Abstract:
In a society plagued by inadequate employment opportunities as
evidenced by relatively high unemployment rates, the youths are often
the most affected. A commonly touted recourse in such situations is an
inclination towards self-employment through business start-ups by
university students. This entrepreneurial action is, however, likely to
crystallise only if students are imbued with the right attitude, ability and
perceptions about entrepreneurial venturing. Consequently, this study set
out to determine the extent to which attitude towards entrepreneurship
and entrepreneurial self-efficacy of university students are associated with
their propensity for business start-ups, duly cognisant of the possible
moderating role of their perceptions of the effectiveness of
entrepreneurship courses. The study utilised a quantitative
methodological approach and relied on data collected through a location
intercept survey, from a sample of university students in the Gauteng
Province of South Africa. Measures of central tendency and dispersion,
confirmatory factor analysis and regression analysis were employed to
examine the study‘s data. The study found that students‘ attitude towards
entrepreneurship and their entrepreneurial self-efficacy were statistically
related to propensity for business start-ups. However, the moderating
role of perceived effectiveness of entrepreneurship courses was only
evident for the relationship between attitude towards entrepreneurship
and propensity for business start-ups. Crucially, the moderating effect is
positive and directly linked to scores on the perceived effectiveness of
entrepreneurship courses scale. Therefore, policy makers and other
stakeholders must adopt a three-pronged approach that instigates
positive shifts in attitudes, abilities and perceptions related to
entrepreneurship.
