Soft skills on entrepreneurial readiness behaviours: Evidence from university students

Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Soft skills on entrepreneurial readiness behaviours: Evidence from university students
 
Creator Strampe, Stefan A. Rambe, Patient
 
Subject Entrepreneurship; Business Administration soft skills; entrepreneurial readiness behaviour; higher education institutions; venture creation; innovative financing; venture growth
Description Background: There is a growing body of literature on the contribution of hard skills to the enhancement of entrepreneurial behaviour. However, the role of acquiring soft skills in shaping entrepreneurial readiness is yet to be sufficiently comprehended.Aim: This research sought to examine the significance of soft skills in shaping the entrepreneurial readiness behaviour of students at higher education institutions in South Africa. Specifically, the study investigated the effects of soft skills on the selected dimensions of entrepreneurial readiness behaviour namely venture creation, innovative financing and venture growth.Setting: Students from the Central University of Technology (CUT) and the University of the Free State (UFS) participated in this study.Methods: A descriptive, explorative cross-sectional design involving 300 students enrolled for entrepreneurship courses, was adopted. Cluster sampling was employed as the main sampling technique. The average variance extracted (AVE), linear regression and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient were used as indicators of reliability and validity in the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) and Smart PLS software.Results: The results suggest that soft skills exert a positive, and significant, effect on the entrepreneurial readiness behaviour of students.Conclusion: This study provides critical insights into how entrepreneurial readiness behaviour can be explained through fostering soft skills, honing venture creation, innovative financing, venture growth and entrepreneurial activities of students.Contribution: The study contributes to the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) by demonstrating how soft skills create a germane context for the stimulating, exhibiting and actioning specific entrepreneurial behaviours among nascent entrepreneurs in South Africa.
 
Publisher AOSIS Publishing
 
Contributor Karen Booysen, University of the Free State, Centre for Graduate Support Takawira Ndofirepi, National University of Science and Technology, Graduate School of Business
Date 2024-03-20
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Online Questionnaire
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajesbm.v16i1.778
 
Source The Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management; Vol 16, No 1 (2024); 13 pages 2071-3185 2522-7343
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/778/1002 https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/778/1003 https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/778/1004 https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/778/1005
 
Coverage HEIs in the Free State, South Africa Fourth Industrial Revolution Age; Gender; HEI; Field of study; Exposure to Entrepreneurial Education
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Stefan Anton Strampe, Patient Rambe https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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