The Impact of Entrepreneurial Education on University Student’s Innovative Behavior, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation: A Longitudinal Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55737/tk/v5i1.51143Keywords:
Entrepreneurial Education, Innovative Behavior, Entrepreneurial Motivation, Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy, Risk-Taking PropensityAbstract
Entrepreneurial education has been demonstrated to be important in promoting innovation in university students, increasing their self-efficacy and motivating them. In this longitudinal study, we examine the influence of entrepreneurial education programs on university students’ innovative behavior, entrepreneurial motivation and self-efficacy; specifically, the mediational role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), and the moderating role of risk-taking propensity. We utilize a pre-test/post-test research design collecting data from 177 undergraduate students participating in structured entrepreneurial courses. Our findings show positive changes in students’ levels of innovative behavior and entrepreneurial motivation as well as an improvement in their ESE as it mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial education and both of these variables. Additionally, our findings indicate that risk taking propensity positively moderates the influence of entrepreneurial education especially for those who are willing to take risks. The implications of this study highlight the importance of providing entrepreneurial education programs tailored to students’ individual differences such as their level of self-efficacy and tendency to take risks. This study provides educators and policy makers with meaningful information to create customized experiential learning models which will increase entrepreneurship related skills and confidence in university students.
References
Adeel, S., Daniel, A. D., & Botelho, A. (2023). The effect of entrepreneurship education on the determinants of entrepreneurial behaviour among higher education students: A multi-group analysis. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 8(1), 100324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2023.100324
Al-Qadasi, N., Zhang, G., Al-Jubari, I., Al-Awlaqi, M. A., & Aamer, A. M. (2024). Entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial behaviour: Do self-efficacy and attitude matter? The International Journal of Management Education, 22(1), 100945. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2024.100945
Andric, M., Hsueh, J. W.-J., Zellweger, T., & Hatak, I. (2024). Parental divorce in early life and entrepreneurial performance in adulthood. Journal of Business Venturing, 39(3), 106390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2024.106390
Aure, P. A. H. (2025). Action research as a creative teaching method for humanistic management education: A case study of undergraduate business students. The International Journal of Management Education, 23(2), 101179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2025.101179
Bachmann, A. K., Maran, T., Furtner, M., Brem, A., & Welte, M. (2021). Improving entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the attitude towards starting a business venture. Review of Managerial Science, 15(6), 1707–1727. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-020-00394-0
Bachmann, N., Rose, R., Maul, V., & Hölzle, K. (2024). What makes for future entrepreneurs? The role of digital competencies for entrepreneurial intention. Journal of Business Research, 174(114481), 114481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114481
Bernadó, E., & Bratzke, F. (2024). Revisiting EntreComp through a systematic literature review of entrepreneurial competences. Implications for entrepreneurship education and future research. The International Journal of Management Education, 22(3), 101010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2024.101010
Brüne, N., & Lutz, E. (2020). The effect of entrepreneurship education in schools on entrepreneurial outcomes: a systematic review. Management Review Quarterly, 70(2), 275–305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-019-00168-3
Fallah, N., Abdolahzadeh, F., & Lotfi, B. (2023). Examining the interconnections among entrepreneurial passion, need for achievement, social support, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial intention among foreign language learners: A moderated mediation model. Entrepreneurship Education, 6(3), 319–338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41959-023-00104-3
Fauchald, R. N. (2025). Extracurricular Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Education: What, How, Why, for Whom, and When? Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, 8(1), 11–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/25151274241239683
Freel, M., Rostamkalaei, A., & Tran, H. (2025). Growing gains and growing pains: Examining the growth intentions of established entrepreneurs. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 19(2), 313–342. https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1526
Ghouse, S. M., Barber, D., III, & Alipour, K. (2024). Shaping the future Entrepreneurs: Influence of human capital and self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intentions of rural students. The International Journal of Management Education, 22(3), 101035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2024.101035
Hassan, N. A. (2024). University business incubators as a tool for accelerating entrepreneurship: theoretical perspective. Review of Economics and Political Science, 9(5), 434–453. https://doi.org/10.1108/reps-10-2019-0142
Humaid Al Abri, Y. B., Mohamed Adnan, M. A., Amer Alesayi, A. K., Humid Al-Qari, H. B., & Ali Al Eisaei, M. S. (2023). The role of future foresight in achieving strategic leadership for educational institutions in the Sultanate of Oman. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 13(10). https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v13-i10/19134
Hussain, S., & Albarwani, T. (2015). Leadership for sustainability perceptions in higher education institutions in Oman. Management in Education, 29(4), 151–157. https://doi.org/10.1177/0892020615593788
Iyiola, K., Alzubi, A., & Dappa, K. (2023). The influence of learning orientation on entrepreneurial performance: The role of business model innovation and risk-taking propensity. Journal of Open Innovation Technology Market and Complexity, 9(3), 100133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2023.100133
Kamberi, M. (2025). The types of intrinsic motivation as predictors of academic achievement: the mediating role of deep learning strategy. Cogent Education, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2025.2482482
Kuratko, D. F., & Covin, J. G. (2025). Fifty years of entrepreneurship: Recalling the past, examining the present, & foreshadowing the future. Journal of Business Research, 186(114980), 114980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114980
Kymäläinen, E. (2024). “Where to build a startup in the Nordics?": Comparative analysis of Nordic startup ecosystems from the perspective of young founders. Helsinki: Nordic Startup Research. https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/items/2dc40f25-7665-47ca-ae3d-e6fb68891c6d.
Llewellyn, D. J., & Wilson, K. M. (2003). The controversial role of personality traits in entrepreneurial psychology. Education+ Training, 45(6), 341–345. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910310495996
Luong, A., Lee, C., & Mackenzie, S. H. (2024). Motivation of tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs: A self-determination theory perspective. In Handbook of Tourism Entrepreneurship (pp. 87–101). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Mascena Barbosa, A., & Dumont, G. (2024). A new understanding of the role of self-oriented motivations in the creation of social enterprises. Journal of Business Ethics, 191(3), 591–609. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-023-05464-3
Mujtaba, G., Zulkiffli, S. N. ‘atikah, Padlee, S. F., Mohamed, W. N., & Sukri, N. K. A. (2025). Impact of entrepreneurial inspiration, awareness, and skills on university students’ entrepreneurial intentions: The mediating role of entrepreneurial education. Administrative Sciences, 15(1), 15. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci15010015
Mukhtar, D., Sofian, M. F., & Fadzil, A. F. M. (2021). Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy and Competencies: Reinterpreting Entrepreneurial Embedded Resources. In B. Alareeni, A. Hamdan, & I. Elgedawy (Eds.), The Importance of New Technologies and Entrepreneurship in Business Development: In The Context of Economic Diversity in Developing Countries (Vol. 194, pp. 1251–1263). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69221-6_94
Nguyen, G. N., & Nguyen, T. K. (2024). Entrepreneurial passion of business and technical students: The roles of subjective norms, entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and risk propensity. The International Journal of Management Education, 22(3), 101012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2024.101012
O’Donnell, P., Leger, M., O’Gorman, C., & Clinton, E. (2024). Necessity entrepreneurship. Academy of Management Annals, 18(1), 44–81. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2021.0176
Odeyemi, O., Oyewole, A. T., Adeoye, O. B., Ofodile, O. C., Addy, W. A., Okoye, C. C., & Ololade, Y. J. (2024). Entrepreneurship in Africa: A review of growth and challenges. International Journal of Management & Entrepreneurship Research, 6(3), 608–622. https://doi.org/10.51594/ijmer.v6i3.874
Otache, I., Edopkolor, J. E., Sani, I. A., & Umar, K. (2024). Entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions: Do entrepreneurial self-efficacy, alertness and opportunity recognition matter? The International Journal of Management Education, 22(1), 100917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2023.100917
Rahayuningsih, T., Mutyara, M., Armalita, R., & Sari, L. (2024). The Validation of Social Provision Scale and Its Effect on Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy in Higher Education Using PLS-SEM. 620–628. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-350-4_62
Rathee, V., Mittal, P., & Kumar, A. (2025). A contribution towards developing a sustainable model for enhancing entrepreneurial performance: identifying the mediating role of innovative work behaviour. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 17(4), 1060–1082. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeee-04-2024-0166
Saoula, O., Abid, M. F., Ahmad, M. J., & Shamim, A. (2025). What drives entrepreneurial intentions? Interplay between entrepreneurial education, financial support, role models and attitude towards entrepreneurship. Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 19(2), 128–148. https://doi.org/10.1108/apjie-10-2023-0189
Schoon, I., & Duckworth, K. (2012). Who becomes an entrepreneur? Early life experiences as predictors of entrepreneurship. Developmental Psychology, 48(6), 1719–1726. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029168
Silesky-Gonzalez, E., Lezcano-Calderon, Y., & Mora-Cruz, A. (2025). Effects of education for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention in university students. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 21(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-024-01039-4
Sitaridis, I., & Kitsios, F. (2024). Digital entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education: a review of the literature. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 30(2/3), 277–304. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijebr-01-2023-0053
Stewart, W. H., Jr, & Roth, P. L. (2001). Risk propensity differences between entrepreneurs and managers: a meta-analytic review. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 145–153. https://doi.org/10.1037//0021-9010.86.1.145
Suguna, M., Sreenivasan, A., Ravi, L., Devarajan, M., Suresh, M., Almazyad, A. S., Xiong, G., Ali, I., & Mohamed, A. W. (2024). Entrepreneurial education and its role in fostering sustainable communities. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 7588. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-57470-8
Sun, L. (2023). Do entrepreneurship education activities have an impact on entrepreneurial behavior? An application of behavioral entrepreneurial intention. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(54), 115855–115869. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-30015-8
Taneja, M., Kiran, R., & Bose, S. C. (2024). Relating entrepreneurial self-efficacy with entrepreneurial success: perception-based analysis of students of higher educational institutions. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 37(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677x.2024.2317145
Tang, C. W. (2025). Enhancing teachers’ creative teaching through transformational leadership within a diverse workplace: the role of principals’ cross-cultural competence, and teachers’ task independence and promotion focus. International Journal of Educational Management, 39(2), 361–377. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijem-10-2024-0612
Teoh, H. Y., & Foo, S. L. (1997). Moderating effects of tolerance for ambiguity and risktaking propensity on the role conflict-perceived performance relationship: Evidence from singaporean entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Venturing, 12(1), 67–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0883-9026(96)00035-3
Urbański, M., Haque, A. U., Lang, J. W., & Kozlovski, E. (2025). The impact of total quality management and business networks on company export performance in emerging vs. developed economies: evidence from furniture enterprises in Pakistan and the UK. European J of International Management, 25(2), 257–284. https://doi.org/10.1504/ejim.2025.143863
Uzkurt, C., Ekmekcioglu, E. B., Ceyhan, S., & Pampal, A. S. (2024). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a mediator in the entrepreneurial education-entrepreneurial intention nexus: The moderating role of government-based support and financial concerns. Entrepreneurship Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41959-024-00133-6
Vamvaka, V., Stoforos, C., Palaskas, T., & Botsaris, C. (2020). Attitude toward entrepreneurship, perceived behavioral control, and entrepreneurial intention: dimensionality, structural relationships, and gender differences. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-020-0112-0
Wang, Y., & Horta, H. (2024). University-based social innovation and entrepreneurship education in Hong Kong: a curriculum analysis. Studies in Higher Education, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2024.2369202
Zaman, S., Ahmed, H., Shakil, M. H., Rafiq, M., & Ali, F. (2025). Navigating ambitions: unveiling entrepreneurial intentions in family business through social cognitive theory. Kybernetes. The International Journal of Cybernetics, Systems and Management Sciences, 54(10), 5577–5597. https://doi.org/10.1108/k-12-2023-2543
Zhuang, J., & Sun, H. (2024). Perceived institutional environment and entrepreneurial behavior: The mediating role of risk-taking propensity and moderating role of human capital factors. SAGE Open, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241233950
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Syed Rizwan Ali, Muhammad Omer Khan, Syed Ali Imran
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Copyright in the THE KNOWLEDGE is retained by the author(s). Authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its integrity is maintained and its original authors, citation details and publisher are identified.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
