Igniting Entrepreneurial Spirit: Influence of Entrepreneurial Education, Awareness, and Government Support on Influential Entrepreneurial Intention

Abstract

Entrepreneurial education is a pivotal element in fostering entrepreneurial intention. However, several educational challenges in Pakistan have been recognized, including inadequate educational infrastructure, limited funds, and a traditional pedagogical system. To address such issues, a comprehensive model has been developed to inspect the crucial role of entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurial intention with the mediated role of entrepreneurial awareness and moderating the impact of government support, particularly at Pakistani university students. The data was gathered by an organized questionnaire utilizing a quantitative technique, targeting 775 final-year students across ten universities in the Punjab, Pakistan, using a simple random sampling technique. Utilizing SmartPLS for analysis, the study tested five hypotheses grounded on SCT. The findings reveal that entrepreneurial education significantly shapes a mindset that fosters students' entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, entrepreneurial awareness is a vital mediating factor enhancing the association of entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial intention. Additionally, government support confidently moderates the connection between entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial intention awareness. The study craves new pathways in business education, offering valuable insights for policy-makers and academicians alike, emphasizing the necessity for increasing focus on developing entrepreneurial activities, restructuring the educational curricula, and improving teaching methodologies. The proposed model is novel, offering a unique framework for understanding the importance of government support in raising entrepreneurship at the national level.