The Predictive Relationship Between Hospitality Students' Satisfaction with Their Major of Study and Their Entrepreneurial Intentions

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the intentions of students studying hospitality towards engaging in entrepreneurial endeavours. This study examines the impact of students’ satisfaction with their major of study, modelling, financial support, and entrepreneurial education on their entrepreneurial intentions by focusing on the mediation of perception of self-efficacy. Using an online survey, 246 valid responses were obtained from students studying hospitality at three public universities in Jordan. The data was analysed using Smart-PLS software. The findings revealed a positive association between students' perceptions of self-efficacy and their entrepreneurial intentions. Furthermore, students' satisfaction with their major of study and modelling were associated positively with perception of self-efficacy. In turn, perception of self-efficacy was found to mediate those relationships. Conversely, financial support and entrepreneurial education did not correlate significantly with self-efficacy. This study contributes to the discussion on the factors that encourage students' entrepreneurial intentions, particularly in the hospitality field, as there is currently a lack of published studies concerning this crucial topic. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to shed light on the impact of students' satisfaction with their major of study on entrepreneurial intentions, especially through the mediation of the perception of self-efficacy.

Keywords

• students' satisfaction
• entrepreneurial intentions
• self-efficacy
• hospitality