Entrepreneurial intention of engineering students: the role of motivations and barriers

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore perceptions of entrepreneurial motivations and barriers and to assess their influence on the entrepreneurial intention of engineering students. Using data of 350 respondents who are students at HCMC University of Technology, VNU-HCM, the study identifies the key motives and barriers towards entrepreneurship. The data are then subjected to statistical regression in order to identify causal relationships between the motivations, barriers, and entrepreneurial intention. The results indicate that creativity, independence, and economic motivation have a positive impact on entrepreneurial intention and that the most important motivator for the entrepreneurial intention of engineering students is creativity. On the contrary, lack of knowledge is the only barrier (an internal barrier) that impedes the students' intention of entrepreneurship. These results imply that the students' entrepreneurial intention is more affected by internal factors (for both motivations and barriers) than external factors. In terms of the relative power of the effects of motives and barriers on students' entrepreneurial intention, the results suggest that the impact of motivations is generally more powerful than that of barriers. The findings have important implications for educators and policymakers.