Conceptualization of Factors Affecting the Tendency of Higher Education Graduates to Entrepreneurship by Meta-Synthesis Method

In recent years, the number of unemployed university graduates has grown dramatically, posing a challenge to the country's planning system. Entrepreneurial activities, which is less welcomed by university graduates, is a good way to deal with this issue. In this research, the internal and external factors of university graduates' tendency to entrepreneurial activities have been studied and conceptualized using the meta-syntheses method. The articles published in reputable domestic and foreign scientific databases were identified, surveyed, coded and analyzed. Then, using "qualitative research interview" method, the opinions of elites was received to satisfy parallelism rule. Ten semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted until theoretical saturation was achieved. The findings of this study led to the identification of 40 themes and 12 topics that affect the tendency of university graduates to entrepreneurial activities and play a role in a range of independent or intertwined influences. Acording to the research findings, although the most repetition is related to individual level factors such as personality factors (education, personal development, risk-taking, etc.), but environmental variables such as: policy-making and political stability; Economic variables; Regional potentials, social support; Culture; The relationship between university, industry and government influences the tendency of university graduates to engage in entrepreneurial activities.