Business Startup Intention among the Students of School of Agriculture at Shiraz University: Application of Employability Approach

Analysis of entrepreneurial orientation and employability of Shiraz University agricultural students in order to start personal business after graduation was the main purpose of current study. Conducting a mixed method, the study was acoopmlished using quantitative and qualitative methods in 2020. The research population was all of the School of Agriculture students at Shiraz University (1874 students) that a random sample of 365 individuales were selected through stratified random samplling method. The data was collected through a questionnaire which its face validity and reliability were confrmed through the professors of the Department of Agricultural Extension and Education at Shiraz University as well as conducting a pilot study with 30 students out of the main sample. In-depth interviews with the members of Shiraz University council of employability improvement (12 individuales) were done using purposeful samplling technique in qualitative phase due to the case study. Based on quantitative findings and the structural equation modelling results, total mean, attending in workshops, entrepreneurship courses experience, startup attending experience, attitude toward favorable internship, personal development skills, business skills and entrepreneurial orientation were the effecting factors on students` tendency toward business startup. Finally, due to the qualitative findings, the strategies for improvement of students` employability at University could be presented as educational, implementation, supportive and intencive strategies.