Abstract

CANEVER, Mario Duarte; KOHLS, Volnei Krause; LAGEMANN, Marcelo  and  RIGATTO, Paulo. Entrepreneurship: why do some students and not others choose to become entrepreneurs?. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2013, vol.13, n.1, pp. 101-124. ISSN 1808-4281.

The purpose of this research is to examine the entrepreneurial interest of undergraduate students and to explore the reasons why do some students and not others choose become entrepreneurs. The study was realized with 580 students (6% of the total) enrolled in six faculties of Pelotas Federal University in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil through a structured survey. While the results show that the entrepreneurial interest is high and relatively constant during the whole graduation period, only 6% of the students plan to start a new business after concluding their studies. This decision is associated to gender (male = higher) and age (older = higher) of the students. Those who plan to become an entrepreneur are basically motivated by the freedom. They also give more attention to social recognition, to activities outside the university, to the realization of several activities at the same time, and are less confident about the wage opportunities generated by the university degree. The study ends with implications for developing a more entrepreneurial university education.

Keywords : Students; Entrepreneurship; University; Abilities; Motivation.

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