Assessing determinants of social entrepreneurial intentions among MBA students in Windhoek
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Date
2023
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
Social entrepreneurship is now a key strategy to address unemployment and
poverty globally. The increased interest in social entrepreneurship is creating demand
for better understanding of social entrepreneurial intentions (SEI) which are now
valuable predictors of future entrepreneurial behaviours especially among students.
Using stratified random sampling, A sample size of 136 MBA first year students were
selected from a population of 148 with 109 responses. Quantitative data was collected
using structured questionnaires distributed using the internet for online completion.
SPSS version 27 was used for statistical data analysis, using correlation and multiple
regression analysis to measure the influence of the independent variables on SEI.
Microsoft Excel was used for graphical illustrations. Most respondents, 61% were in
the 26-35 age group and 57% of respondents were female students. All respondents
were employed, with 37% being self-employed. Empathy has been found to be the
highly regarded predictor of social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) from the Theory of
Planned Behaviour (TPB) whilst social entrepreneurial self-efficacy (SESE) and moral
obligation are other significant predictors of SEI. All variables had good reliable
internal consistency of above .7, showing an acceptable reliability of items used.
Personal attitude, social entrepreneurial self-efficacy, perceived social support (PSS)
and perceived behavioural control had moderate positive correlation whilst empathy,
moral obligation and prior experience have weak positive correlation with SEI. The
results further show that independent variables account for 64.9% of variance in the
independent variable with PSS (32.2%) and prior experience (26.2%) being the main
predictors of SEI respectively. The study contributes to the social entrepreneurship
intentions literature among MBA students, especially, for the institutions of higher
learning to encourage students to develop learning resources for the advancement of
social entrepreneurship. More specifically, to provide outreach opportunities of
learning to gain social problem resolution skills. In addition, students’ social
entrepreneurial intention can be improved by institutional support in curriculum
development and engagement being integrated with practical social enterprises
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master in business administration- Entrepreneurship
Keywords
Social entrepreneurial intentions, MBA students, Windhoek