Assessment of Entrepreneurial Traits and Intention among Undergraduate Students at Catholic University of Health and Allied sciences -Mwanza, Tanzania

Abstract

Entrepreneurship of young graduates is fundamental in mitigating the challenge of unemployment, while the role of universities is considered to be very important in developing entrepreneurial behavior. Thus, the present study aims to assess entrepreneurial traits and intention among undergraduate students at Catholic University of Health and Allied sciences -Mwanza, Tanzania. The cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in May 2021 at Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences. Three hundred and thirty-one (331) undergraduates were selected by stratified random sampling. Pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data. Data were fed into Microsoft excel and then exported to STATA version 14 for analysis and data were presented in frequencies, percentages and mean. The level of entrepreneurial traits of the students was moderate with overall mean of 3.6. Majority (285, 86.1%) of students thought of themselves as capable of opening and sustaining a business to success, reflecting positive feasibility and perceived themselves as people who willingly act on their individual decisions.The major motivating factor for entrepreneurial intention indicated by the respondents was “preference for personal creativity” (295, 89.1%). However, the major perceived barrier to starting their own businesses indicated by the respondents was “lack of funds to start” (268, 90%). This study showed that there was overall moderate level of entrepreneurial traits among the undergraduate students. The findings have shown that there is high intention and that students are interested to become entrepreneurs.