Competences and values to understand students' entrepreneurial intentions

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is based on human capital, as the development of entrepreneurial activities comes from people committed to society, change and innovation. The generation of entrepreneurial human capital is one of the roles of the Entrepreneurial University, fostering entrepreneurial competences and values within the organization. This study analyses the influence of those factors, intrinsic and extrinsic to the individual, on the generation of Entrepreneurial Intentions (EI). Based on a sample of 420 university students from various degrees and faculties, the present study develops a structural equation model that explain the influence of values and six key entrepreneurial competences on EI, applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a theoretical approach. The first results show that not all entrepreneurial competences have a significant influence on the formation of EI. Moreover, their effect differs for each of the three dimensions of the TPB. On the contrary, values influence EI across all three dimensions.