Antecedents of Entrepreneurial Intentions among Management Graduates: An Empirical Investigation Dr. Aggarwal Monika1,*, Prof. Malhotra Keshav2 1Associate Professor, University Institute of Applied Management Sciences, Panjab University, Chandigarh 2Professor, Department of Evening Studies-Multi Disciplinary Research Centre, Panjab University, Chandigarh, keshavmalhotra@gmail.com *Corresponding Author E-mail: monikaa@pu.ac.in
Online published on 25 December, 2018. Abstract Entrepreneurs play an integral role in development of an economy. Literature evidenced that the stronger entrepreneurial activities are in an economy ensures the better economic growth. Measuring intentions to establish a new venture has been one of the main concerns of entrepreneurship researchers and educators. India has world's largest young population. Nearly 45% population is below 22 years of age. So, it becomes imperative to comprehend the entrepreneurial intentions of the youngsters in India. Thus, with the objective to examine the entrepreneurial intentions of youngsters a survey of 280 management graduates pursuing their master degree programme in business management with 2 credits in entrepreneurship from one of the University of Northern India was conducted using a structured questionnaire, an adapted version of the Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour. It was found that attitude towards entrepreneurship as a career option is positively related to entrepreneurial intentions of management graduates. Subjective norms are negatively related to entrepreneurial intentions. Perceived behavioural control exercises the strongest influence on entrepreneurial intentions as compared to other variables under study. Further graduates with a proactive personality are more likely to have a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship as compared to the students with a high risk taking propensity. The researchers suggested that a course on developing entrepreneurship skills must be a part of management programmes in order to foster entrepreneurship amongst management graduates. Further the programme must focus on developing business plans and exploring business opportunities. Top Keywords Entrepreneurial intentions, Theory of planned behaviour, Attitude towards entrepreneurship, Perceived behaviour control, Subjective norms. Top |