Investigating the Entrepreneurial Attitudes of African Americans: A Study of Young Adults

Abstract

An examination of the entrepreneurial attitudes of African American business students from multiple U.S. universities was conducted using the Entrepreneurial Attitudes Orientation (EAO) scale. Results of the analysis indicate that African American students have very high entrepreneurial attitudes compared with the original validation sample of the EAO, and these attitudes are even higher among those who with prior entrepreneurial exposure via a family-owned or self-owned business. These findings are consistent with current rates of minority-started businesses and known intergenerational linkages in business ownership. Discussion of these findings and future research are also addressed.