Factors affecting universities’ ability to foster students’ entrepreneurial behaviour: an empirical investigation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate behavioural and contextual factors affecting entrepreneurial universities’ ability to influence student entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention. Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to assess both micro and macro factors impacting on students’ entrepreneurial attitude and intention on a sample of 272 students of the Master of Business Administration at the University of Florence (Italy). Findings/practical implications – The study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial universities by assessing the main factors affecting students’ entrepreneurial behaviour. The results stressed how students’ entrepreneurial intent is mainly affected by their entrepreneurial attitude, which is in turn influenced by some of the personality traits analysed, in particular risk-taking propensity and locus of control. It also emerged how students’ perception of the university environment significantly influences their entrepreneurial attitude and intent. Research implications – By investigating the micro and macro factors that mostly affect students’ entrepreneurial intention, the research suggests some implications for future researches into student entrepreneurship, in order to develop specific teaching programmes affecting students’ entrepreneurial experience, character and related skills. Originality/value – The value of the research relates to integrating psychological factors, geographical elements, and the contextual role of universities within student entrepreneurship in a scarcely investigated location, i.e. the Region of Tuscany (Italy).