Entrepreneurial intention acknowledgment in sustainable entrepreneurship: An exploratory study

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is more than ever a key factor to successfully surviving and building a sustainable future, as it is linked to certain positive and proactive personality traits and innovation and creativity. Higher education plays an important role in this ongoing process, as students of today need to be guided into becoming tomorrow's leaders. The 21st century demands new skills and education. Regarding entrepreneurship, it will be more effective the better the associated profile with the student is understood in terms of entrepreneurial intention. This research involves 101 respondents from a population of 300 students. Taking as dimensions attitude, norms, and behaviour, hierarchical and k-means clustering methods were applied to the responses, yielding five entrepreneurial intention profiles (clusters). This is the main contribution of this study to the literature, which may help entrepreneurship program administrators and students alike to improve on their entrepreneurial skillset. This study also presents a new approach to better motivate and work with students on what concerns entrepreneurship. It can also be applied in all contexts and areas of knowledge.

Keywords

• entrepreneurship
• innovation skills
• sustainable development
• higher education