Impact of internship quality on entrepreneurial intentions among graduating engineering students of research universities in China

Gaofeng Yi ()
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Gaofeng Yi: Yancheng Normal University

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 2018, vol. 14, issue 4, No 14, 1087 pages

Abstract: Abstract This paper seeks to explore the relationship between the internship quality, entrepreneurial desirability, entrepreneurial feasibility and entrepreneurial intention(EI) through a structural equation model. The sample is composed of 702 graduating engineering students from two research universities within China. The results revealed that students’ internship quality has positive and significant impact on their EIs. More specifically, the internship quality significantly affects students’ EIs both directly and indirectly. Furthermore, entrepreneurial desirability and feasibility partially mediate the relationship between the internship quality and students’ EIs. There are some substantial differences among gender subgroups, those being family characteristics and entrepreneurial experiences which were examined by the multiple group comparison test. Theoretically the findings provide new insights on the role of internships played in university students’ EIs. Practically, this study highlights the importance of improving internship quality which can increase students’ entrepreneurial desirability and feasibility, thereby promoting their EIs.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial intention; Graduating engineering students; Internship quality; Entrepreneurial desirability; Entrepreneurial feasibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11365-017-0491-2

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