Abstract
Entrepreneurship promotion continues to be an important domain for economic policy and growth. Closely related to entrepreneurship promotion are the very individuals engaging with entrepreneurship, whose belief and efforts to succeed are highly correlated with their view that they ‘have what it takes”, measured as entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE). ESE has thus become a critical factor toward understanding entrepreneurship support. However, most extant scholarship focuses on formal and university education, while little is said about incorporating entrepreneurship and ESE with technical vocational education and training (TVET) to develop entrepreneurs. This is surprising because so many micro and small businesses, particularly trades, are heavily anchored in TVET. This study compares academic and TVET post-secondary students in Trinidad and Tobago to determine the factors that enhance their ESE. Data emerged from three (3) regression models explaining how academic and TVET students’ ESE are correlated with several factors. Parents with a university degree, friends who are entrepreneurs and an extracurricular focus on entrepreneurship were vital factors that saw a positive correlation with ESE among the TVET population. In contrast, academic students are driven primarily by experiences. Full-time work experience and entrepreneurial experiences were significantly correlated with the ESE of academic students. Our work highlights that academic and TVET students’ ESE have different world views that impact education. This study demonstrates the importance of tailoring entrepreneurial learning for TVET students by linking ESE with cultural capital theory. We found that when teaching academic students entrepreneurship, more emphasis should be placed on experiential learning. Our research provides empirical findings we believe to be both unique and highly relevant to the literature of entrepreneurship education.
Keywords
Introduction
During the past few decades, scholars in the business and political world have celebrated entrepreneurship as a tool for economic development worldwide (Galvão et al., 2018) highlighting its influence across many sectors, from healthcare to education (Decker-Lange et al., 2021). Entrepreneurship is considered an essential vehicle for national building both in the developed and developing world (Atmojo et al., 2019; Fayolle & Linan, 2014; Wiklund et al., 2019).
The growing demand for entrepreneurship education signals a widespread consensus among scholars, educators and policymakers that entrepreneurship is imperative for growing an economy (Kirzner, 1985; Baumol, 2002; Dhaliwal, 2017; Sousa et al., 2019; Decker-Lange et al., 2021). Worldwide, many higher education institutions provide entrepreneurial courses, often becoming among their most popular offerings (Murphy et al., 2019).
Entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) is an essential research tool that has been factored into assessing entrepreneurial research within the past decade. Increasing ESE has proven to positively affect entrepreneurial ambitions towards an entrepreneurial pursuit. As well, ESE has been a crucial and helpful factor in determining the strength of entrepreneurial intentions and the likelihood that someone’s intentions will result in entrepreneurial actions. (Chen et al., 1998). ESE can be summarized as an estimation of a person’s confidence and their self-evaluation in their ability to launch a successful entrepreneurial enterprise (McGee et al., 2009). ESE is rooted in the concept that individuals believe in themselves and possess the adequate skills to successfully perform an entrepreneur’s roles and duties (Boyd & Vozikis, 1994; Scherer et al., 1989).
While there has been much research on entrepreneurship in higher education, little can be said regarding technical vocational education and training (TVET). Many studies focus on entrepreneurial research within academia (Iakovleva et al., 2011; Van Gelderen et al., 2008; Wang & Wong, 2004). Some investigations conduct entrepreneurial research at primary and secondary levels (Güven, 2009; Finisterra do Paço, 2011; Moberg, 2014). However, there is a dearth of entrepreneurial research done within TVET. With this in mind, we contribute to the literature by comparing TVET and academic students. We investigate the factors that correlate with the ESE between these two groups.
Technical vocational education and training students undergo training for a trade or an industry while in school, and this exposure provides them with essential employability skills (Aldossari, 2020). Many governments, academics and policymakers have extolled the importance of TVET as an essential component needed to address various economic and social challenges, promoting career development and helping young adults enhance their entrepreneurial skills (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2022). In this study, we explore the differences in the ESE of academic (higher education enrolled at a university) students and TVET (learning skilled trades and enrolled at an institution other than a university) students. Notably, the TVET schools we examine do not provide business education.
This study makes several contributions to the field of entrepreneurship education research and TVET. First, we add to the literature on TVET by focusing on ESE. Secondly, we help address the dearth of research on ESE for TVET students and institutions, especially within the developing world. We focus on Small Island and Developing States (SIDS), where trade expertise is often limited. SIDS have a shortage of research capacity, with few scholars engaged in research activities (Mijts et al., 2019). Thirdly, we contribute to the literature on experiential and social influencers that have a direct relationship with students by comparing academic and TVET students. In addition, we examine the factors associated with students’ ESE, identifying the diverse factors that would correlate with the ESE among post-secondary students in two separate and distinct fields of study. Lastly, we contribute to the literature by examining the role of extracurricular activities centered on entrepreneurship. We examine how extracurricular activities have a direct relationship with the ESE among students, especially among TVET students.
Theory and Hypotheses
“TVET is regarded as an economic tool to alleviate poverty and unemployment.” (UNESCO-UNEVOC, 2012). According to Juhari et al. (2023), entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) positively affects the entrepreneurial intentions of TVET students. Research (Adeniyi et al., 2022) showed that ESE had a significant and meaningful relationship with TVET students’ entrepreneurial readiness. Another study done in Indonesia (Islami & Elmunsyah, 2017) revealed that self-efficacy played an incremental factor in TVET students’ entrepreneurial readiness as well.
Research in Trinidad and Tobago showed a relationship between students’ ESE and entrepreneurial intentions (Esnard, 2012). Therefore, ESE is a vital component in improving entrepreneurial outcomes. As we explore ESE between two diverse groups of students, certain scholars (Christensen et al., 2023) have argued that some students are more inclined towards entrepreneurship than others. Therefore, we intend to explore ESE among two broad categories of postsecondary students in the present paper. By contrasting the factors associated with the ESE of academic and TVET students, we seek to ascertain the determinants related to inculcating entrepreneurial desires in them. Both groups of students are trained along different lines of education and possess varying educational experiences. Their diverse skills are of interest to us as they may aid in informing how ESE can be taught in institutions. An important outcome of this research will be understanding what measures may be associated with students' entrepreneurial intentions. Thus, we are exploring the varying factors that might be related to the ESE of academic and TVET students.
Role Models That are Entrepreneurs
Our study is predicated on the theory of role models. We investigate role models with pre-existing strong ties, such as parents and friends. Research highlights the significance of role models and the influence they play in crafting entrepreneurial desires. Scholars have examined how self-employed fathers can increase the probability of males pursuing entrepreneurship (Hoffman et al., 2015; Bosma et al., 2012). Research studied role models within the family and friends, noting that these relationships had a positive effect on influencing persons into entrepreneurship. Parents that are entrepreneurs help in the socialization of their children toward pursuing an entrepreneurial path (Fellnhofer, 2017). Several studies (Aldrich et al., 1998; Hout & Rosen, 1999) showed that role models in the form of entrepreneurial friends and parents influenced career choices and self-efficacy.
According to Hoffmann et al. (2015), parents are critical role-model figures that help explain why entrepreneurship is maintained within the family. There is a high percentage of parents that are entrepreneurs who have children that will follow their example, whether they be adolescents or adults (Sørensen, 2007). Research in Germany showed that self-employed parents influenced their children to follow an entrepreneurial path, referred to as the parental role effect (Chlosta, et al., 2012). Parental role models are likely to be vital in explaining the intergenerational diffusion of entrepreneurial propensities (Hofmann et al., 2015).
Not only parents but also friends provide mentorship for potential entrepreneurs, and this can play an essential role in enhancing entrepreneurial intentions (Nowiński & Haddoud, 2019). Friends’ support often translates into people believing in their capabilities to accomplish particular tasks (self-efficacy) and helps with motivating them to pursue an entrepreneurial career (Lee et al., 2011). Friends provide support in the form of advice, guidance and assistance for entrepreneurial endeavors (Neneh, 2022).
Despite the plethora of work examining the issue of role models, a research gap exists in previous scholarship that has yet to examine relationships related to students within technical vocational education and training (TVET). This is important because vocational education plays an essential role in economic development and results in many trade-related entrepreneurial activities and career opportunities. TVET is known for its effectiveness in social and economic development (Peters, 2021).
We compare TVET and academic students to determine how role models can be associated with their ESE. We seek to contribute to the literature by exploring the influence of role models among TVET and academic students. We examine how role models can be correlated with social influence. Social influence can result in contagion, defined by Schoenewolf (1990) as a “process in which a person or group influences the emotions or behavior of another person or group through the conscious or unconscious induction of emotion states and behavioral attitudes.” Scholars Nanda and Sørensen (2010) highlighted in their research that an employee is prone to gravitate towards entrepreneurship if their colleagues at work have entrepreneurial experience, even if they are not close friends.
Social influence is rooted in entrepreneurship. People are influenced by friends and family directly and indirectly. When a person has a family member as a business owner, they demonstrate a tendency to operate a business as well (Honig, 1998).
An individual social network may comprise peers involved in entrepreneurship who act as entrepreneurial role models and mentors and may be key influencers in their life (Kacperczyk, 2013; Lafuente et al., 2007; Saxenian, 1994). Establishing a business is embedded in social interactions (Newbert & Tornikoski, 2011, 2012). Additionally, entrepreneurship is a social phenomenon (Aldrich & Zimmer, 1986; Hoang & Antoncic, 2003). Knowing someone can result in that individual being a key influencer (Arenius & Minniti, 2005) that can provide tangible and intangible resources that can shape entrepreneurial attitudes and behavior (Hoang & Yi, 2015).
Numerous scholars have studied the importance of social influencers and the importance of social support (Klyver et al., 2018; De Carolis et al., 2009; Hoang & Antoncic, 2003). In addition, social capital and its influence on entrepreneurship have been extensively studied by several authors, which have shown the importance of social influence on entrepreneurship (Davidsson & Honig, 2003; De Carolis & Saparito, 2006; Gedajlovic et al., 2013; Honig & Karlsson, 2010). The importance of the family and members of the entrepreneur’s household as support has also been studied (Chlosta et al., 2012; Dunn & Holtz-Eakin, 2000; Nicolaou et al., 2008). Other researchers found that students who have self-employed family members provide a sense of optimism, which improves the ESE among the students, compared to students who do not have family members as entrepreneurs (Dempsey & Jennings, 2014; Zellweger et al., 2011). Persons who engage in small business activity are likely to rely on the advice of friends or relatives to retain confidentiality and personal control (Bennett & Robson, 1999). Greene and Brown (1997) found that entrepreneurs choose friends and family because they may be able to provide them with the necessary resources.
Both academic and TVET students are influenced by role models (parents and friends). The stigmatization of TVET students is a prominent feature in the Caribbean, with the perception that their education is of lesser value than their academic counterparts (CANTA, 2012). While we did not study other regions, we believe this feature of diminished value associated with the status of TVET occurs elsewhere. For instance, parents and guardians in Ghana and other African nations discouraged their children and dependents from pursuing TVET studies in favor of academic education (Essel et al., 2014). In addition, TVET is stigmatized in Saudi Arabia (Aldossari, 2020). A study tour carried out in Germany found that many employers reiterated that there was a stigma attached to TVET (Mack, 2015). We examine how academic and TVET students choose different people as their role models, likely influenced by how similar their career and education pathways are to that of their role model. Role models might have a greater influence on TVET students because they may be able to demonstrably break through conventional social status biases. For example, a study carried out among TVET students showed that role models were among the highest determinants for students’ entrepreneurial intentions, in contrast with teaching and learning methods (Roslan et al., 2020). Based on the previous discussion, we provide the reader with the following hypotheses:
TVET students are more likely to be influenced by role models in the form of parents and friends; thus, there is a positive relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and familiarity with role models among TVET students compared to academic students.
Academic students are less likely to be influenced by role models in the form of parents and friends; thus, the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and role model familiarity is weaker for academic students than for TVET students.
Cultural and Human Capital
Another factor we examine is parents’ education, which we explore through the lens of cultural and human capital. Moving forward, we will explore both subjects. We intend to put forward ideas related to cultural and human capital. The rationale is to share ideologies as it relates to how both subjects (cultural and human capital) can be associated with the ESE of students. We will highlight both cultural and human capital in relation to two groups of students. The idea is to determine if one group of students will see a positive relationship between their parents’ education (university) and their ESE.
Cultural Capital
Cultural capital theory is associated with Bourdieu (1977, 1984, 1986; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990). Cultural capital is an investment leading to social status that carries currency, which can be used to obtain resources in the future (Kingston, 2001; Lamont & Lareau, 1988). Research highlights that cultural capital involves attitudes, preferences, formal knowledge, behaviors, goals, and credentials (Kingston, 2001). These are often demonstrated by the clothing people choose to wear, the music they listen to, the books and literature they read and are familiar with, as well as their language, accent, and preferences (Kingston, 2001). In addition, cultural capital allows parents to transfer their knowledge and education to their children (students). According to Kingston (2001), cultural capital does not merely focus on a particular class of individuals but facilitates the success of anyone who demonstrates it. Furthermore, according to research endorsed by National Endowment for the Arts (2001), cultural capital helps with students’ competence or ability (Dumais, 2002).
Cultural capital has the ability to transfer attitudes and particular goals from parents to students (Kingston, 2001). Thus, we examine the cultural capital of education and knowledge among academic and TVET students to investigate if it will be transferred to their children, examining the relationship between ESE and parents’ education. Cultural capital is the transferal of intellectual resources from parents to children, and it is likely to be different between parents and children of TVET versus academic higher education. Research has shown (Sullivan, 2001) that when students acquire cultural capital from their parents, they are more successful with their exams (Lareau & Weininger, 2003). As well, cultural capital is the ability of parents to provide intellectual knowledge and cultural resources that can be used for their children when applying for college by helping them navigate the admission process, knowledge not provided during their time at school (Lareau & Weininger, 2003). Both academic and TVET students will receive cultural capital from their parents. TVET parents will transfer their cultural capital to their children by assisting them in navigating the vocational education system because of their cultural experiences. Presumably, a parent more skilled in a trade would be in a better position to transfer relevant social capital to a TVET student than, say, a parent with a law degree. However, a parent with additional cultural capital might also be in a position to extend their social network to provide important inputs, such as capital, banking relationships, and wealthy customers to their children engaging in entrepreneurial activities. Those parents with extended cultural capital who have children taking a course of study akin to self-employment (Mack et al., 2019) may be in a better position to support their child’s entrepreneurial role. On the other hand, academic students' parents will transfer cultural capital to help them navigate their academic studies, such as better exam results (Lareau & Weininger, 2003), thus focusing on a professional career. In both ways, parents will transmit cultural and intellectual resources, which will be in the form of cultural capital.
According to Sonnert (2009), parents with higher education will influence their children to pursue a career in relation to their studies, thus influencing their career decisions towards a non-entrepreneurial career. Our study provides some unique insight into the role cultural capital plays in the success of children, even those not pursing an academic career, which is impacted by the level of education their parents acquire (Prieur & Savage, 2013).
Human Capital
Human capital theory states that people’s learning capabilities are comparable to other resources that lead to the creation of goods and services (Lucas, 1988, 1990). According to Muyia Nafukho et al. (2010), profits emerge for individuals, organizations and society at large when human capital is effectively utilized.
According to Wood & Breyer (2017), higher education provides success at various levels. For example, at an individual level, getting accepted to a university may lead to completing a relevant degree resulting in obtaining an ideal or even a ‘dream job’ (Wood & Breyer 2017). Success can result in acquiring new knowledge that leads to personal development. Further higher education can contribute to human capital development at a national level (Wood & Breyer, 2017). Formal education has allowed individuals to acquire explicit knowledge, which may benefit entrepreneurs (Davidsson & Honig, 2003). There is a strong relationship between income and education. Education is an investment in human capital. Many people invest in education, which is supported by higher life income (Wolla & Sullivan, 2017). In addition, there is also a strong link between wealth and education. Thus, higher income makes it easier for individuals to build wealth by saving (Wolla & Sullivan, 2017). Educated parents are able to provide a better environment for their children (Chevalier et al., 2013). We suspect that parents with more education may have additional financial resources to give their children a head start in their entrepreneurial efforts. As mentioned, parents with higher education tend to encourage their children to pursue university education toward a non-entrepreneurial career – this is a trajectory they are quite familiar with. Human capital can be transferred between generations in that the educational level of parents will influence their children’s overall academic performance and achievements (Idris et al., 2020). From the academic students’ perspective, having parents with high human capital provides them with advantages in their confidence towards pursuing higher education, leading them to follow an academic path and not an entrepreneurial one. From the TVET student perspective, having parents with higher human capital provides them with advantages in their confidence, as their parents can better assist them with opening a business. Yet, the cultural capital of both academic and TVET students is likely to be transferred. We believe cultural and human capital will be manifested and conferred among the TVET students. Hence, this confidence level can inspire, motivate and encourage those children who decide to pursue an entrepreneurial path. Based on these observations, we put forward the following hypotheses:
There will be a positive correlation between ESE and parents’ education among TVET students.
The relationship between ESE and parents’ education will be weaker for academic children whose parents have academic backgrounds than TVET students.
Extracurricular
We now examine extracurricular activity in terms of experiential learning. Pocek et al. (2021) stated that one way to obtain learning outside the formal curriculum is to engage students in extracurricular startup programs that take place in higher education and occur as experiential learning outside the normal classroom. Experiential learning is a process where students engage in actual scenarios that may involve them assuming real roles and not just role-playing (Gaggiotti et al., 2020). In general, there is a scarcity of research on extracurricular startup programs and their impact on student entrepreneurship (Morris et al., 2017; Preedy et al., 2020; Shirokova et al., 2017), particularly regarding TVET. Informal, non-accredited societies or clubs that are student-led enterprises are a mechanism used to attract students to engage in entrepreneurial pursuits to develop their entrepreneurial competencies (Pocek et al., 2021). Some scholars have viewed extracurricular entrepreneurial programs as a social learning system, helping students to find a community where they can obtain a connection to networks and get exposure to relationships and at the same time obtain some practice being an entrepreneur (Cope, 2005; Rae, 2002; Wenger, 1998). Extracurricular startup activities are essential to students since they may never encounter an entrepreneurial environment. Extracurricular programs with an entrepreneurial focus can expose students to the entrepreneurial way of life (Gibb, 2002; Kwong et al., 2012), enabling them to foster or strengthen entrepreneurial skills.
Providing students with a rich entrepreneurial environment, such as extracurricular activities with an entrepreneurial focus, can support students’ entrepreneurial capacities. Strengthening students’ skills can also enhance their ESE. Research by Pocek et al. (2021) showed that exposing students to extracurricular activities with an entrepreneurial focus can bring about competencies in venture creation and engender initiatives and resourcefulness among students. Additionally, this exposure can provide a source of inspiration to one another. Previous research done by Pittaway et al., (2015) showed that extracurricular programs such as student clubs could cultivate entrepreneurial endeavors through social exercises. Several studies have revealed that students on the individual level partaking in extracurricular entrepreneurial pursuits have benefitted from entrepreneurial practice (Pittaway et al., 2015) and the opportunity to connect with their peers (Cordea, 2014; Pittaway et al., 2015).
While much research has examined entrepreneurial training, there is a dearth of these opportunities within institutions of learning in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). There is an opportunity to promote entrepreneurial culture in T&T, suggesting that entrepreneurship education can be improved within the three levels of the education system: primary, secondary and tertiary (Ramkissoon-Babwah, 2012). Currently, skills/competencies-based education and training in T&T are largely absent (Ramkissoon-Babwah, 2012). In the Caribbean, entrepreneurship education exposure is often limited in the education system, including tertiary institutions (Devonish et al., 2010). According to Esnard-Flavius (2010), there is a wealth of research done in the developed world; however, the same cannot be said for developing countries like the Caribbean, where there is a scarcity of research (Mack et al., 2021).
Extracurricular entrepreneurship programs will positively influence both academic and TVET students; it’s just that academic students have more options at school as they will be exposed to a wide array of extracurricular activities. On the other hand, TVET students are often exposed to extracurricular activities in the form of field trips to work sites and industrial factories involving their education. In several instances, TVET students work in the industry and are exposed to real work-life scenarios while they pursue their vocational training (Mack, 2020). So, the extracurricular activity that academic students are exposed to, more than likely, may produce a marginal effect on them, while that of TVET students will be more focused on entrepreneurial training.
Also, the Caribbean is characterized by the non-exposure of entrepreneurship in schools as well as the lack of extra-curricular activities with an entrepreneurial focus in TVET and academic institutions in T&T. Nevertheless, TVET students in T&T are exposed to real work-life experiences and undergo practical exposure on the job (Ryan et al., 2013). Although there is little to no entrepreneurial training at TVET schools, students are more likely to be influenced by extracurricular activities with an entrepreneurial focus because they are often imparted with practical skills that focus on business and client relations.
Engaging in extracurricular activities can produce considerable entrepreneurial benefits, primarily to TVET students. It provides opportunities to practice fundamental entrepreneurial skills. We examine how students’ exposure to extracurricular activities with an entrepreneurial focus will have a positive association with their ESE. In conjunction with the advancement of entrepreneurship programs, prior research has seen a growth in the provision of extracurricular curricular enterprise support with numerous activities geared towards bolstering entrepreneurial knowledge and competencies (Rae et al., 2012; Vanevenhoven & Drago, 2015). While this is the case, based on the evidence above, academic institutions in T&T are not exposed to entrepreneurship training. We, therefore, share the following hypotheses:
TVET students’ ESE will demonstrate a positive relationship between ESE and extracurricular activity with an entrepreneurial focus.
Academic students will not demonstrate a relationship between ESE and extracurricular programs with an entrepreneurial focus.
Prior work experience and entrepreneurial experience
Experience can influence entrepreneurship, whether it be work experience or experience as an entrepreneur. Social cognitive theory (SCT) (Bandura, 1977) has been widely used when studying ESE’s antecedents. In addition, other scholars have explored SCT to examine the paths by which ESE can be developed (Chen et al., 1998; Dempsey & Jennings, 2014; DeNoble et al., 1999). A popular pathway that speaks to SCT is ‘the mastery experience (Newman et al., 2019). The most prominent source that can shed light on efficacy information is a person’s history of their performance accomplishments (Bandura, 1986). Additionally, prior achievements elevate efficacy evaluations (Dempsey & Jennings, 2014). Previous successes can provide a platform to boost one’s self-efficacy. Contemplating what was achieved in the past can bolster a person’s self-efficacy, thus elevating their ESE. Prior work experience and entrepreneurial expertise has shown to be positively correlated with an individual’s ESE. Previous know-how gives an individual confidence, which can have a rewarding influence on one’s personality, ambitions, and ESE. Prior work experience has also been shown to be a factor in promoting ESE (Bahaw, 2015). Additionally, research has shown that an individual’s experience in creating and managing one’s venture cultivates ESE because it provides mastery experiences and vicarious learning (Lee et al., 2016; Zhao et al., 2005).
Technical vocational education and training students that engage in the dual system, which is theoretical knowledge and industry training, simultaneously generate relevant work experience and possess an advantage over students that engage in higher education (Oswald-Egg & Renold, 2021). Work experience has been shown to be the biggest obstacle for university students in obtaining employment (Institute of Student, Employers, 2021). According to Ryan et al. (2013), TVET students in T&T often engage in hands-on training at school in designated learning areas (workshops), allowing these students to engage in practical experience. Further, they are trained in the industry, working with employers in the skilled trades who may transfer tacit knowledge. In addition, TVET students’ training involves exposure to real-life work experiences they undertake during their schooling (Aldossari, 2020). TVET students’ scenarios often provide them with work and entrepreneurial experiences through experiential education.
Experiential expertise, whether from past work experiences or entrepreneurial proficiency, can promote individual ESE. Experiences tend to foster positive cognitive and psychological feelings in an individual. When an individual possesses broad work experience, research has shown that these experiences develop a person’s ESE (Farashah, 2015; Hockerts, 2017; Pfeifer et al., 2016). Research among secondary school students has shown a significant relationship between work experience and ESE, especially among male students (Kickul et al., 2008). Davidsson and Honig (2003) investigated work experience and its relation to nascent activity among entrepreneurs; and found a small but positive effect between work experience and entrepreneurship. They found that persons with prior entrepreneurial experience are more likely to be nascent entrepreneurs.
Several studies have shown a positive relationship between self-efficacy and performance accomplishments, including demonstrating the most efficacious predictor of performance (Chen et al., 1998). Performance and their outcomes are factors of self-efficacy, not just the effect (Chen et al., 1998). Naktiyok et al. (2010) stated that mastery experiences are personal achievements regarding the successful or unsuccessful consequence of prior experiences, which impacts the self-efficacy perception of a person.
In this study, we examine positive aspects of prior work experience and experience as an entrepreneur, which we study with TVET students. Possessing these experiences may provide TVET students with essential experiential know-how, which can have a significant relationship with their ESE. Furthermore, these factors (prior work experience and experience as an entrepreneur) may be able to help TVET students’ foster positive feelings towards venture creation, improving their ESE. The same cannot be said about academic students, where there is little to no work experience or entrepreneurship offered at the institutions they attend. Therefore, we propose the following hypotheses:
TVET students’ exposure to entrepreneurship will be correlated with ESE.
A lack of entrepreneurship exposure will result in academic students seeing no relationship with ESE.
TVET students’ exposure to full-time work experience will be positively associated with ESE.
Academic students will not show a relationship between full-time labor and ESE.
Conceptual Framework
Our study proposes the framework as illustrated in Figure 1. In this study, we seek to investigate what factors correlate with the ESE; (our outcome variable) of students. We examine two groups of students. The intention is to study the relationship of our explanatory variables with our outcome variable. We study academic and TVET students, two different student populations. Our work explores five predictor variables: Parents' education, role models, extracurricular activities with an entrepreneurial focus, full-time work experience and persons that are currently entrepreneurs. We aim to investigate the relationship that exists between our explanatory variables and our outcome variable. Our study seeks to assess the correlations that emanate from the two student groups that pursue two diverse streams of education. Proposed conceptual framework.
Methods
Sample
This study is designed to understand the drivers behind students’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy within post-secondary institutions (PSI). We targeted students attending PSIs in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), which included universities and technical vocational training and training (TVET) institutions that operate at the tertiary level of education. We looked at T&T because it is one of the most advanced countries in the Caribbean, with the second-highest per capita income (European Commission, n.d.). According to the World Bank (n.d.), T&T is a high-income nation rich in natural resources. Oil and gas production accounted for 37% of the country’s Gross Development Product (GDP). Minerals and fuels accounted for 70% of T&T’s exports (World Bank, n.d.). T&T saw successive economic growth from 2000 to 2008, which stood at 8%. Nevertheless, they have witnessed weak GDP growth and slow recovery in 2012-2013 and have seen contractions and deterioration within their economy from 2015 to now (World Bank, n.d.). Although T&T has seen economic growth, they are lagging in social advancement (European Commission, n.d.). The most challenging task T&T faces is diversifying its economy into new paths that will create job opportunities (European Commission, n.d.). Education and training can be an agent to diversify T&T’s economy away from the dependence on oil and gas (Ministry of Science Technology & Tertiary Education, 2010).
We split the respondents into two groups for our analysis: academic and TVET. The TVET institutions are PSI 1, PSI 2, PSI 3, PSI 4, PSI 5, PSI 6 and PSI 7. The academic institutions are PSI 8 and PSI 9. The institutions train students in higher education and the skills trades, covering many subject areas. Out of the 419 collected responses, 221 were fully completed resulting in a 52.7% response rate leaving us with 221 participants to compare for our analysis: 151 academic students and 70 TVET students.
We contacted all schools and received permission from the institutions to pursue the research. Afterward, we reached an administrator within each institution, and the administrator took responsibility for sending the link for the survey to students. The online survey was administered in June 2021 via Survey Monkey. The researchers stopped collecting data for the study in April 2022.
For this study, we adopted a cross-sectional study. The most prominent method researchers use for studies in several fields of research that rely on survey methods is the cross-sectional design (Spector, 2019). This approach allowed us to collect meaningful data on various subjects on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and what drives post-secondary students’ ESE. In addition, cross-sectional designs are an economical method of collecting data and are highly proficient, which helps to address several questions (Spector, 2019).
Clustered Standard Errors
Cluster standard errors are a common feature in research today (Ibragimov & Müller, 2016). Often in research, some datasets relate to each other. In our research, this may have been the case; since we had seven TVET institutions, and there may have existed some traits or similarities among these groups of students (Glen, 2023). For instance, one school (PS-7) would have the largest number of students (N = 34), compared to another institution (PS-4) having fewer students (N = 1). As a result, we run standard clustered errors to ascertain if observations within clusters exist within the TVET group of students. Our results showed some statistical significance for parents’ education (p = .04), friends that are self-employed (p = .05 and extracurricular focus on entrepreneurship (p = .05).
Instrument
Our survey measured several items and variables. First, we utilized The Assessment Tools and Indicators for Entrepreneurship Education Scale (ASTEE). This instrument was developed by Moberg et al. (2014) that uses several measures such as demographics, extracurricular focus on entrepreneurship, family and individuals close to you, self-employed, full-time work experience, self-employment work experience and entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE).
Measures
Entrepreneurial Self Efficacy
We used a single dependent variable for our investigation: entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE). We used the ESE scale by Moberg (2012), which carries 19 items derived from three ESE scales developed by Chen et al. (1998), DeNoble et al. (1999) and McGee et al. (2009). McGee et al. (2009) is widely used but does not consider items such as problem-solving. Chen et al. (1998) scale focus on general management and DeNoble et al. (1999) scale does not include items related to financial tasks (Chawla & Bhatia, 2021). Thus, we opted for the Moberg (2012) ESE scale, which we found to use language that would seem more palatable to the student population. We tested the ESE scale and have included the most frequently used measure (Urdan, 2022), Cronbach Alpha, (.936), which is above .70 and is considered reliable (Urdan, 2022). The scale incorporated: Creativity (included 4 items), Financial Literacy (included 3 items), Managing Ambiguity included 4 items), Marshalling Resources (included 4 items), and Planning (included 4 items). A 7-point Likert scale ranged from 1 “total disagreement” to “total agreement.” For all measures, students were asked: “On a scale from 1 to 7 (how much do you agree)”: Some questions for each measure go as follows: For Creativity: “I am able to: come up with new ideas.” For Financial Literacy: “I am able to read and interpret financial statements.” For Managing Ambiguity: “I am able to deal with sudden changes and surprises.” For Marshalling Resources: “I am able to put together the right group/team in order to solve a problem.” And for planning: “I am able to create a project plan.”
Independent Variables
For our independent variables, we used a dichotomous variable, parents’ education. We asked students, ‘Do any of your parents, or the grown-ups you grew up with, have a university degree? The variable was nominal. Friends self-employed was another dichotomous variable, with yes and no categories; students were asked, ‘Is anyone close to you self-employed (friends)’? We used full-time work experience as another variable with five (5) categories; the lowest category was 1, representing zero experience, and 5 would have been the highest category representing 8 years of work experience. We used students’ self-employment experience as a binary variable, with yes and no as the only two categories. Where 1 was coded as yes and 0 was coded as no. Students were asked, ‘Do you, on your own or together with others, operate a business today? Research has shown that children who have parents that are entrepreneurs may have a greater inclination to start a business (Li et al., 2018); as a result, we used parents and other relatives self-employed. With all these variables, we coded 1 as having family members with entrepreneurial experience and 0 as having no self-employment experience. Extracurricular activity focusing on entrepreneurship was another variable in our study. Again, we coded 1 = exposure to extracurricular entrepreneurship training and 0 for no exposure.
Control Variables
Women are less likely to pursue an entrepreneurial role (Gicheva & Link, 2013). Therefore, we created a dummy variable for gender, 1 for males and 0 for females. Males were our reference group. According to Zhang and Acs (2018), age and its relation to entrepreneurship is somewhat inconclusive. And at times, entrepreneurship decreases with age (Lévesque & Minniti, 2006); at the same time, it increases with age (Lee & Vouchilas, 2016). With this revelation, we opted to focus on entrepreneurship increasing with age because people may have more experiences and resources with age. Hence, we created a dummy variable for the ages of the students. We coded 1 for persons 30 years and over and 0 for students 18 to 29. Students 30 years and over were our reference group, so we ran our analysis with students 18–29 years to compare them with our group, 30 and over.
Analytical Approach
“Multiple regression is a statistical technique that can be used to analyze the relationship between a single dependent variable and several independent variables” (Moore et al., 2006). To test our hypotheses, we used regression analysis. This allowed us to ascertain the factors that are correlated with students’ ESE. For our regression models, we analyze academic and TVET students separately.
Results
Descriptive statistics for students.
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Regression models for academic and Technical Vocational Education and Training students (TVET) (Dependent Variable: Entrepreneurial self-efficacy).
Standard errors are in parentheses.
*P < .05.
**P < .01.
***P < .001.
In model 1, we test our independent variables on entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) on academic and TVET students. If either parent had a university degree, there was a significant relationship with ESE among the TVET group of students (β = .238, p < .05). Whereas, in the academic group of students, this same variable did not show any statistical significance with ESE (β = .072, p > .05. Friends that are self-employed show a positive correlation with ESE among the TVET students (β = .257, p < .05); however, academic students (β = .13, p > .05) do not exhibit any statistical significance. This result is in keeping with our first set of hypotheses, which states that TVET students are more likely to be influenced by role models in the form of parents and friends; thus, there is a positive relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and familiarity with role models among TVET students than academic students.
ESE is positively and significantly associated with full-time work experience among the academic group of students (β = .195, p < .05). Nevertheless, this is not the case with the TVET students, it is the opposite result (β = .086, p > .05). Another positive and statistically significant finding came from the academic group of students, where the data shows students who possess self-employment experience at present have greater levels of ESE (β = .254, p < .001), but the TVET students’ results have a negative relationship with ESE, and it is not statistically significant (β = −.104, p > .05). From our model we can conclude academic students’ ESE are positively associated with full-time work experience and self-employment work experience. TVET students’ ESE is correlated with parents who have a university degree and self-employed friends. This finding contradicts our fourth and fifth hypotheses, in which we proposed TVET students would be more likely to see a positive relationship between their ESE and entrepreneurship and full-time work experience. Thus, H4 and H5 are not upheld.
In model 2, we use the variables “Is your mother self-employed”, “Is your father self-employed”, and “Are your relatives self-employed”. We wanted to ascertain if these variables had any significant relationship with the ESE of students for both academic and TVET groups of students. The results show there is no significant correlation for either group. In the regression model, parents with a university degree (β = .249, p < .05) show a positive relation with ESE among TVET students. This finding validates our second hypothesis, which states that parents’ education will be correlated with the ESE of TVET students. Friends that are self-employed (β = .300, p < .05), showed a positive and statistically significant relationship with ESE among TVET students. There was no statistical significance between parents that have a university degree and friends that are self-employed with ESE among academic students. Self-employment at present shows statistical significance (β = .228, p < .05), with ESE among academic students only. Conveying again that in this study, academic students are driven experientially, and different factors drive TVET students.
In model 3, we include all the variables mentioned above (in models 1 and 2), along with extracurricular focus on entrepreneurship. Extracurricular focus on entrepreneurship is positively correlated and statistically significant with ESE among TVET students (β = .257, p < .05), whereas the academic group (β = .051, p > .05) shows no statistical significance. Self-employment experience at present is positively correlated and statistically associated with ESE among academic students (β = .221, p < .001); this is not the case with TVET students (β = −.103, p > .05), which depicted a negative relationship with ESE. This highlights our third hypotheses which places an emphasis on TVET students seeing a positive relation between their ESE and extracurricular activities with an entrepreneurial focus. The academic students would not see any relationship between the same factors. Once again, the data shows that academic and TVET students’ ESE are correlated differently.
Hypotheses that were upheld or not upheld for both academic and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students.
Discussion
Implication for Entrepreneurship Research
In our study, we evaluated the entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) of post-secondary students, both those engaged in vocational education and those in academic education. To the best of our knowledge, this aspect of entrepreneurship educational research is unique. Our study suggests that students’ ESE is correlated with several factors. We found that role models were significantly correlated with ESE. We contribute to the literature on role models by highlighting their significance in the lives of students pursuing technical vocational education and training (TVET). We derived additional insights into how role models influence students and how this can have a positive effect. Our contribution to the literature shows that role models have a direct relationship with the ESE of one group of students, demonstrating various interventions that must be used for entrepreneurship training depending on the target group. For instance, TVET programs in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) target dispossessed young people. In T&T, the main participants of TVET programs are disadvantaged youth; thus, TVET is seen as a strategic instrument for addressing challenges for this group of disadvantaged youth (Ryan et al., 2013).
Individuals often are inspired by role models who seek out their development (Fellnhofer and Puumalainen (2017). We add to the literature on social support by comparing self-employed friends of students involved in the skilled trades and higher education (HE). We found that students engaged in HE and having self-employed friends see no correlation with their ESE. However, students pursuing TVET and having self-employed friends demonstrated a positive association with their ESE. This finding is in keeping with other studies which have shown friends bolster self-efficacy and influence career choices (Fellnhofer, 2017). Friends serve as role models, and their influence serves as a tool to build their friends in the skilled trades, enhancing self-esteem. Frequently, friends come from similar backgrounds, which may be the same socially challenged circumstances as their TVET friends, thus their success can provide a source of inspiration for their TVET counterparts. Self-employed friends can build a cohesive relationship with TVET students and grow their ESE by role modelling.
Additionally, for students within the skilled trades, having parents with a university education can serve as supporters that can have a positive relationship with their ESE. We show the importance of parents’ education as a significant player that has a positive relational factor with the ESE for students involved in the skilled trades. Given the nature of TVET students that are part of our study, parents with high cultural and human capital can provide a boost to their children. TVET is less attractive in many Caribbean countries, which may originate from a history of separating manual labor from academic work. As well, TVET is seen as a lesser form of education (Hutton, 2013). The achievement of their parents as well as their social network can inspire students and help them excel in their pursuits; hence parents can boost their children’s self-esteem, thus improving their ESE. Our study led us to conclude that parents’ education can be significantly associated with the ESE of TVET students. Cultural capital has been argued to contribute to students’ abilities, which allows them to become successful without special treatment from their teachers (Dumais, 2002). Moving forward, this study suggests that educators can enhance entrepreneurship education by incorporating the importance of leveraging cultural capital when teaching TVET students.
We found that extracurricular focus on entrepreneurship is positively correlated with the ESE among the TVET population in our investigation. Extracurricular activities focusing on entrepreneurship are a form of learning, providing a system to teach and a model of education used to develop students’ entrepreneurial ambitions and ESE, which is in keeping with other research findings (Pocek et al., 2021; Politis et al., 2019). Our study revealed both groups of students are driven differently. Providing an extracurricular activity with an entrepreneurial focus can serve as an ideal mechanism to support the development and growth of ESE for TVET students. We found that extracurricular focus on entrepreneurship is not correlated with the ESE of academic students, perhaps because it is diluted with other extracurricular activities that they may be involved in (e.g. music, art, cultural field trips). There is a need to offer teaching that relates to extracurricular activities that focus on entrepreneurship for academic students, this will strengthen their ESE and their entrepreneurial motivations. Since TVET students undergo hands-on training, their extracurricular activities that focus on entrepreneurship should center on student-led enterprises and scenarios that require more active and experiential learning exercises.
We also examined how students’ ESE is associated with experiential factors such as entrepreneurship experience and work experience. Previous research has shown that work experience and experience as an entrepreneur have shown to improve ESE (Farashah, 2015; Hockerts, 2017; Lee et al., 2016; Pfeifer et al., 2016; Zhao et al., 2005). This finding is in keeping with our study, but it only provides statistical significance for academic students. We found that TVET ESE has a different relationship when compared to academic counterparts. Existing research showed students’ ESE is positively influenced when students undergo employment opportunities.
For the most part, extant research related to entrepreneurship is centered on students in higher education (HE). Our investigation shows that full-time work experience is associated with the ESE of HE students but not students in the skilled trades. We were somewhat surprised that students in academia are not driven experientially but are driven by theoretical concepts and explicit knowledge. Polanyi (1966) iterated that tacit knowledge is essential to learn and act upon things we know. On the other hand, explicit knowledge allows skilled persons to engage in experiences and demonstrate practical competencies. Polanyi (1966) emphasized explicit knowledge that is achieved through practice. TVET students already undergo work experience from a practical component of their studies, while academic students require experiences to learn and bolster their ESE.
Students that pursue HE will need experiences outside of the classroom that will enable them to accumulate tacit knowledge that can enhance their ESE. This is an essential addition to the literature, which helps us to establish that the ESE of students improves positively depending on situational conditions, which revolve around the type of schooling they engage in. We argue that students are influenced differently and that TVET students’ ESE is not correlated with entrepreneurial experience; however, academic students’ ESE is positively associated with entrepreneurial experiences. Given the practical aspect of TVET students’ training, they are required to work autonomously and carry out work that involves interacting with clients in particular scenarios; thus, their training enables them to prepare for entrepreneurial roles. However, students in university do not have these types of tacit experiences and will require additional entrepreneurial experiences to help enhance their ESE.
Lastly, previous research highlighted how entrepreneurship education predicted growth in ESE among academic students. There needs to be more research on ESE and its relation to TVET. In addition, there needs to be more studies on how ESE is developed among TVET students. Our work is unique in that it makes a valuable contribution to the entrepreneurship literature on how ESE can be improved among students involved in the skilled trades. Previous studies highlight how ESE can be increased with academic students. This study is designed to understand the associations between academic and TVET students, which to the best of our knowledge, was not done previously. Previous studies primarily focused on academic students, where findings identified the role of self-employed family and friends in improving the ESE of academic students. Our work highlights an association between friends that are entrepreneurs and the ESE of TVET students. Previous research has explored how ESE can be improved when academic students engage in extracurricular activities that focus on entrepreneurship. Our research fills a gap in the literature with a focus on skilled trades students. Our study provides beneficial insights into several factors and their relationship with the ESE of students. We contribute by highlighting an important development regarding how numerous factors are positively associated with ESE among post-secondary students.
Furthermore, TVET, when coupled with entrepreneurship, can provide nations with an arsenal geared toward economic prosperity. Thus, our contribution provides findings leading toward policies encouraging growing entrepreneurs among the skilled trades. Our research has shown that ESE is associated differently among two diverse student groups. Academic students are driven experientially, and TVET students are propelled by role models and their parents’ (university) education.
Our research does have several limitations. The first was our study design. We used a cross-sectional study for our work; our results cannot infer causal relationships. Further research using a longitudinal study might assist in examining linkages more clearly. The second limitation was our sample size, especially among the TVET population. More significant numbers may have resulted in more data that would have assisted us in understanding the subjects better. Finally, we collected data on some TVET institutions and two (2) academic institutions; thereby, the generalized level of our findings could be improved. Further research can be done to examine additional factors that may influence ESE among both groups of students. This study provides essential implications for entrepreneurship education regarding how students from diverse forms of education are engaged and how they learn. Our research shows several factors that can be incorporated when teaching entrepreneurship education. This is an opportunity for researchers to adopt the ideas shared in our research that can help improve how students are educated on entrepreneurship practices. Such as exposing academic students to more experiential learning, and TVET students’ learning should focus on role models and extracurricular activities with an entrepreneurial focus.
Conclusion
More research needs to be conducted on TVET examining entrepreneurship and ESE. We make several contributions to the literature on entrepreneurship, ESE and TVET, especially within Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which has been understudied. Our work is unique in that we compared two streams of students: academic and TVET. Our findings highlight interesting facts regarding how students from both education streams are triggered with ESE.
We discovered the importance of several factors that are associated with students' ESE whether they pursue higher education or a vocational path. We found that ESE has a direct relationship with several factors, which are received differently for each group of students studied. Whereas academic students’ ESE is correlated with experiential factors TVET students’ ESE are not similarly correlated. Our study led us to understand that role models were positively associated with the ESE among the students involved in the skilled trades; this was not the case with academic students. Additionally, parents with higher education and self-employed friends demonstrated a relationship with the ESE of TVET students. However, parents (mother and father) and other self-employed relatives did not show any statistical significance with the ESE of both academic and TVET students.
Role models are essential in promoting success and fostering essential attributes. We believe that role models for TVET students inspire them through their success. TVET students’ participation in the skilled trades allows them to develop employability competencies. The experiences and network (cultural capital) they acquired from parents with a university degree and from their friends’ entrepreneurship experiences can enhance the desirability of entrepreneurship, thus boosting their ESE.
Another factor that showed some promise was extracurricular activities with an entrepreneurial focus. Extracurricular activities that focus on entrepreneurship give students or learners an opportunity to engage in learning outside of the classroom, away from conventional teaching methods that promote students’ entrepreneurial skills. This was noted as a positive tool in engendering ESE and entrepreneurial ambitions and displayed a positive relationship with ESE among TVET students but not academic students.
We also found that full-time work experience and entrepreneurial experience were positively correlated with the ESE of academic students. However, it did not observe a statistical relationship with the ESE of students in the skilled trades. We did find a significant statistical relationship between academic students’ ESE and experiences. Regarding ESE, there was a positive relationship between ESE and engaging in full-time labor. In our study, students presently involved in entrepreneurship showed a positive association with ESE; however, this only occurred with the academic students. We found that academic students require experience to grow or develop. Experiences show a relational factor with their ESE, both self-employment and full-time work. In general, academic students seem to be theoretically driven and lack experience in their schooling. Experiences gave them an impetus and helped them develop skills. Thus, our findings provide insight into how ESE can be improved with two diverse groups of students.
We believe our research has implications for entrepreneurship educators. Often, entrepreneurship education is associated with theoretical knowledge and disseminated through academic programs such as universities. This paper shows that academic students and students involved in the skilled trades learn differently. Therefore, it will be essential to adopt measures to address various learners when crafting curricula for entrepreneurship education. It is our hope that this research provides a framework for educators to improve and expand their support of student entrepreneurship training to both TVET and academic cohorts.
Supplemental Material
Supplemental Material - Comparing Factors Influencing Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Between Vocational and Academic Post-secondary Students
Supplemental Material for Comparing Factors Influencing Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Between Vocational and Academic Post-secondary Students by Abede Mack, and Benson Honig in Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to add the following acknowledgement to the article: We, the authors, thank Dr. Kåre Sven Moberg, Research Leader at The Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship, for your guidance and assistance with adopting the Assessment Tools and Indicators for Entrepreneurship Education (ASTEE) instrument, which was helpful for our manuscript. Also, we gratefully acknowledge Dr. William Andrew Thompson, Post-doctoral Fellow, Department of Biology, McMaster University, for your guidance and feedback on an early version of this manuscript.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Ethical Considerations
This study was approved by The University of theWest Indies Open Campus, Research Ethics Committee (Approval Number: CREC-OC.0051/04/2021) on July 1 2021.
Informed Consent
Participants provided consent via an electronic consent form before they started the survey.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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References
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