Like parent, like child? The entrepreneurial intention

Research in the International Journal of Education Economics and Development has used the entrepreneurial intention model to investigate what if any influence of parental self-employed status has on the aspirations of their offspring.

The researchers obtained data and questionnaire results from 319 respondents at a public university in Spain. The data and answers were analyzed through structural equation modeling, using multi-group analysis (MGA) to discern the differences between those individuals with self-employed parents and those without.

Kwaku Amofah, Jones Lewis Arthur, and Edward Owusu of Sunyani Technical University in Sunyani, Ghana, and Ramon Saladrigues Solé of the University of Lleida in Lleida, Spain, demonstrated that respondents with self-employed parents were much more likely to have a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship, perceived behavioral control, entrepreneurial skills, and environmental support compared to those without such parental background. However, the MGA showed that, despite these differences, the overall entrepreneurial intention in both groups was comparable.

The results reinforce the role of parental self-employment in this kind of study. They also underscore the importance of conducting multi-group analysis to reveal the nuances and variations among different groups. The researchers thus suggest that their work has implications for education and policy-making, particularly when it comes to entrepreneurship teaching and learning.

By shedding light on the impact of parental self-employment on key elements of the entrepreneurial mindset, the team suggests the need for a more subtle approach to teaching entrepreneurship skills as well as recognizing influences that might be shaping a student's perception and intention when starting their own business.

The insights regarding family background, individual perceptions, and environmental support are important in shaping entrepreneurial ambitions. The current findings will contribute to defining educational strategies and policies. The team also uncovered a discernible gender gap in entrepreneurial intention. This, the work suggests, highlights the need to explore further and to consider other cultural and contextual factors that might influence entrepreneurial intentions in different settings.

An additional notable contribution of this research lies in its approach in that the exploration using the integrated form of the entrepreneurial intention model was shown to be rather useful whereas it has received less attention in previous studies.