Influence of Entrepreneurial Education and Technological Creativity on Entrepreneurial Intentions of Students in Zimbabwe: A Theoretical Perspective

Type Working Paper
Title Influence of Entrepreneurial Education and Technological Creativity on Entrepreneurial Intentions of Students in Zimbabwe: A Theoretical Perspective
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2015
URL http://search.proquest.com/openview/e3dc2403aeb25a0bfc329498bc628f03/1?pq-origsite=gscholar
Abstract
While entrepreneurship education is often argued to equip business owners with entrepreneurial skills for selfemployment and self-reliance, what remains vague in the entrepreneurial literature is whether a combination of entrepreneurial education and technological creativity can effectively predict university students’ orientation towards entrepreneurial activity in their post-university life. This is because of the paucity of robust research into the cumulative effects of entrepreneurship education and technological creativity on entrepreneurship intentions of university students in developing economies. This research gap is paradoxical given the growing significance of entrepreneurial knowledge and novel technological strategies in successful venture creation. This theoretical study, therefore, develops a conceptual model for understanding the relationship between entrepreneurship education, technological creativity and the entrepreneurship intentions of polytechnic students at selected colleges in Zimbabwe. Consistent with the theory of planned behaviour, this theoretical paper argues that student engagement in entrepreneurial activity (e.g. new venture creation) in their post university life is not a random, serendipitous occurrence but rather a consequence of deliberate entrepreneurship behaviour stemming from relevant entrepreneurial education and personal agility to experiment with new ideas. Entrepreneurial intentions ride on students’ predisposition towards entrepreneurship – essentially their beliefs in their capacity to act entrepreneurially, self-efficacy as well as the endorsement of such behaviour by their reference group. The paper recommends universities to transcend making entrepreneurship study compulsory at polytechnics by providing dedicated entrepreneurial support through business and technological skills inventories that develop and actualise the entrepreneurial intentions of polytechnic students.

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