Family Entrepreneurship and Personal Career Preferences as the Factors of Differences in the Development of Entrepreneurial Potential of Students

Slavica Mitrovic Veljkovic, Mia Maric, Mladen Subotic, Branislav Dudic and Michal Greguš
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Slavica Mitrovic Veljkovic: Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Mia Maric: Faculty of Education in Sombor, University of Novi Sad, 25000 Sombor, Serbia
Mladen Subotic: Faculty of Education in Sombor, University of Novi Sad, 25000 Sombor, Serbia
Branislav Dudic: Faculty of Management, Comenius University in Bratislava, 820 05 Bratislava, Slovakia
Michal Greguš: Faculty of Management, Comenius University in Bratislava, 820 05 Bratislava, Slovakia

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 20, 1-23

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in family entrepreneurship background and personal attitudes of students regarding their future career preferences and its effects on the development of specific dimensions of entrepreneurship potential of a student population. The sample consisted of a student population from Serbia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina as EU candidate countries and Belgium as an EU member country. A sample of 1008 university students from these three countries participated in this research. Instruments used in this research were the Questionnaire of Entrepreneurial Traits (QET) and the Scale of Entrepreneurial Potential (SEP). Canonical discriminant analysis confirmed significant differences in scores on both QET and SEP scales of entrepreneurial potential between students that have family entrepreneurship background and those who do not. Differences were also shown among students who strive for self-employment, and consider establishing their own business, and students who would like to find employment in the state or private sector. Young people whose family members are engaged in entrepreneurship are influenced by their parents who started companies, parents’ personal characteristics, and parent’s model of behavior, which significantly shapes the behavior and characteristics of these young people, compared to those young people whose parents do not start companies. Young people who prefer to build a career within their own enterprise have basic characteristics that predispose them for engagement in entrepreneurship within their own company, whereby this provides them with the only way they can achieve the full capacity of their individual potential. Both these groups display a more developed initiative, independence in decision making, they are more open minded and prone to take on risks, have more developed organizational skills, and more positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship. Results of this study can help identify and foster factors that significantly develop specific characteristics of entrepreneurship potential of student populations, such as family entrepreneurship background and career preferences.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial traits; family entrepreneurship; professional career; self-employment; student’s entrepreneurship potential (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5693-:d:276698

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