Factors Affecting Entrepreneurial Intention of University Students: A Lebanese Case Study

Lebanon is an unstable country that is facing low economic growth and political instability, which resulted in high unemployment and immigration rates among its youth in general and its university students specifically. Entrepreneurship is related to a country’s long- term economic development and growth, as it involves activities associated with creativity and innovation; entrepreneurship is also the source of job and wealth creation. Due to these facts policy makers have heavily relied on entrepreneurship in their policy agendas.

Previous research shows that intention is the starting point of pursuing an entrepreneurial career. Therefore, this research is aimed to investigate the factors affecting entrepreneurship intention among university students in Lebanon and the possible policy implications of the findings.

This research was based on mixed approach to data collection. The first phase of the research involved quantitative self-administered questionnaire, distributed to nine different areas across the country. The initial sample included 3,154 students, and the obtained response rate was 34.9%. In the follow up qualitative phase, semi- structured interviews were conducted with 12 individuals to help explain and obtain a deeper understanding of the quantitative results and gather their opinion regarding the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Lebanon and the factors affecting students’ intention in the country. The data was subjected to two analytical techniques, structural equation modelling was used to examine the measurement model and test the study hypotheses, whereas template analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data.

The findings of this study provided theoretical and practical implications. Theoretical contribution is in the application of the theory of planned behaviour in a non- Western country, were little literature is presented. This study is the first of its kind in Lebanon, as no study has attempted to explain the factors affecting entrepreneurial intention among university students over different Lebanese regions. The results have practical implications for policymakers, universities, practitioners and other concerned parties to gain a better insight of students’ personal characteristics, how they perceive the support offered from the university, environment and government towards entrepreneurship. Furthermore, it also provided an understanding of how the antecedents are related, which could be useful in enhancing entrepreneurial intention in Lebanon.