Investigating the factors affecting the entrepreneurial intention of students of Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch (case study of Master of Business Administration students)

Academic Thesis for Master's Degree (M.A.)

Field: Business Management, Domestic Business Orientation

Abstract:

Given the economic and social conditions that our country is facing today, it is necessary to think of new solutions to solve the problem of unemployment, especially among the young society. This is not possible except in the shadow of creativity and innovation and attention to the category of entrepreneurship. Because entrepreneurship is the driving engine of economic development and job creation. On the other hand, universities play a vital role in training skilled workers to enter the labor market. Considering the importance of the topic, the present research has investigated the factors affecting the entrepreneurial intention of students. In order to achieve the objectives of the research, the students of Islamic Azad University of Rasht branch were investigated and to collect data from the questionnaire and then structural equation modeling was used in data analysis and testing of 19 hypotheses proposed in this research. The research method is applied and correlational in terms of purpose. The results of the research indicate that knowledge, experience, family, personality traits, perceived behavioral control, motivation, and social norms are the factors influencing the entrepreneurial intention of students.

Key words:

entrepreneurship, university, Rasht

Introduction

Today, employment challenges or the issue of work and unemployment are not only one of the most important social issues of the world in our country. is considered, but considering the rate of population growth in the last two decades, it can be considered the most important social challenge of the next few decades (Barani et al., 2008, 74). The unemployment crisis as a problem strongly affects all economic, cultural and social aspects of a society and sometimes leaves irreparable effects. Solving this problem has made the dominant policy makers of the countries face great challenges, so that it can be said that the stability and decline of some governments depends on solving the unemployment crisis (Salehi and Baradaran, 1385, 184). On the other hand, it is clear that the government cannot create jobs for all students and graduates due to the policies of reducing employment and handing over affairs to the non-governmental sector as well as limited facilities (Howell and Avolio, 2002). In this situation, university students and graduates have also realized that when they enter changing, dynamic and complex work environments, factors such as globalization, competition and rapid growth of technology have changed the world of work opportunities, employers' expectations have changed, and they need employees who show entrepreneurial behaviors and tendencies (Jones & English, 2004). Therefore, arousing the entrepreneurial intention is one of the best ways to use these educated forces to build businesses based on their educational skills (Ardagna and Lusardi, 2008). Since our country is also facing the problem of youth unemployment, it is appropriate to think of a suitable solution to get out of the current situation (Amadi et al., 2018). This is not possible except in the shadow of creativity and innovation and attention to the category of entrepreneurship. Because entrepreneurship is a capability that can save today's systems in this critical period and help them survive (Kamalian and others, 2009). In fact, entrepreneurship is one of the important and inexhaustible resources of all human societies. A source that goes back to the creativity of humans, and real entrepreneurship happens when people put aside the usual and usual ways of thinking and acting and use new ways and ideas with a new and different perspective (Jamshidifar and others, 2019, 55). Today, everyone has realized that societies that have relied on human resources rather than underground resources have been more successful and proud in the long run. As a result, considering the role of entrepreneurship in economic life, its development can be considered as one of the most basic activities to achieve economic development, and currently, entrepreneurship development is an integral and key part of economic development issues in both developed and developing countries (Ziaee, 2004). Therefore, in the current situation of our country, it is more necessary to deal with the category of entrepreneurship.. Because entrepreneurial people have the ability to create new businesses by taking advantage of existing opportunities and in this way increase national production and reduce the problem of unemployment (Deljoy Shahir, 2018). In addition, due to the decrease in government employment, it is impossible to employ all young job seekers and university graduates in government agencies. Therefore, taking advantage of the creative power of young people to create new businesses and lead them to entrepreneurship is a solution that will solve many economic difficulties (Amadi et al., 2018). Although special attention has been paid to this in the fourth development plan of the country, and proper planning and foundation has been made in the country's economic, social and educational system for the development of entrepreneurship, especially in the country's universities, unfortunately, the unemployment rate of graduates is still the highest among the unemployed (Qawami and Lotfalipour, 2018), so that according to statistics, 270 thousand university graduates enter the job market every year, but the market capacity is not sufficient for this number (Azizi and Hosseini, 1385). This shows that, although in our country, in the last few years, universities have turned to entrepreneurship education and have made efforts towards entrepreneurship education and its role in creating students' knowledge and skills, and the process of entrepreneurship education has been growing, but the attraction of educated people in the labor market is still facing problems due to the lack of some abilities and skills, some of which should be learned during university studies (Arasti et al., 2019). In the special economic conditions of the country, creating job opportunities for a large number of unemployed people, especially graduates of the educational system, is the main and most important concern of the country's decision-makers and macro-planners, and solving the problem of unemployment, creating and strengthening employment and self-employment solutions, and moving towards the development of society, has doubled the need to educate and train entrepreneurial, efficient and creative people (Pouratshi and Mokhtarnia, 1388, 115). Therefore, in order to create employment, increase the gross national product and increase social welfare, it is very important to pay attention to the category of entrepreneurship and to create and strengthen the spirit of entrepreneurship, especially among students (Qasemi and Asadi, 2019, 14). With these interpretations and considering the emphasis that has been placed in the literature on entrepreneurial intention, the present research aims to investigate the factors affecting it.   

1-3 The importance and necessity of research

Entrepreneurs in any society have such a high value that they guarantee the survival of that society in many cases. The importance of entrepreneurs is due to the creation of values ??such as discovering new knowledge, creating new technologies, improving existing services and products, finding new and creative solutions to produce diverse goods and services, of course, with less resources, etc. (Kamalian and others, 2019). Therefore, the possession of the entrepreneurial spirit of the societies is considered the basis of the economic progress of the countries. In fact, science and the world of management are identified with the concept of entrepreneurial spirit. The element of entrepreneurship maximizes the efficiency and effectiveness of the economic enterprise by using minimum capital and savings and new methods of exploitation and optimal combination of production factors. Today, there are three important reasons for paying attention to the category of entrepreneurship, which are wealth production, technology development and productive employment (Qasemi and Asadi, 2019, 14). On the other hand, the economic, industrial, social and cultural situation of the country today is such that it demands new and different models and solutions to solve problems and bottlenecks. The composition of the country's young population, the need to create job opportunities, and the fluctuation of oil prices are among the major factors that make the country's policy makers and decision-makers think of another easily accessible source of income other than oil, and without a doubt, that source is nothing but initiative, creativity and innovation. Now in the global arena, creative, innovative and innovative people as entrepreneurs have become the source of great developments in the industrial, production and service fields (Haidari et al., 2013, 147) and their importance is such that they are sometimes referred to as national heroes. It is the development of entrepreneurship that moves the wheels of economic development of the country (Deljoy Shahir, 2018) and entrepreneurs are considered the engine of economic growth of the society and play an important role in creating changes and economic progress in countries (Gurol & Astan, 2006). An important point that has been neglected in this field is that most of the researches conducted in the field of entrepreneurship have focused their attention on the process of setting up a business (the stage after decision-making) and have neglected the decision-making stage.