INTENTION OF MBA STUDENTS TOWARDS ENTREPRENEURSHIP (SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF KELANIYA)

Abstract

Economists and policy makers in developing countries deem that more entrepreneurship is essential to achieve higher level of economic growth. Entrepreneurs bring in new combinations to the economy while they look for profit opportunities. These new combinations or innovations are the major cause of economic development. Conversely, there is an emerging trend in literature arguing that intentions play an extremely significant role in the decision to become an entrepreneur. Thus, researches revealed that personal variables such as age, gender, education and sensational experiences influence the entrepreneurial intentions. Even the number of researches published recently about this issue, a lot of research work is still required to carry out for better comprehend which factors are affecting the entrepreneurial intention. The aims of this study are to examine the intention level and the impact of demographic and other factors on entrepreneurial intention among postgraduate students. Thus, study was conducted among the Master of Business Administration (MBA) students at the University of Kelaniya, as they had being well educated after their graduation and have options to choose entrepreneurship with their experiences than undergraduates. A structured questionnaire was distributed among 97 students but only 88 received. The questionnaire contains demographic and personal data, and the level of entrepreneurial intention which was used 5 point Likert scales. ANOVA and t-test were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that, gender, age, working experience, prior education and family business experience were significantly contribute to the formation of entrepreneurial effort among MBA students while marital status, residence area, monthly income level, stage of the study programme, source of funding and employment status were not related to the attentiveness of entrepreneurship. Therefore, it can be conclude that specific curriculum inputs, experience of pervious employment and the family intention on businesses contribute towards entrepreneurial intention among MBA students.

Key Words: Entrepreneurship, Economic Growth, Entrepreneurial Intention

For full paper: fmscresearch@sjp.ac.lk