Entrepreneurial motivational profiles among university students: The role of universities in fostering entrepreneurship

Abstract

In an increasingly globalized world, local and sustainable entrepreneurial initiatives are gaining importance as factors in local economic and social development. If education plays an essential role in students' entrepreneurial motivations, universities need to take an active role in entrepreneurial education and become examples of how to implement sustainable territorial actions. With data from the 2021 Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey in Spain, we selected 1694 university students who were carrying out their own entrepreneurial projects. Using a Component Principal Analysis and Cluster analysis, we classified these students into three entrepreneurial motivation groups and then characterised them through a descriptive univariate and bivariate inferential analysis with sociodemographic variables and with two indexes measuring university and environmental influence. Knowing the motivational profiles of university students, the entrepreneurial developers of the future, can help university researchers evaluate strategies and educational programs aimed at promoting entrepreneurial behaviour

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Elsevier