Fanāvarī-i āmūzish (Sep 2021)
Investigating the mediating role of information literacy in the relationship between students’ Communication skills and Entrepreneurial self-efficacy
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The progress and development of a country depends, more than anything, on its human resources. It is a human force that, with the power of thought contemplation/thinking and the optimal use of material resources, causes the progress of a society. These cases have led policymakers and thinkers to pay more attention to the concept of entrepreneurship so that the last model of development is considered to be the development arising from entrepreneurship. Therefore, the need for entrepreneurial graduates and students has increased and the goal of many prestigious universities in the world is to nurture students and consequently entrepreneurial graduates. Various factors influence the formation of entrepreneurial behavior among which self-efficacy is one of the most important factors that affect entrepreneurial behavior. Self-efficacy is one of the cognitive talents of entrepreneurship Therefore, recognizing the factors related to students' entrepreneurial behavior, such as communication skills and information literacy, can provide a good platform for the development of entrepreneurial attitude and behavior and, finally, by cultivating these talents, the existing fields of entrepreneurship can be exploited utilized and positive results consequences in higher education can be achieved. The aim of this study was to investigate examining the relationship between communication skills with students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy with the mediating role of information literacy.Methods: The research method is descriptive-correlational. The statistical population included 6701 undergraduate students of Bu Ali Sina University, 364 people using stratified random sampling method based on Krejcie and Morgan table were selected. Standard questionnaires of entrepreneurial self-efficacy, communication skills and information literacy were used to collect research data. The validity of the questionnaires was calculated using content and face validity, and its reliability was calculated through Cronbach's alpha coefficient and was estimated to be 0.95, 0.85 and 0.95, respectively. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.Findings: Findings showed that all relationships between variables are significant and the theoretical model of the research is approved and accepted as the final model. The mediating role of information literacy was also revealed and the relationship between communication skills and information literacy and its components was positive and significant and communication skills and its components were predictors of information literacy. There is also a positive and significant relationship between communication skills and entrepreneurial self-efficacy and its components.Conclusions: There is a relationship between communication skills and students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy with the mediating role of information literacy. The present study, like any other research, was faced with limitations, such as limitation of using the questionnaire as the only data collection tool and not using other tools as well as geographical and educational restrictions. Therefore, it is suggested that the present study had better be conducted in other geographical areas and educational courses so that generalizability power of the findings can be increased. In line with the findings of the present study, it is suggested that by holding workshops and training classes, students can be introduced to appropriate communication methods and skills and be empowered in this field. It is recommended that the officials and professors, considering the important effects of communication skills and information literacy, primarily pay more attention to this important issue and follow them more in order to be a suitable model for students. The next suggestion is that the university should provide more appropriate access and optimal use of information.
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