The process of adopting entrepreneurial behaviour: Evidence from agriculture students in Iran

Abstract

The present study aimed to explore the process of exhibiting entrepreneurial behaviour by agriculture students in Bu-Ali Sina University, Iran based on the extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The statistical population was composed of all senior students of the College of Agriculture (N = 420). Data were collected by a self-designed questionnaire whose face and content validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was determined in a pilot study. Path analysis showed that attitude, perceived behavioural control, and subjective norms and two personality specifications of entrepreneurship including risk-taking and motivation for progress had a positive and significant effect on the students’ entrepreneurial intention so that they altogether accounted for 38.6% of the variance of entrepreneurial intention. In addition, entrepreneurial intention was found to influence the students’ entrepreneurial behaviour positively and significantly.