Issue 3, 2015

Shirokova G. V., Tsukanova T. V., Bogatyreva K. A. Antecedents of Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions in Russia.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the main antecedents of students’ entrepreneurial intentions in Russia and investigate different factors that can determine the formation of students’ entrepreneurial intentions. The proposed theoretical framework integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), contingency approach and institutional perspective by taking into account personal motives, family background, university context and socio-cultural characteristics. We analyzed the data set from the international project “Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey” (GUESSS) covering 34 countries and provided comparative analysis of Russian and international samples. The study reveals the trend towards entrepreneurial career among Russian students. Most of Russian students consider entrepreneurship as a good career choice and people who started their own business are respected in society. In other words, the formation of a positive image of entrepreneurs in Russia that enhances the entrepreneurial intentions among students is observed. Moreover, in comparison with the international sample, Russian students are more confident in getting support from their surroundings including family, friends and university peers. The present study provides a starting point for further research on students’ entrepreneurial intentions in different cultural and institutional contexts. The results have implications for entrepreneurship educators and public policy makers responsible for developing and supporting entrepreneurial environment at country level. For policy makers willing to develop entrepreneurial activities in their countries, the study provides insights regarding the influence of socio-cultural characteristics on the level of students’ entrepreneurial intentions. For educators, this study provides insights about the role of university environment for entrepreneurship. This allows creating a favorable environment for entrepreneurship not only taking into account individual differences between students but also exploiting countries’ institutional characteristics. This study reinforces the importance of different factors in affecting student entrepreneurial intentions that further can influence the engagement in entrepreneurial activity. It helps advance the limited empirical research on the impact of personal, family, university and socio-cultural factors on students’ entrepreneurial intentions This provides a new pathway for researchers in the field of entrepreneurial education and student entrepreneurship. Keywords: entrepreneurial intentions, student entrepreneurship, Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey.

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