Determinants of Entrepreneurial Behavior among Iranian Students: A Gender Analysis

Entrepreneurship is a concept that is used for value-creating activities and plays an important role in the development of technology and innovation, job creation, and economic development. Although the entrepreneurship literature has increasingly focused on investigating the factors influencing entrepreneurial intention based on intention-based models, no coherent study has ever been conducted to identify the factors underpinning the formation of entrepreneurial behavior among students, especially agricultural students, in Iran's higher education system. To fill this gap, the present study uses the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to conduct a gender analysis in order to explain the entrepreneurial behavior of students in Iran's agricultural higher education system. The statistical population of the research included all senior undergraduate students of agricultural fields in Iran's higher education system, out of whom 455 were selected by multi-stage sampling from nine universities. The results showed that the variables of attitude toward entrepreneurship, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control had a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial intention and behavior among the studied agricultural students. In addition, the results of multiple comparisons analysis showed that the gender variable moderated the effect of attitude toward entrepreneurship, subjective norms, and behavioral control on entrepreneurial intention. The present findings indicate the applicability and reliability of TPB among Iranian agricultural students, so policymakers and planners of governmental and educational institutions can use the results of this research to formulate strategies and solutions to promote entrepreneurship among agricultural students.