examine the impact of entrepreneurial attitude
on entrepreneurial intention with the existence of entrepreneurial role models and
entrepreneurial assistance provided by the university as moderators.
As there have not been any other studies in the UAE examining the impact of
entrepreneurial attitude or potential on entrepreneurial intention, we have attempted
to address this gap. Further, there have not been other studies to our knowledge,
whether in the Middle East or overseas, that investigated the impact of entrepreneur
role models and the influence of universities on entrepreneurial attitude and
entrepreneurial intention.
Statistical analysis supported only two of our three hypotheses. As expected, the
relationship between Entrepreneurial Attitude and Entrepreneurial Intentions was
positive and significant at 0.001 level of significant (β=0.173, t=6.094, p<0.001) in
line with other previous studies (e.g. Santos, Caetano and Curral, 2013; Pruett et al.,
2009).
However, contrary to our expectations, the moderating effect of entrepreneur role
model on the relationship between entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurial
intention was negative and insignificant, which is in contrast toprevious studies that
Proceedings of 9th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
5 - 6 November 2015, Bayview Hotel, Singapore, ISBN: 978-1-922069-87-0
found a positive and significant effect (β=-0.008, t=0.448, p>0.1) (Athayde, 2009;
Pruett et al., 2009; Van Auken et al., 2006; Krueger, Reilly, and Carsrud, 2000).
This might possibly be explained by our respondents having less credible role
models (Kruger and Brazeal, 1994) or because their family and friends did not have
positive experiences with entrepreneurship (Scherer et al., 1989). Alternatively, it
could be that knowing entrepreneurs outside the family increases the perceived
feasibility of entrepreneurship while family entrepreneurs only makes it seem more
attractive, but not necessarily achievable (Liñán and Santos, 2007).
On the other hand, our results support Peng, Lu and Kang’s (2012) study which
found that family background factors such as whether family members or friends had
entrepreneurship experience did not have significant impact on students’
entrepreneurial self-efficacy or intentions in China.
As predicted, the role of university as a moderator between entrepreneurial aptitude
and entrepreneurial intention was found to be positive and significant (β=0.005,
t=1.909, p<0.05) consistent with other previous studies which looked at the impact
that entrepreneurial education had on increasing entrepreneurial intentions (Ramoni,
2015; Solesvik, 2013; Athayde, 2012; Davey, Plewa and Struwig, 2011; Athayde,
2009; Lee et al., 2005; Zhao, Seibert, and Hills, 2005; Peterman and Kennedy,
2003). We did not find any significant differences in the demographic variables of
gender, nationality, university, or program.
6. Conclusion and Limitations
Practically, the results of this study can help managers, practitioners, policy makers,
and decision makers understand the factors that may impact students’ intentions to
start up their own businesses in the future. More specifically, our study contributes
to literature by demonstrating that entrepreneurial potential does indeed correlate
with entrepreneurial intentions for students in the UAE, confirming what has been
found in prior Western-based research in a different context.
That role models did not have a significant impact on entrepreneurial intentions was
surprising, but perhaps helpful for policy makers interested in increasing the rate of
entrepreneurship since we have very little ability to change family or personal
circumstances. In contrast, because “entrepreneurs are made, not born” (Krueger
and Brazeal, 1994, p.101), there is much that governments and institutions can do to
foster more entrepreneurial intentions and by extension, more entrepreneurial
activity.
Greater efforts should be made to identify potential entrepreneurs early during their
education and providing them with specialized entrepreneurship training (Gallant,
Majumdar and Varadarajan, 2010).Aside from specific entrepreneurship courses, the
education system as a whole should be predicated on a curriculum to help their
students develop autonomy, independent thinking, creativity, risk-taking, and the
ability to learn from mistakes(Lee et al., 2006).
Finally, entrepreneurship education and training need not always take place in a
formalized setting such as the university. Non-formal education centres outside of
the formal education context can greatly encourage and develop entrepreneurship
skills (Potasin and Thechatakerng, 2014) in both students and adults although such
programs should be on a voluntary and not compulsory basis (Levie, Hart and
Anyadike-Danes, 2009).
As our study is limited through the use of convenience sampling, a relatively small
sample size, and only surveys students from two universities in Dubai, thereby
reducing its generalizability, we would encourage future researchers to have a larger
sample size and also to conduct a longitudinal study to investigate whether those
respondents indicating an intention to become entrepreneurs do indeed follow
through with their intentions.
Proceedings of 9th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
5 - 6 November 2015, Bayview Hotel, Singapore, ISBN: 978-1-922069-87-0
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank their undergraduate student respondents for their
time in completing the survey. We are also extremely grateful to Issam Kassabieh
for his assistance.
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