UNVEILING THE DRIVERS BEHIND POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS' AMBITION TO PURSUE ENTREPRENEURIAL PATHS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJEMP.934010Keywords:
Contextual Factors, Entrepreneurial Career Intention, Entrepreneurial Education, Postgraduate Students, Risk-Taking Propensity, Self-EfficacyAbstract
Graduate employability continues to shape higher education priorities, and entrepreneurship remains a strategic pathway for students who aspire to become future job creators. This study examines the drivers of entrepreneurial career intention among postgraduate students in selected Higher Learning Institutions in East Coast Malaysia. Four predictors are investigated: contextual factors, self-efficacy, risk-taking propensity and entrepreneurial education. A quantitative survey design was applied, and data from 182 postgraduate students were analysed using Pearson's Correlation and Multiple Regression Analyses. The results show that contextual factors, self-efficacy and entrepreneurial education significantly and positively predict entrepreneurial career intention. Self-efficacy recorded the strongest influence, indicating that students' confidence in their entrepreneurial capability is central to the formation of entrepreneurial career aspirations. Risk-taking propensity, however, did not significantly predict entrepreneurial career intention. This suggests that students' intention to pursue entrepreneurship may be shaped more by confidence, educational exposure and supportive environments than by risk orientation alone. The study offers practical implications for universities, entrepreneurship educators and policymakers in designing programmes that strengthen entrepreneurial confidence, opportunity recognition and career readiness among postgraduate students.
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