Entrepreneurship education and personality traits as predictors of entrepreneurial intention: A qualitative approach

https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v4i2.1484
Published: Aug 15, 2023

Abstract:

Purpose: The study explored entrepreneurship education and personality traits as predictors of entrepreneurial intention among final-year undergraduate students of a private institution in Ghana.

Research methodology: A qualitative research approach was used in a case study design for this research. A purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from final-year students pursuing an undergraduate program in Information Technology from a private tertiary institution in Ghana. Observation and focus group discussions were used to collect data over a period of ten weeks.

Results: Results indicated that though all students were exposed to the same tuition, course content and assessments; the level of entrepreneurial intention varied. Some groups of students wanted to pursue entrepreneurial ventures immediately after school; others wanted to start a business venture while they were still in school pursuing their first degree. Another set preferred to work as employees for a few years before pursuing entrepreneurship. The final group preferred to be employed throughout their working life with the aim of rising through the ranks as employees; with all the various groups showing a variety of personality traits.

Limitations: The study was limited to final-year undergraduate students of a private institution in Ghana.

Contribution: Educators, who specialize in training students in entrepreneurship need to focus more on orienting students to effectively manage their individual personality traits in ways that will ensure successful entrepreneurship careers.

Novelty: This study qualitatively shows the varied levels at which entrepreneurship education affects students’ entrepreneurial intentions based on their personality traits.

Keywords:
1. Entrepreneurship education
2. entrepreneurial intention
3. personality trait
Authors:
Anita Bans-Akutey
Department of Business Administration, BlueCrest University College, Accra, Ghana
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0305-9377
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Bans-Akutey, A. (2023). Entrepreneurship education and personality traits as predictors of entrepreneurial intention: A qualitative approach. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 4(2), 147–158. https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v4i2.1484
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Issue & Section
Vol. 4 No. 2 (2022): November
Articles
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

References

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    Baikejuli, M., Shi, J., & Qian, Q. (2023). Mobile phone use among truck drivers: the application and extension of the theory of planned behavior. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 179, 106894.

    Bans-Akutey, A. (2020). Change management amid pandemic–A case of tertiary educators in Ghana. GSJ, 8(8), 1642-1649.

    Bans-Akutey, A., Sassah, M., Akey-Torku, B., & Afriyie, E. O. (2023). Entrepreneurship Education and Graduate Employability of Private Tertiary Students in Ghana. African Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2(1), 81-102.

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    Bharti, S. S. (2021). Socio-Economic Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in India. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 3(2), 129-139.

    Blanken, T. F., Benjamins, J. S., Borsboom, D., Vermunt, J. K., Paquola, C., Ramautar, J., . . . Wei, Y. (2019). Insomnia disorder subtypes derived from life history and traits of affect and personality. The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(2), 151-163.

    Brandstätter, H. (2011). Personality aspects of entrepreneurship: A look at five meta-analyses. Personality and individual differences, 51(3), 222-230.

    Byun, C.-G., Sung, C. S., Park, J. Y., & Choi, D. S. (2018). A study on the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education programs in higher education institutions: A case study of Korean graduate programs. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 4(3), 26.

    Cao, Y., Asad, M. M., Wang, L., Naz, A., & Almusharraf, N. (2022). Role of personality traits for entrepreneurial intentions of young entrepreneurs: A case study of higher education institution. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 6045.

    Cornwell, T. O., McCarthy, I. D., & Biro, P. A. (2020). Integration of physiology, behavior and life history traits: personality and pace of life in a marine gastropod. Animal Behavior, 163, 155-162.

    Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches: Sage publications.

    Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches: Sage publications.

    Ekpoh, U. I., & Edet, A. O. (2011). Entrepreneurship education and career intentions of tertiary education students in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, Nigeria. International Education Studies, 4(1), 172-178.

    England, P., & Folbre, N. (2023). Reconceptualizing human capital. A Research Agenda for Skills and Inequality, 177-195.

    Eton, M., Fabian, M., & Eliab, B. M. (2023). Financial Management Practices and Small-Scale Businesses' Profitability, from the Viewpoint of Kabale Municipality, Uganda.

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    Harzer, C., & Ruch, W. (2015). The relationships of character strengths with coping, work-related stress, and job satisfaction. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 165.

    Jalagat, R. (2017). Determinants of job stress and its relationship on employee job performance. American Journal of Management Science and Engineering, 2(1), 1-10.

    Jiang, H., Xiong, W., & Cao, Y. (2017). Research on the mechanism of entrepreneurial education quality, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention in social sciences, engineering and science education. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(7), 3709-3721.

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    Lekwauwa, N., & Bans-Akutey, A. (2022). Commercial banks’ profitability and portfolio management in Ghana. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 3(4), 245-257.

    Liang, C., & Lin, W.-S. (2015). The interplay of creativity, imagination, personality traits, and academic performance. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 34(3), 270-290.

    Lounsbury, J. W., Sundstrom, E. D., Gibson, L. W., Loveland, J. M., & Drost, A. W. (2016). Core personality traits of managers. Journal of managerial psychology, 31(2), 434-450.

    Lv, Y., Chen, Y., Sha, Y., Wang, J., An, L., Chen, T., . . . Huang, L. (2021). How entrepreneurship education at universities influences entrepreneurial intention: Mediating effect based on entrepreneurial competence. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 655868.

    Ma, J., Yin, Z., Hipel, K. W., Li, M., & He, J. (2023). Exploring factors influencing the application accuracy of the theory of planned behavior in explaining recycling behavior. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 66(3), 445-470.

    Maheshwari, G., & Kha, K. L. (2022). Investigating the relationship between educational support and entrepreneurial intention in Vietnam: The mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy in the theory of planned behavior. The International Journal of Management Education, 20(2), 100553.

    Maheshwari, G., Kha, K. L., & Arokiasamy, A. R. A. (2022). Factors affecting students’ entrepreneurial intentions: a systematic review (2005–2022) for future directions in theory and practice. Management Review Quarterly, 1-68.

    Martínez-González, J. A., Kobylinska, U., García-Rodríguez, F. J., & Nazarko, L. (2019). Antecedents of entrepreneurial intention among young people: Model and regional evidence. Sustainability, 11(24), 6993.

    Mey, G. (2022). Qualitative methodology International handbook of psychology learning and teaching (pp. 1-26): Springer.

    Moussa, H. L., & Bans-Akutey, A. (2022). Technology and banking operations: Perspectives of international students in a Ghanaian University. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 4(1), 21-33.

    Naab, R., & Bans-Akutey, A. (2021). Assessing the use of e-business strategies by SMEs in Ghana during the Covid-19 pandemic. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 2(3), 145-160.

    Obeid, M., Salleh, Z., & Nor, M. N. M. (2017). The mediating effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between personality traits and premature sign-off. Academy of Accounting and Financial Studies Journal, 21(2), 1-17.

    Piperopoulos, P., & Dimov, D. (2015). Burst bubbles or build steam? Entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial self?efficacy, and entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of small business management, 53(4), 970-985.

    Rahim, H. L., Kadir, M. A. B. A., Abidin, Z. Z., Junid, J., Kamaruddin, L. M., Lajin, N. F. M., . . . Bakri, A. A. (2015). Entrepreneurship education in Malaysia: A critical review. Journal of Technology Management and Business, 2(2).

    Ramli, A. H. (2018). Manage of job stress and measure employee performance in health services. Business and Entrepreneurial Review, 18(1), 53-64.

    Ratten, V., & Usmanij, P. (2021). Entrepreneurship education: Time for a change in research direction? The International Journal of Management Education, 19(1), 100367.

    Rothmann, S., & Coetzer, E. P. (2003). The big five personality dimensions and job performance. SA Journal of industrial psychology, 29(1), 68-74.

    Savari, M., & Khaleghi, B. (2023). Application of the extended theory of planned behavior in predicting the behavioral intentions of Iranian local communities toward forest conservation. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1121396.

    Schøtt, T., Kew, P., & Cheraghi, M. (2015). Future Potential. A GEM perspective on youth entrepreneurship. Retrieved from https://gemorg.bg/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/gem-2015-youth-report-1438012592.pdf

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    Van Hoye, G., & Turban, D. B. (2015). Applicant–employee fit in personality: Testing predictions from similarity?attraction theory and trait activation theory. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 23(3), 210-223.

    Vod?, A. I., & Florea, N. (2019). Impact of personality traits and entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions of business and engineering students. Sustainability, 11(4), 1192.

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  2. Al-Qadasi, N., Zhang, G., Al-Awlaqi, M. A., Alshebami, A. S., & Aamer, A. (2023). Factors influencing entrepreneurial intention of university students in Yemen: The mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1111934.
  3. Bacigalupo, M., Kampylis, P., Punie, Y., & Van den Brande, G. (2016). EntreComp: The entrepreneurship competence framework. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union, 10, 593884.
  4. Baikejuli, M., Shi, J., & Qian, Q. (2023). Mobile phone use among truck drivers: the application and extension of the theory of planned behavior. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 179, 106894.
  5. Bans-Akutey, A. (2020). Change management amid pandemic–A case of tertiary educators in Ghana. GSJ, 8(8), 1642-1649.
  6. Bans-Akutey, A., Sassah, M., Akey-Torku, B., & Afriyie, E. O. (2023). Entrepreneurship Education and Graduate Employability of Private Tertiary Students in Ghana. African Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2(1), 81-102.
  7. Bazkiaei, H. A., Heng, L. H., Khan, N. U., Saufi, R. B. A., & Kasim, R. S. R. (2020). Do entrepreneurial education and big-five personality traits predict entrepreneurial intention among universities students? Cogent Business & Management, 7(1), 1801217.
  8. Bharti, S. S. (2021). Socio-Economic Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in India. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 3(2), 129-139.
  9. Blanken, T. F., Benjamins, J. S., Borsboom, D., Vermunt, J. K., Paquola, C., Ramautar, J., . . . Wei, Y. (2019). Insomnia disorder subtypes derived from life history and traits of affect and personality. The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(2), 151-163.
  10. Brandstätter, H. (2011). Personality aspects of entrepreneurship: A look at five meta-analyses. Personality and individual differences, 51(3), 222-230.
  11. Byun, C.-G., Sung, C. S., Park, J. Y., & Choi, D. S. (2018). A study on the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education programs in higher education institutions: A case study of Korean graduate programs. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 4(3), 26.
  12. Cao, Y., Asad, M. M., Wang, L., Naz, A., & Almusharraf, N. (2022). Role of personality traits for entrepreneurial intentions of young entrepreneurs: A case study of higher education institution. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 6045.
  13. Cornwell, T. O., McCarthy, I. D., & Biro, P. A. (2020). Integration of physiology, behavior and life history traits: personality and pace of life in a marine gastropod. Animal Behavior, 163, 155-162.
  14. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches: Sage publications.
  15. Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches: Sage publications.
  16. Ekpoh, U. I., & Edet, A. O. (2011). Entrepreneurship education and career intentions of tertiary education students in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, Nigeria. International Education Studies, 4(1), 172-178.
  17. England, P., & Folbre, N. (2023). Reconceptualizing human capital. A Research Agenda for Skills and Inequality, 177-195.
  18. Eton, M., Fabian, M., & Eliab, B. M. (2023). Financial Management Practices and Small-Scale Businesses' Profitability, from the Viewpoint of Kabale Municipality, Uganda.
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  20. Guerrero, M., Urbano, D., & Fayolle, A. (2016). Entrepreneurial activity and regional competitiveness: evidence from European entrepreneurial universities. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 41, 105-131.
  21. Harzer, C., & Ruch, W. (2015). The relationships of character strengths with coping, work-related stress, and job satisfaction. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 165.
  22. Jalagat, R. (2017). Determinants of job stress and its relationship on employee job performance. American Journal of Management Science and Engineering, 2(1), 1-10.
  23. Jiang, H., Xiong, W., & Cao, Y. (2017). Research on the mechanism of entrepreneurial education quality, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention in social sciences, engineering and science education. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(7), 3709-3721.
  24. Koutroubas, V., & Galanakis, M. (2022). Bandura’s social learning theory and its importance in the organizational psychology context. Psychology, 12(6), 315-322.
  25. Lekwauwa, N., & Bans-Akutey, A. (2022). Commercial banks’ profitability and portfolio management in Ghana. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 3(4), 245-257.
  26. Liang, C., & Lin, W.-S. (2015). The interplay of creativity, imagination, personality traits, and academic performance. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 34(3), 270-290.
  27. Lounsbury, J. W., Sundstrom, E. D., Gibson, L. W., Loveland, J. M., & Drost, A. W. (2016). Core personality traits of managers. Journal of managerial psychology, 31(2), 434-450.
  28. Lv, Y., Chen, Y., Sha, Y., Wang, J., An, L., Chen, T., . . . Huang, L. (2021). How entrepreneurship education at universities influences entrepreneurial intention: Mediating effect based on entrepreneurial competence. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 655868.
  29. Ma, J., Yin, Z., Hipel, K. W., Li, M., & He, J. (2023). Exploring factors influencing the application accuracy of the theory of planned behavior in explaining recycling behavior. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 66(3), 445-470.
  30. Maheshwari, G., & Kha, K. L. (2022). Investigating the relationship between educational support and entrepreneurial intention in Vietnam: The mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy in the theory of planned behavior. The International Journal of Management Education, 20(2), 100553.
  31. Maheshwari, G., Kha, K. L., & Arokiasamy, A. R. A. (2022). Factors affecting students’ entrepreneurial intentions: a systematic review (2005–2022) for future directions in theory and practice. Management Review Quarterly, 1-68.
  32. Martínez-González, J. A., Kobylinska, U., García-Rodríguez, F. J., & Nazarko, L. (2019). Antecedents of entrepreneurial intention among young people: Model and regional evidence. Sustainability, 11(24), 6993.
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  34. Moussa, H. L., & Bans-Akutey, A. (2022). Technology and banking operations: Perspectives of international students in a Ghanaian University. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 4(1), 21-33.
  35. Naab, R., & Bans-Akutey, A. (2021). Assessing the use of e-business strategies by SMEs in Ghana during the Covid-19 pandemic. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 2(3), 145-160.
  36. Obeid, M., Salleh, Z., & Nor, M. N. M. (2017). The mediating effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between personality traits and premature sign-off. Academy of Accounting and Financial Studies Journal, 21(2), 1-17.
  37. Piperopoulos, P., & Dimov, D. (2015). Burst bubbles or build steam? Entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial self?efficacy, and entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of small business management, 53(4), 970-985.
  38. Rahim, H. L., Kadir, M. A. B. A., Abidin, Z. Z., Junid, J., Kamaruddin, L. M., Lajin, N. F. M., . . . Bakri, A. A. (2015). Entrepreneurship education in Malaysia: A critical review. Journal of Technology Management and Business, 2(2).
  39. Ramli, A. H. (2018). Manage of job stress and measure employee performance in health services. Business and Entrepreneurial Review, 18(1), 53-64.
  40. Ratten, V., & Usmanij, P. (2021). Entrepreneurship education: Time for a change in research direction? The International Journal of Management Education, 19(1), 100367.
  41. Rothmann, S., & Coetzer, E. P. (2003). The big five personality dimensions and job performance. SA Journal of industrial psychology, 29(1), 68-74.
  42. Savari, M., & Khaleghi, B. (2023). Application of the extended theory of planned behavior in predicting the behavioral intentions of Iranian local communities toward forest conservation. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1121396.
  43. Schøtt, T., Kew, P., & Cheraghi, M. (2015). Future Potential. A GEM perspective on youth entrepreneurship. Retrieved from https://gemorg.bg/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/gem-2015-youth-report-1438012592.pdf
  44. Seddigh, A. (2015). Office type, performance and well-being: A study of how personality and work tasks interact with contemporary office environments and ways of working. Department of Psychology, Stockholm University.
  45. Shane, S., Locke, E. A., & Collins, C. J. (2003). Entrepreneurial motivation. Human Resource Management Review, 13(2), 257-279.
  46. Sipon, M., Pihie, Z. A. L., Rahman, F. A., & Manaf, U. K. A. (2015). Teacher’s entrepreneurial pedagogical content knowledge roles in human resource development. International journal of management and applied research, 2(1), 35-44.
  47. Therasa, C., & Vijayabanu, C. (2015). The impact of Big Five personality traits and positive psychological strengths towards job satisfaction: A review. Periodica Polytechnica Social and Management Sciences, 23(2), 142-150.
  48. Urbano, D., Aparicio, S., Guerrero, M., Noguera, M., & Torrent-Sellens, J. (2017). Institutional determinants of student employer entrepreneurs at Catalan universities. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 123, 271-282.
  49. Van Hoye, G., & Turban, D. B. (2015). Applicant–employee fit in personality: Testing predictions from similarity?attraction theory and trait activation theory. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 23(3), 210-223.
  50. Vod?, A. I., & Florea, N. (2019). Impact of personality traits and entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions of business and engineering students. Sustainability, 11(4), 1192.
  51. Walter, S. G., & Block, J. H. (2016). Outcomes of entrepreneurship education: An institutional perspective. Journal of business venturing, 31(2), 216-233.
  52. Walter, S. G., & Dohse, D. (2009). The interplay between entrepreneurship education and regional knowledge potential in forming entrepreneurial intentions. Retrieved from
  53. Wanggai, L. L. (2021). Social Capital Strengthening Model in the Framework of the Employment Expansion for Native Papuan in Manokwari District, West Papua. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 3(2), 153-163.
  54. Watson, K., McGowan, P., & Cunningham, J. A. (2018). An exploration of the Business Plan Competition as a methodology for effective nascent entrepreneurial learning. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 24(1), 121-146.
  55. Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (Vol. 5): sage.
  56. Yusuf, B. N. M., & Kamil, S. (2015). Relationships of big five personality traits and locus of control on entrepreneurship intentions among students in higher learning institutions. Global Journal of Research in Social Sciences Vol, 2(1).