Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intentions of Business Students in Pakistan

This research is aimed to study the role of demographic and external factors on the intentions of business students in Pakistan to become future entrepreneurs. Self-developed semi-structured questionnaires were prepared and data was collected from the final year students in two leading business institutes of Pakistan. The primary data collected during interviews and focus group sessions were analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings and analysis of this study suggest that we cannot ignore the importance of any of the defined factors as stated in the propositions on the development of entrepreneurial intentions of business students in Pakistan. Neither family business, nor entrepreneurial education alone plays an independent role in building up the intentions to generate a new idea or start one's own business. It is a complete package of individual characteristics, influence of family, friends and the opportunities available in the surroundings that mutually act as motivators to plan and become entrepreneurs. Although much research has been conducted on identifying the personality, demographic and social factors in developed countries, there still exists a need to specify which elements play the most influential role in shaping the decision to start a firm particularly in a developing country like Pakistan. This research was an attempt to fill this gap by providing qualitative analysis and suggestions to the educational institutions, teachers, consultants, advisors and policymakers.