Factors in Determining Entrepreneurial Motivation among University Students

Abstract

Nowadays, most graduate students are more interested to become an entrepreneur as soon as they graduate from the university. As a result, most universities and colleges have created and offered entrepreneurship related programs to cater for this growing need. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to investigate key factors in determining entrepreneurial motivation among university students. The key factors highlighted in this study include entrepreneurial skills, idea generation, and opportunity recognition in determining the entrepreneurial motivation among university students in Sabah, Malaysia. The respondents for this study were undergraduate and postgraduate students in four universities in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The data was collected using survey questionnaire. The total number of questionnaires distributed was 172. Based on the results and findings of this study, it was found that opportunity recognition was found to be significant on entrepreneurial motivation. However, entrepreneurial skills and idea generation did not have any significant effect on entrepreneurial motivation. This study can help to provide the information related to entrepreneurial motivation among university students in Malaysia and in Sabah particularly.