Changing identity and intentions toward entrepreneurial behaviour in community education

Abstract

are critical to the economic prosperity of growing nations. However, determining how to most effectively teach entrepreneurship to produce entrepreneurs remains unresolved. Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) posits that intentions are the antecedents of behaviour. Thus, to explore strategies that might cultivate entrepreneurial intentions, an eight-week community education short-course tested three different instructional approaches. All courses taught the knowledge and skills typically covered in entrepreneurship courses. One of the courses added the use of Identity Attribution techniques (derived from Attribution Theory), while the second alternative added Visionary strategies (as described in Charismatic Leadership Theory). All participants (N = 259) were randomly assigned to one of three courses and completed a pre- and post-course questionnaire on entrepreneurial intentionality derived from the TPB. Factor analysis and invariance tests established that intentionality, identity, social norms, attitudes, and control scales were comparable across conditions and time periods. A well-fitting path model showed that entrepreneurial identity at the end of the course was enhanced when course entry scores for identity were higher. Of the three interventions, the Skills and Knowledge course produced the smallest increases, while Vision and Identity Attribution treatments produced much larger effects for entrepreneurial intentionality and identity. The significance of this thesis is seen in its curricular resources for teaching entrepreneurship with Attribution and Vision strategies and the impact of those teaching methods. This contributes substantially to improved educational practice in entrepreneurship and potentially to societal economic development.