The Study of Determinants of the Entrepreneurial Intention Among Undergraduates of Sri Lankan universities

Abstract

Today organizations are not only creating the innovative products and services but also creating innovative customer needs. “The Entrepreneurs” are the pioneers who open the doors to this strangeness and amazement. This study focuses on better understanding the main determinants of entrepreneurial intention among university students and to decide whether entrepreneurship education has an effect on such motivation. This study identifies the major determinants/factors which have an impact on the entrepreneurial intention or the motivation of the students of the Sri Lankan Universities to become an entrepreneur, while fulfilling the existing knowledge gap on this area with special reference to Sri Lankan context. Further, survey data collected from a sample of 150 students representing 04 main faculties state universities. In this questionnaire survey, entrepreneurial intention is taken as a function of entrepreneurship education, culture/country, personal role models, perception of motives, perception of barriers, structural support, relational support, perceived desirability, personal feasibility of starting a new business and personality traits. The results of the study may have valuable implications especially for the policy makers, academicians and educators.