ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS OF MALE AND FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

John Palmer

Argosy University, Chicago, IL

Melissa Griswold Maryville University, St. Louis, MO

Vicky Eidson

Quincy University, Quincy, IL

Pamela Wiewel

Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA 

ABSTRACT

This study examines factors contributing to entrepreneurial intention (EI) among a sample of university students. Through use of the Bem (1974) Sex Role Inventory, masculinity, femininity, and androgyny scores were calculated for each student. The influences of these variables, together with gender, prior exposure to entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship coursework, and self-reported GPA, were utilized to predict levels of EI.   The full sample was first analyzed   and then separate analyses were conducted for females and males. Results of the study indicate that gender role variables behave differently for males than for females and factors such as knowing an entrepreneur and taking an entrepreneurship course impact males and females differently in terms of EI. For male students, masculinity was a significant predictor of entrepreneurial intention along with knowing an entrepreneur. A lower self-reported GPA was also associated with entrepreneurial intention for males. For female students, masculinity and femininity were both significant predictors of entrepreneurial intention.            Having taken an entrepreneurship course was also found as a significant predictor of EI for females. Implications of findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.