ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION AND SELF EFFICACY AMONG THE WOMEN STUDENTS

Abstract

Entrepreneurship, undoubtedly leads to the economic development of a country, but women entrepreneurship is much more important, since it can also lead to social upliftment and help eradicate evils like women harassment, domestic violence, gender stereotyping, glass ceiling effect etc. The survey report of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2016/2017) reveals that only 7.6% of Indian women are involved in early stage entrepreneurship, compared to 13.5% of men. The percentage of men involved in entrepreneurial activities is nearly twice as that of women. Any entrepreneurial activity starts with an intention and then progresses to subsequent action or behaviour. The initiation of entrepreneurial activity largely depends on the strength of the intention and also on the personality aspects of the person. The belief that they possess the necessary skills and traits to become an entrepreneur is quintessential for the intention to convert into action. This belief is termed as entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Though the term entrepreneurial self-efficacy is popularly known, it has not been widely studied especially among the women entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial self-efficacy of the students was measured using a 10 and 5 items scale respectively. The questionnaires used have been adapted from previous research studies conducted in these fields. In order to understand the influence of entrepreneurship exposure on the entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial self-efficacy levels, the study was conducted using two groups, in which one group of students were given opportunity to participate in entrepreneurial training programs, special talks by eminent entrepreneurs, etc.