Factors Affecting Entrepreneurial Mindset among Students in Higher Learning Institutions

Abstract

Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in driving economic growth, innovation, and employment generation, particularly among the younger generation. However, entrepreneurial intention among Malaysian university students remains relatively low, highlighting the need to better understand the factors that shape their entrepreneurial mindset. This study aims to examine the relationship between risk-taking, innovativeness, locus of control, need for achievement, and self-efficacy on the entrepreneurial mindset of Malaysian university students. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this research focuses on final-year students from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). A total of 103 responses were collected through online questionnaires, and the data were analyzed using multiple regression techniques. The findings demonstrate that innovativeness, need for achievement, and self-efficacy are significantly and positively associated with entrepreneurial mindset, with self-efficacy emerging as the most influential predictor. Conversely, risk-taking propensity and locus of control were not found to have significant effects. These results highlight the importance of psychological and cognitive factors in shaping students’ entrepreneurial mindset. The significant contributions of this study, along with recommendations for future research and its limitations, are also discussed.