Understanding Entrepreneurial Mindset: A Study of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy, Locus of Control and Intent to Start a Business

Abstract

With growing interest in entrepreneurship in higher education, faculty are facing increased calls to instill an “entrepreneurial mindset” in students. The authors base this study on a rich literature history on self-efficacy and expectancy theory. Starting with work by Chen, Greene, and Crick (1998) and Rotter (1966), the study measures entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) with 22 items, locus of control (LOC) with 23 items and intention to start a business (ITSB) with five items among a sample of engineering and business students (n=191). We also collected paired data from students before and after taking a course in innovation and new ventures. Along with basic analyses using correlation and paired sample t-tests, we performed confirmatory factor analysis and a Multi-Group SEM to test the effects of LOC on the link between ESE and ITSB. We support Chen et al.’s (1998) work in showing that ESE and ITSB are in fact related, and we demonstrate a moderating role for LOC in the relationship between ESE and ITSB. The authors discuss conclusions and further areas for study.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship Mindset