Students’ Entrepreneurial Intention and Its Influencing Factors: A Systematic Literature Review

Panagiota Xanthopoulou () and Alexandros Sahinidis
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Panagiota Xanthopoulou: Department of Business Administration, School of Administrative Economics and Social Sciences, University of West Attica, 122 41 Athens, Greece
Alexandros Sahinidis: Department of Business Administration, School of Administrative Economics and Social Sciences, University of West Attica, 122 41 Athens, Greece

Administrative Sciences, 2024, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-28

Abstract: Many researchers have studied the factors that impact on students’ entrepreneurial intention; however, findings are conflicting. The present study attempts, through an extensive review of the literature, to provide a holistic view and deeper knowledge of the most significant factors that influence university students’ decisions to be self-employed or to start a business. A systematic review as well as a bibliometric analysis of the literature was implemented, using a three-step literature mapping protocol to search, select, evaluate, and validate the literature by examining and analyzing numerous papers from the scientific community. The process ended up with 677 papers, from which the forty-three most cited were used as our research sample. Findings revealed that there are four primary categories of factors: the contextual factors, such as the economic, social, and political environment, the motivational factors, such as individuals’ personal needs, personality traits, and characteristics, and the factors related with the personal background of individuals such as family, education, and peers. We also examined the countries with the maximum number of papers on university students’ entrepreneurial intentions. These findings can be useful for policy makers and educators and will serve as a basis for future research, while they also contribute to the literature by highlighting the factors that most affect the entrepreneurial intention of university students.

Keywords: entrepreneurial intention; university students; entrepreneurship; systematic literature review; bibliometric analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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