Education first? Triggering vs jeopardising entrepreneurial intentions

PurposeDrawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TBP) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), this study delves into how, in entrepreneurship-unfriendly environments, university students’ entrepreneurial intention (EI) is shaped, focusing particularly on the role of entrepreneurship education (EE) and an entrepreneurial family context (EFC).Design/methodology/approachA sample of 688 students at a Spanish university was used for testing our hypotheses using GUESSS project data, through PLS-SEM regression and multigroup analysis (entrepreneurship course vs non-course students).FindingsPositive and significant impacts of entrepreneurial attitude (EA) and entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) on EI, and of subjective norms (SN) on EA and ESE, were found in both groups. Conversely, the impacts of an EFC on EA, SN and EI were significant only for course students, and the impact of SN on EI was significant only for non-course students. The impact of EFC on ESE was not significant for either group.Originality/valueThis investigation delves into how the TPB components shape university students’ EI in entrepreneurship-unfriendly contexts, and offers an original multigroup analysis to explore the role of EE in such dynamics. A novel contribution of this study is the finding that EE is a relevant catalyser for making entrepreneurial parents become an effective trigger for entrepreneurship. Conversely, EE was, unexpectedly, deemed irrelevant or counter-productive for some aspects of entrepreneurial dynamics. Further research is encouraged, delving into the role of social and cultural contexts.