Publié par : Published by: Publicación de la: Faculté des sciences de l’administration Université Laval Québec (Québec) Canada G1K 7P4 Tél. Ph. Tel. : (418) 656-3644 Télec. Fax : (418) 656-7047 Édition électronique : Electronic publishing: Edición electrónica: Aline Guimont Vice-décanat - Recherche et affaires académiques Faculté des sciences de l’administration Disponible sur Internet : Available on Internet Disponible por Internet : http://rd.fsa.ulaval.ca/ctr_doc/default.asp [email protected]DOCUMENT DE TRAVAIL 2006-019 ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS: A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN THREE COUNTRIES Yvon GASSE Cathy CAMION Afifa GHAMGUI Maripier TREMBLAY Version originale : Original manuscript: Version original: ISBN – 2-89524-271-2 Série électronique mise à jour : On-line publication updated : Seria electrónica, puesta al dia 09-2006
Transcript
Publié par : Published by: Publicación de la:
Faculté des sciences de l’administration Université Laval Québec (Québec) Canada G1K 7P4 Tél. Ph. Tel. : (418) 656-3644 Télec. Fax : (418) 656-7047
Version originale : Original manuscript: Version original:
ISBN – 2-89524-271-2
Série électronique mise à jour : On-line publication updated : Seria electrónica, puesta al dia
09-2006
Entrepreneurial Intentions: a Cross-Cultural Study of University Students in Three Countries
Yvon Gasse
Faculté des sciences de l’administration, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
Cathy Camion Institut d’administration des entreprises,
Université de Valenciennes, Valenciennes, France Afifa Ghamgui
Institut National des sciences et technologies appliquées, Tunis, Tunisia
Maripier Tremblay Faculté des sciences de l’administration, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
Abstract
The objective of this empirical study was to compare the entrepreneurial intentions, interests and prevalence of students coming from three different countries. We likewise attempted to see how the students’ values, attitudes and behaviour, that is their entrepreneurial potential, could predispose them to founding an enterprise, creating their own job or having the intention to do so, either during their studies or afterward. The study is based on a model that sees entrepreneurship as resulting from an entrepreneur's decision and the various influences bearing on this decision as stemming from a few crucial aspects, namely: desirability, feasibility and creation. A questionnaire was designed to collect both data for the measurement of these major variables and other information about entrepreneurial education in three universities. The data were collected during the Winter semester of 2006 from students in business administration and engineering in each university. A total of more than 600 students responded to the questionnaire. Although all the analyses and interpretations are not yet finished, it would seem that several cultural and socio-economic factors influence the differences in the entrepreneurial intentions of the students from the different countries, universities and fields of study. Based on the conclusions of this study as well as other similar and complementary studies, several recommendations and research initiatives are suggested. Key words Intention, entrepreneurship, university students, cross-cultural studies
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Entrepreneurial Intentions: a Cross-Cultural Study of University Students in Three Countries
Introduction
Entrepreneurship has become a priority for several societies. The capacity of new firms to
contribute to economic growth (Acs and Armington, 2003), jobs (Birch, 1987) and innovation
(Reynolds, Storey and Westhead, 1994) fully justifies the interest they generate. Given this
prioritization, universities are increasingly being called upon to play a more active role, in
particular by providing their students with education and support that make an entrepreneurial
career easier to undertake. The involvement of universities is all the more important given that
this career avenue is becoming a more common and necessary choice for students.
Certain studies have focused on the entrepreneurial intentions of university students (Audet,
2004; Boissin and Emin, 2006; Kolvereid, 1996; Tkachev and Kolvereid, 1999). Filion,
L’Heureux, Kadji-Youlaeu and Bellavance (2002) showed that 57.7% of Québec university
students intended to start up a business. Similarly, even though Audet (2001) found that only 8%
of English-speaking Québec university students intended to start up a business in the short term,
45% of them estimated that there was a 75% chance that they would one day run their own
enterprise. These results are consistent with those collected in Russia and Norway (Kolvereid,
1996; Tkachev and Kolvereid, 1999). However, few studies have attempted to understand how
the students' values, attitudes and behaviour, that is their entrepreneurial potential, can
predispose them to founding an enterprise, creating their own job or having the intention to do
so.
Several studies have clearly demonstrated that entrepreneurial behaviour is strongly influenced
by people's values, attitudes and beliefs (Krueger, 1993; Krueger and Brazeal, 1994; Krueger and
Carsrud, 1993). What is more, beliefs are influenced by the national culture and social context.
Nonetheless, even though it might be reasonable to believe that the microeconomic and cultural
environments of some countries favour entrepreneurial behaviour whereas other discourage it,
further investigation is needed (Arenius and Minniti, 2005).
3
Accordingly, this article presents the results of a study undertaken to better understand and
compare the intentions, interests and prevalence of business and engineering students from
Canada, Tunisia and France. The study also compared these different groups with regard to their
beliefs and perceptions about entrepreneurship. Not only did this study allow us to draw up a
profile of university students in the three countries, it also allowed us to study the cultural
dimension and its possible impact on the students' entrepreneurial activity.
We will begin by examining the theoretical context and our conceptual model, which is partially
based on the principles of planned behaviour. We will then explain the research design before
presenting the results. Finally, we will discuss the conclusions that can be drawn from these
results and the limits of the research.
1. The theoretical context
There are several models and theories that explain the complex phenomenon of entrepreneurship.
This study draws its inspiration from models described in the scientific literature on the theory of
reasoned action and planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991); these models attempt to predict and
explain individual behaviour, which in the present case is business start-up. Accordingly, we will
review the main principles of the models stemming from this current before presenting the
specific model that was used in this study. We will then take a look at the various studies that
have examined student entrepreneurship before concluding this section by examining the impact
of the cultural dimension on entrepreneurial predispositions.
1.1 Entrepreneurship seen as a decision-making process
Shapero and Sokol (1982) were among the first authors to use planned behaviour theory in an
entrepreneurial context. Their work gave rise to numerous studies whose results have pointed to
the usefulness of this theory in understanding business creation (Davidsson, 1995b; Krueger,
1993; Krueger and Brazeal, 1994; Krueger and Carsrud, 1993; Krueger and Dickson, 1994;
Krueger, Reilly and Carsrud, 2000; Reitan, 1996). According to the authors' reasoning,
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desirability, perceived feasibility and, consequently, a propensity to start up a business are based
on people's beliefs.
For Shapero and Sokol (1982), entrepreneurial behaviour is necessarily based on a propensity to
act. What is more, this propensity is directly influenced by the perceived desirability and
feasibility of a behaviour, which are both explained by a person's beliefs and perceptions about
the surrounding world (Boissin and Emin, 2006); these beliefs and perceptions include perceived
opportunity, confidence in one's abilities, fear of failure, and knowing another entrepreneur
(Arenius and Minniti, 2005). Furthermore, the characteristics (personality traits and demographic
variables) known to be specific to creators (Gasse and D’Amours, 2000) are only thought to
influence intentions when they affect these beliefs and perceptions.
More specifically, perceived desirability refers to how attractive the idea of starting up a business
is to people (Shapero and Sokol, 1982). People are particularly influenced by role models in their
circle of family and friends (Audet, 2004). Likewise, cultural and social factors directly affect
the perceived desirability of entrepreneurial behaviour (OCDE, 1998); social pressure is
illustrated, for example, by accepted and respected occupational characteristics. As pointed out
by Gasse and Tremblay (2006), intentions are influenced by the perception that the
entrepreneurial behaviour is not only personally desirable but also socially desirable.
In addition to being desirable, the act of creation must also be reasonably feasible, or at least be
perceived as such. Feasibility refers to the degree to which people think they can successfully
start up a business (Boissin and Emin, 2006). Feasibility depends, for example, on the perceived
availability of the resources needed to create a business, on people's skills and on their
confidence in their ability to successfully complete critical tasks in the entrepreneurial process.
1.1.1 The conceptual model
Borrowing certain concepts from Shapero and Sokol (1982), figure 1 is a representation of the
various dimensions associated with the entrepreneurial process. Several studies have shown that
entrepreneurs possess specific characteristics (Gasse and D’amours, 2000). However, it has also
been noted that not only can these characteristics vary according to the type of entrepreneur, but
that entrepreneurs' predispositions are also influenced by the surrounding environment. The
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decision to start up a business can be influenced by various factors. As shown in figure 1, the
process is divided into three crucial aspects: desirability, feasibility and creation. Desirability and
feasibility refer to concepts used by Shapero and Sokol (1982), while creation refers to the
different means that neophytes have to start up a business (human, financial, material and
information resources).
The main interest of this schematic diagram is to underline the complex and dynamic nature of
the process. In addition to generating numerous relationships between the variables shown here,
the different analysis levels also show how these variables are connected with entrepreneurs and
their social environments. It is worth noting however that even a descriptive model can only
provide a partial view of a given reality. Its primary goal is to facilitate our understanding of a
phenomenon. Given that each person, situation and environment has its own particularities, and
even though these particularities cannot be generalized, they can still be used to illustrate general
concepts.
The objective of this study was to verify the role that selected variables played in our model of
the entrepreneurial process of university students. The other variables in figure 1 are only
presented to provide a general view of the complexity of the phenomena.
Advice TechnologyManagement FacilityFunding FeedbackNetwork Support
Values Perceptions(attitudes) Means
YVON GASSEYVON GASSE
Figure 1: Entrepreneurial process model 1.2 The influence of culture on entrepreneurial behaviour
Several studies have attempted to understand and explain the hows and whys of new business
creation, but few have looked at it from an intercultural perspective. Two questions in particular
require further exploration: why do certain cultures produce individuals who are more inclined to
be entrepreneurs than others? and how do individual and cultural values affect business creation?
(Busenitz and Lau, 1996).
The results of a study by Arenius and Minniti (2005) suggest that the microeconomic
environments of some countries favour entrepreneurial behaviour whereas those of others
discourage it. The relation between entrepreneurial behaviour and cultural and intercultural
incentives is complex and, especially for the latter countries, requires further investigation.
As discussed in the preceding section, the conceptual model presented in figure 1 supposes that
cognitive elements such as perceptions and beliefs have an impact on people's behaviour. And
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given that cognition is influenced by values and social context, culture therefore becomes an
important factor to consider. For Shapero and Sokol (1982) moreover, business start-up is the
result of social and cultural factors. Following this logic, national cultures, which have an impact
on mental patterns, are considered to be a significant predictor of behaviour (Adler, Doktor and
Redding, 1986).
The results of a study by Uhlaner and Thurik (2003) are in keeping with this idea. These authors
pointed out that in countries in which the culture can be qualified as postmodern, that is which
promote self-fulfilment and quality of life, entrepreneurial activity is less strong. This being true,
the authors proposed that measures to stimulate business creation in these countries put greater
emphasis on the intangible benefits of business creation rather than on the tangible and economic
benefits. Other studies have likewise looked into the relationship between cultural aspects and
entrepreneurial behaviour (Busenitz, Gomez and Spencer, 2000; Davidsson, 1995a; Huisman,
1985; Lee and Peterson, 2000; McGrath and MacMillan, 1992; Mueller and Thomas, 2000;
Tiessen, 1997; Wennekers, Noorderhaven, Hofstede and Thurik, 2002).
Knowing that perceptions and beliefs influence entrepreneurial intentions and behaviour, and
that national culture can also considerably influence the latter, we thought it worthwhile to
compare the entrepreneurial intentions, interests and prevalence of university students from three
different countries. We attempted to better understand how values, attitudes and behaviour
predisposed these students to create a business or job or have the intention to do so.
2. Study design
The study was conducted with a questionnaire addressed to university students from three
countries, namely Canada (more specifically, the Province of Québec), Tunisia and France. The
data were collected between February 13 and June 5, 2006. The total sample comprised 656
respondents.
2.1 Questionnaire
As stated above, the goal of this study was not so much to test the predictive capabilities of our
model as to compare the entrepreneurial intentions of students coming from three different
countries. Moreover, the questionnaire was designed to shed light on the differences between
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these groups regarding beliefs about entrepreneurship and perceptions about its desirability and
feasibility, dimensions which, according to our model, influenced entrepreneurial intentions and
behaviour. Furthermore, we attempted to better understand the students' profile, particularly
concerning characteristics normally associated with entrepreneurs.
A questionnaire on these themes was developed in a paper and electronic version using
Dynaforme,1 an on-line creation tool for self-validated forms, that is in which the results are
automatically compiled. The forms were filled out by the respondents through e-mail. In some
cases, the paper version was given in class. The questionnaire can be seen at the following
address: http://agora.ulaval.ca/~prbrd/formulaire-potentiel-entrepreneurial.htm. The
questionnaire comprises 16 items that evaluate the various dimensions of the model.
2.1.1 Prevalence and intentions
The respondents were asked about their intentions to start up a business. As other authors have
already done (Autio, Keeley, Klofsten and Hesinki, 1997; Gasse, 2003; Reitan, 1996), we
verified three aspects of their intentions, namely short-, medium- and long-term, that is during
their studies, and right after or long after graduating. In addition to their intentions, we
questioned the respondents about their entrepreneurial behaviour, inquiring as to whether they
had started up an activity, organization, association or business during their studies, either in or
outside of university.
2.1.2 Perceptions of desirability
The desirability of entrepreneurship was verified by professional aspirations. We asked students
in which environment they hoped to have a career (large firm, SME, public sector, or non-profit
organization). We also asked them if they were ready to take certain risks to reach a high social
or professional status.
2.1.3 Perceptions of feasibility
Certain questions allowed us to determine the perceived feasibility of entrepreneurship. For
example, the respondents were asked to give their opinion about what hinders entrepreneurial
1 http://cours.fsa.ulaval.ca/dynaforme/
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development. They were also asked to identify the factors that influenced entrepreneurial
development in the world economy.
2.1.4 Beliefs about entrepreneurship
A few questionnaire items focused on what the students associated with entrepreneurial spirit.
Another question dealt with the environments in which entrepreneurial spirit can be developed
(large firm, SME, public sector, or non-profit organization). Moreover, the respondents were
asked how well their academic activities fostered entrepreneurial development and how
effectively their university courses developed entrepreneurial spirit.
2.1.5 Personality traits, attitudes and motivations concerning entrepreneurship
Some of the items dealt specifically with the respondents' personality. The students had to note,
on a scale from 1 to 4, their level of agreement with certain statements such as: "I am generally
creative, full of ideas and open to change." The students in the sample were also questioned
about such themes as risk, independence, self-sufficiency, self-confidence and ambition. Finally,
they were asked to identify the motivations that could give them the incentive to create their own
business.
Six other questions concerning gender, age, education level, field of study, professional
experience, and presence of entrepreneurs in the family helped to determine the students' profile.
2.2 Sample characteristics
Of the 656 respondents, 257 came from Canada, 209 from Tunisia and 190 from France. Most of
the respondents were from 21 to 24 years old, with men representing close to 60% of the sample.
About half the people questioned were in the business field, whereas the others studied
engineering. Most of the students were enrolled in the bachelor's program (72%), and close to
70% already had some professional experience. In almost 40% of the cases, a family member ran
his or her own business.
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Table 1: Respondents' profile for the whole sample and for each country
WHOLE CANADA TUNISIA FRANCE
AGE
Under 21 years oldBetween 21 and 24 years old
Over 24 years old
24.4% 63.8% 11.8%
32.8% 50.8% 16.4%
7.2% 88.5% 4.3%
32.1% 54.2% 13.7%
GENDER Male
Female58.1% 41.9%
64.8% 35.2%
40.8% 59.2%
67.9% 32.1%
EDUCATION LEVEL Bachelor's
Master'sPh.D.
72.4% 25.8% 1.8%
98.0% 1.6% 0.4%
60.6% 34.6% 4.8%
51.3% 48.2% 0.5%
FIELD OF STUDY Business
Engineering51.5% 48.5%
46.8% 53.2%
52.3% 47.7%
55.8% 44.2%
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Yes No
Other
24.0% 72.9% 3.1%
19.8% 77.5% 2.8%
38.0% 58.2% 3.8%
14.3% 83.1% 2.6%
ENTREPRENEURS IN THE FAMILY Yes No
39.7% 60.3%
50.6% 49.4%
29.2% 70.8%
36.5% 63.5%
As can be seen in table 1, the sample presents a few notable differences depending on the
country of study. In particular, a large majority of the Tunisian respondents (88%) were between
21 to 24 years old, whereas this category was not as dominant among the Canadian and French
students. Moreover, the proportion of students in a bachelor's program was much larger for the
Canadian students, representing almost all the respondents (98%), whereas for the French and
Tunisians, a considerable proportion were in a master's program (35 and 48%). Furthermore, the
proportion of students who had some professional experience was slightly smaller among the
Tunisian students at 58%, as opposed to 83 and 78% for the French and Canadian students.
Finally, a greater proportion of the Canadian respondents had at least one close family member
who ran his or her own business. Slightly more than 50% of the Canadian respondents were in
this situation, as opposed to 29% of the Tunisians and 36% of the French.
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3. Results 3.1 Beliefs and perceptions about entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship can be associated with various notions and beliefs which vary according to
culture and accepted values. Our results highlight some of the differences in the students' beliefs
as a function of their place of study (Canada, Tunisia or France). One difference that stands out
is that Canadian students associated entrepreneurial spirit with business creation elements,
whereas French and Tunisian students were more likely to associate it with an increase in capital
and wealth and the development of a new product. Table 2 presents a comparison of the answers
to the question "What do you associate with entrepreneurial spirit?" according to the respondents'
country of study.
Table 2: Answers to the question
"What do you associate with entrepreneurial spirit?" by country of study
CANADA TUNISIA FRANCE Create your own business 44% 26% 35% Start and develop a project or activity 57% 41% 59% Organize and manage your own business 45% 33% 34% Take risks 23% 33% 35% Set up an NPO2 10% 4% 6% Increase your capital and wealth 13% 24% 25% Develop a new product or service 23% 34% 30% Other 4% 5% 9%
As can be seen in table 3, Canadian students were more likely to believe that entrepreneurial
spirit can be developed in the public sector and non-profit organizations. Table 3 compares the
different countries with regard to this question. It can be seen for instance that 77.8% of the
Canadians felt that entrepreneurial spirit can be developed in non-profit organizations as
compared to 36.8% for the Tunisian students and 58.9% for the French students. It is also worth
noting that the Tunisian students were much less likely to believe that entrepreneurial spirit can
be developed in large firms, the public sector or non-profit organizations.
2 Non‐profit organisation
12
As concerns beliefs and perceptions about entrepreneurs, Tunisian students were generally more
numerous (23%) to consider that entrepreneurs choose action over knowledge than were their
Canadian and French counterparts (12.5 and 14.7%). At 58%, they were also more numerous to
associate entrepreneurs with invention, as opposed to 26.1 and 31.1% for the Canadian and
French students.
Table 3: Beliefs, by country of study, about which environments lend themselves to the development of entrepreneurial spirit
CANADA TUNISIA FRANCE Large firms 82% 67% 81% Public sector 62% 30% 49% Non-profit organizations 81% 38% 60%
3.2 Personality traits and individual characteristics
A low percentage of the students considered that they were born entrepreneurs, ranging from 11
to 14% depending on the country. However, 64% of the Canadian students, 71% of the Tunisian
students and 57% of the French felt that they were enterprising people. The Canadian students
were more likely to believe themselves to be creative than were the French and Tunisian
students, scoring 3.32 on a scale of 4 as compared to 3.03 for the French and Tunisian students.
The Canadian students appreciated the independence and self-confidence that comes from
creating a business more than did the other two groups, scoring 3.28 on a scale of 4 as compared
to 3.12 and 3.09 for the French and Tunisian students. At 67.3%, they were also more likely to
take on difficult and ambitious tasks as opposed to 52.6% for the Tunisian students and only
35.9% for the French students.
Based on studies that show that attitude toward risk and ambition are personality traits that
influence entrepreneurial behaviour, we grouped the respondents according to this profile. A
total of 38.1% of the Canadian students corresponded to this profile, whereas the French students
only scored 25.3% and the Tunisians, 18.2%.
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3.3 Perception of feasibility
As concerns obstacles to entrepreneurship, opinions varied little (see table 5), though the French
were more likely to identify "overly complex procedures for the creation and management of a
business" as a sizeable obstacle. Moreover, unfavourable economic conditions seemed to
represent a larger obstacle for the French (38.9%) and Tunisians (36.8%) than for the Canadians
(19.8%).
Table 5: Perceived obstacles to entrepreneurial development by country of study
CANADA TUNISIA FRANCE Lack of profitable opportunities 18.7% 19.1% 24.2% Lack of support and help 24.1% 32.5% 29.5% Lack of financial means 55.3% 61.7% 58.4% Overly complex procedures for the creation and management of a business
With regard to the factors that influence the development of entrepreneurship in the world
economy, the Canadian students accorded more importance than the other two groups to people's
personalities, political conditions and the support system. The French students, on the other
hand, emphasized economic conditions. As for the Tunisian students, they accorded less
importance to the support system. Table 6 presents the results for the question concerning the
factors that influence entrepreneurial development in the world economy.
Tableau 6: Factors influencing entrepreneurial development in the world economy by country of study
CANADA TUNISIA FRANCE People's personalities 52% 33% 38% Political conditions 59% 44% 47% Economic conditions 66% 58% 70% Educational system 34% 34% 30% A favourable atmosphere for innovation in firms and institutions and easy access to resources 51% 52% 40%
Support system 36% 18% 31%
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Whatever their nationality, the respondents generally considered that certain academic activities
(projects, initiatives, job placements, simulations, etc.) fostered entrepreneurship in the students,
the percentage respectively being 88.3, 83.7 and 76.3% for the Canadians, Tunisians and French.
However, with regard to the courses given in their universities, these proportions decreased
considerably, with only 36.4% of the Tunisian students, 33.5% of the Canadians, and 23.2% of
the French considering that the courses developed entrepreneurial spirit in the students.
3.4 Perception of desirability
As for professional aspirations, the Tunisians distinguished themselves considerably from their
French and Canadian counterparts, with 77% hoping to work in a large firm, as opposed to 54.6
and 60.5% respectively. Moreover, less than 20% of the Tunisians wished to work in a small or
medium-sized business, whereas 59.9 and 49.5% of the Canadian and French students had this
ambition. On the other hand, whereas close to 20% of the French and Canadian students were
hoping for a career in the public sector, only 9.1% of the Tunisian students wanted to do the
same. Finally, the Canadians were most attracted to non-profit organizations at 12.1% as
compared to 6.7 and 8.4% for the Tunisians and French. A considerable proportion of the
respondents said they were ready to take some risks to reach a higher social and professional
status, with respective percentages of 64.2%, 57.0% and 55.8% for the Canadians, Tunisians and
French.
Table 7: Motivations by country of study CANADA TUNISIA FRANCE
Accept a challenge 53.3% 35.9% 30.5% Achieve personal fulfilment 70.0% 41.1% 55.3% Make money 37.4% 39.7% 30.5% Be your own boss 45.5% 51.7% 44.7%
The motivations for creating a business depended on the country of study. In particular, the
Canadian students were more motivated than were the Tunisian and French students by the
desire to accept a challenge and to achieve the personal fulfilment that can come from business
creation. Table 7 shows the students' motivations according to their country of study.
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3.5 Intentions and prevalence
Some of the respondents had already created, alongside their studies, an activity or business,
either at university or outside it. The proportion of students in this situation varied from 25 to
28% for the three countries. However, the Tunisian students were the most inclined to consider
entrepreneurship, with more than 80% of them thinking of eventually creating a business, for the
most part, immediately after graduating. The Canadians were next, though most of them were
considering an entrepreneurial career in the long-term. Intentions to start up a business were
somewhat lower among the French students. Indeed, the French students expressed the fewest
intentions in the short-, medium- and long-term. Table 8 shows the results according to country
for the students' entrepreneurial intentions.
Table 8: Intentions to create a business by country of study
CANADA TUNISIA FRANCE INTENTIONS TO CREATE A BUSINESS 63.8% 82.3% 56.8%
During studies 15% 17% 10% Just after graduating 31% 52% 19%
A long time after graduating 53% 32% 44%
3.4.1 Comparison of intentions and prevalence
The results concerning the students' entrepreneurial intentions and the prevalence of
entrepreneurs among the students were compared using certain variables. Table 9 presents the
entrepreneurial intentions for the whole sample and for each country according to these
variables. It can be seen, for example, that the French students had a lower intention rate than
those of the other two countries in several cases, particularly among the women, bachelor
students, engineering students and students without professional experience. It can also be seen
that the entrepreneurial intentions of the Tunisian students were particularly high.
The students that had characteristics associated with entrepreneurs ("entrepreneurial profile" in
the table), that is respondents who said that they 1) took on difficult and ambitious tasks, 2) were
ready to take risks to reach a higher social and professional status, and 3) were enterprising
16
people systematically had a higher intention rate than the rest of the sample. It can also be seen
that the students who had entrepreneurs in their family also had higher intentions, no matter what
country they came from.
Tableau 9: Entrepreneurial intentions of the students for the whole sample and for each country according to certain variables
Table 10 shows prevalence rates as a function of the same variables, for both the whole sample
and each country. The prevalence of the students who said that they had already started up a
business or had undertaken entrepreneurial activities was higher among male students over 24
years old. Consequently, there was a greater number of these students at the master's and Ph.D.
3 There was only one respondent in this category. 4 Ibid. 5 The respondents included in this category were those who said that they took on difficult and ambitious tasks, were ready to take risks to reach a higher social and professional status, and were enterprising people.
17
levels. Furthermore, as with intentions, the presence of entrepreneurs in the family seemed to be
associated with a higher rate of entrepreneurial activity.
Table 10: Prevalence of entrepreneurs for the whole sample and for each country according to certain variables
WHOLE CANADA TUNISIA FRANCE
PREVALENCE OF ENTREPRENEURS 26.0% 25.8% 24.0% 28.4%
AGE
Under 21 years oldBetween 21 and 24 years old
Over 24 years old
20.0% 26.9% 35.7%
19.3% 26.9% 35.7%
26.7% 23.4% 33.3%
19.7% 31.1% 38.5%
GENDER Male
Female28.2% 23.1%
27.1% 23.6%
30.1% 20.5%
28.7% 27.9%
EDUCATION LEVEL Bachelor's
Master'sPh.D.
23.3% 32.1% 33.3%
25.1% 75.0%
0%
19.8% 29.6% 30.0%
23.4% 32.6% 100%6
FIELD OF STUDY Business
Engineering27.1% 23.8%
24.1% 24.5%
28.4% 20.4%
29.2% 27.4%
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE YesNo
30.4% 11.6%
30.1% 12.0%
28.9% 12.7%
31.8% 7.4%
ENTREPRENEURS IN THE FAMILY YesNo
33.2% 21.2%
27.9% 23.0%
41.0% 16.9%
36.2% 24.5%
ENTREPRENEURIAL PROFILE7
YesNo
38.0% 20.9%
38.8% 17.8%
31.6% 21.3%
41.7% 23.9%
Discussion This article presents the initial results of a study conducted to: 1) better understand the
entrepreneurial intentions, interests and prevalence of university students in business and
engineering from Canada, Tunisia and France; 2) compare these groups with regard to their
beliefs and perceptions about entrepreneurship; 3) investigate the role played by certain variables
in the entrepreneurial process of university students.
6 There was only one respondent in this category. 7 The respondents included in this category were those who said that they took on difficult and ambitious tasks, were ready to take risks to reach a higher social and professional status, and were enterprising people.
18
Many of the university students polled had contemplated eventually creating their own business
or working for themselves. The percentage of students with entrepreneurial intentions was
67.7%, a somewhat higher rate than the 57.7% found by Filion et al. (2002) in a sample of
Québec students, or the 32.5% observed by Gasse and Tremblay (2006). It is worth noting
however that, contrary to Filion et al. (2002) and Gasse and Tremblay (2006), the intentions in
the present study investigated both business creation and self-employment, and involved, in
addition to the Canadian (Québec) students, Tunisian and French students. The results of the
present study point to greater short- and medium-term intentions than did those of Gasse and
Tremblay (2006). Indeed, the short- and medium-term intentions were 15% and 31% here,
whereas they were 7.9% and 14.8% in the previous study.
As concerns this last point, the French students, particularly the women, expressed fewer
intentions than did those of the other two countries. Curiously however, this same group had the
highest prevalence of entrepreneurs, with 28% of the French students already having undertaken
entrepreneurial activities. It is worth noting however that entrepreneurial activities were not
limited to creating a business but also included organizations and associations.
The results also allowed us to confirm the importance of certain personality traits with regard to
entrepreneurial intentions. As the results show, students who were ready to take risks and to take
on difficult and ambitious tasks were more inclined to consider entrepreneurship or to have
already done so. Of the three groups, the French students seemed to present a less entrepreneurial
profile, their responses indicating that they were less creative and less motivated by ambition and
challenges than were the Tunisian and Canadian students. According to the French students
moreover, their current university courses contributed little to entrepreneurial spirit. Considering
this, we can only suggest that the pedagogical activities and training provided in this region's
universities put more accent on creativity, self-sufficiency and initiative and try to develop the
attitudes, aptitudes and abilities required in entrepreneurship.
As concerns the Tunisian students, they expressed a higher entrepreneurial intention than did
students from the other two countries. Moreover, 60% of the Tunisian students who eventually
19
intended to create a business were women. They likewise accounted for 50% of their compatriots
who had already undertaken entrepreneurial activities. These results were markedly higher than
those of the Canadian and French students. When the beliefs and perceptions are regarded more
closely, it can also be seen that the Tunisian students were less likely to associate entrepreneurial
spirit with business creation, being more inclined to associate it with risk taking and an increase
in capital and wealth. For the Tunisian students moreover, entrepreneurial spirit was not solely
associated with small businesses but rather could also be developed in large firms. Furthermore,
the results showed that the Tunisians believed that not only was the help and support system not
a positive factor in entrepreneurial development, for close to one third of them, the lack of help
and support was actually an obstacle to entrepreneurship. Considering this last point, it is
reasonable to believe that concerned institutions, in particular universities, could provide more
student support services, given that almost half of the students who intended to start up a
business or become self-employed considered doing so upon graduation.
Finally, the Canadian students were much more likely to associate entrepreneurial spirit with the
creation, start-up and management of an organization. They associated entrepreneurship with
people's personalities. Moreover, the Canadians presented more characteristics associated with
entrepreneurship, namely creativity, ambition, attitude toward risk and ambition, independence
and self-sufficiency. Furthermore, as can be seen in the results, it was primarily self-fulfilment
and the inherent challenge that attracted these students to entrepreneurship. These results are in
keeping with Arenius and Minnitti (2005), who suggested that entrepreneurship should be
presented as a means of self-fulfilment in order to stimulate entrepreneurial development in post-
modern societies. While Gasse and Tremblay (2006) observed a growing number of women in
entrepreneurship, the results of the present study are more conservative. Whereas women
represented 37% of the students in the previous study who had already started up a business and
45% who intended to do so, they only represented 32% of the students in the present study who
had already undertaken entrepreneurial activities and 33% of those with entrepreneurial
intentions.
Though our results are preliminary, they tend to show that the university students' intentions
towards, beliefs about and perceptions of entrepreneurship differed from one country to another.
20
These analyses are, however, preliminary and will require further exploration. Likewise, as there
were only 16 items in the questionnaire, the impact and interpretation of the results remains
limited. The study nonetheless opens up some interesting avenues with regard to both the profile
of the university students in the three countries and their perceptions and beliefs about
entrepreneurial activities.
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