Entrepreneurship education in the development of individual proactiveness: Study of Russian student nascent entrepreneurs

1.

School of Economics and Management
International Business and
Management
Saint Petersburg
2023
The role of the entrepreneurship education in the
development of individual proactiveness: Study of
Russian
student
nascent
entrepreneurs
Format: article
Academic Supervisor: Galina V. Shirokova, Professor of the Department of Management
Consultant: Emilia O. Karpinskaya, Lecturer of the Department of Management
Letnitskiy Vitaliy, BMN-196
Shelkovaya Alexandra, BMN-196
Krutkin Maxim, BMN-195

2.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Introduction
2
Research Motivation
• Students with proactive personality are more apt at scanning the environment for opportunities,
more likely to engage in activities that could improve their adaptive abilities and skills, as well as can
initiate and take action, endure and persist until they achieve their goals, like starting their own
enterprise (Bateman & Crant, 1993; Seibert et al., 2001)
• The right approach to entrepreneurship education helps to develop proactive behavior of
students and reveal the antecedents for this, which will lead to a clear understanding of the desired
entrepreneurial trajectory (Ashforth et al., 2007).
• Proactive nascent entrepreneurs will adopt a hands-on approach in order to recognize and exploit
new and promising business opportunities, as well as overcome constraints and pursue and
entrepreneurial intentions (Muñoz-Bullón et al., 2013; Prabhu et al., 2008).
• Entrepreneurial education is under development in Russia, and additional efforts are needed to
improve its quality and accessibility for students and entrepreneurs (Sorokin et al., 2021).

3.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Introduction
3
Research question:
What is the relationship between entrepreneurship education and individual proactiveness among
student nascent entrepreneurs? How does university environment effect this relationship?

4.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Literature review
4
Key definitions
- Individual proactiveness
Performing of self-initiated and future-focused actions, involving taking
control to bring about change (Parker & Collins, 2010).
- Entrepreneurial university
environment
Social and cultural conditions, which include practices, policies, and
behaviors that generate entrepreneurial intentions (Castillo et al., 2006;
Gieure et al., 2019).
- Entrepreneurship education
Outline specifying the content and scope of knowledge, abilities, and
skills that a student is expected to master in the field of entrepreneurship
education (Kent, 1990).
- Nascent entrepreneurs
Individuals who engage in start-up activities as part of the process of
starting
a
new
venture
(Edelman
et
al.,
2020)

5.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Literature review
5
Research background
Individual factors
Gender (Jennings & Brush, 2013; Khan et al., 2020) ⬆
Age (Hmieleski & Baron, 2009 (⬆); Down & Reveley, 2004(⬇))
Motivation (Frese & Gielnik, 2014; Fayolle & Gailly, 2013) ⬆
Self-efficacy (Newman et al., 2018; Hmieleski & Baron, 2009) ⬆
Initiative (Cardon & Kirk, 2013; Zhao & Seibert, 2006) ⬆
Entrepreneurial orientation (Rauch et al., 2009; George et al., 2015) ⬆
Contextual factors
Entrepreneurial culture (Kolvereid & Isaksen, 2006; Guerrero & Urbano, 2012 (⬆); Liñán et al. 2010(⬇))
Entrepreneurial orientation (Zhao et al., 2005; Fayolle et al., 2014) ⬆
Access to resources (Zhao et al., 2009; Ardichvili et al., 2003) ⬆
Entrepreneurial education (Liñán et al., 2010; Fayolle & Gailly, 2013 (⬆); Zhao & Smallbone, 2019 (✖))
Managerial education (Morris et al., 2013 (⬆); Zhao & Smallbone, 2019 (⬇))
Note: ⬆- positive influence; ⬇- negative influence; ✖ - no direct influence
P
r
o
a
c
t
i
v
e
n
e
s
s

6.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Theory and hypotheses development
6
Theory and hypotheses development
The effectuation theory suggests that rather than predicting and planning for the future, nascent
entrepreneurs use their existing knowledge and skills to create new opportunities and take proactive
steps towards achieving their goals (Sarasvathy, 2001).
Students with adaptive abilities and skills are more likely to engage in activities that could
improve their proactive personality (Tolentino et al., 2014).
The knowledge accumulated during the education process allows students to develop professional
skills useful for entrepreneurs, increase entrepreneurial intentions and proactiveness in their actions
(Davidsson & Honig, 2003; Galvão et al., 2020).
H1(+): Entrepreneurial knowledge and skills are positively associated with individual proactiveness of student
nascent entrepreneurs.
H2(+): Attendance of entrepreneurship courses is positively associated with individual proactiveness of student
nascent entrepreneurs.

7.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Theory and hypotheses development
7
Theory and hypotheses development
The theory of university embeddedness suggests that the university environment can contribute to the
development of entrepreneurial activity and competencies among students and young entrepreneurs. This
theory takes into account the specifics of the university environment, such as access to experts and
resources, availability of courses and training programs, as well as opportunities for creating a business
community and networking (Rowan, 1993).
Research shows that the university environment can have a significant impact on the development of entrepreneurial
qualities, including proactiveness and the ability to initiative (Mei et al., 2020).
The university environment can provide an important context for the development of proactiveness, as it can offer
students opportunities for creative initiative behavior while being in a safe and supportive environment (Mei et al., 2020).
H3(+): The entrepreneurial university environment positively moderates the relationship between
entrepreneurial knowledge and skills and individual proactiveness of student nascent entrepreneurs
H4(+): The entrepreneurial university environment positively moderates the relationship between attendance
of entrepreneurship courses and individual proactiveness of student nascent entrepreneurs

8.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Theory and hypotheses development
8
Entrepreneurial
university environment
Entrepreneurship
education
Entrepreneurial
knowledge and
skills
Attendance of
entrepreneurship
courses
H1+
Individual
proactiveness
H3+
H4+
H2+
-
Controls:
Age
Gender
Marital status
Subjective well-being
University entrepreneurial
infrastructure
Field of study
Degree
Parents – entrepreneurs
Region
Entrepreneurial
experience
Co

9.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Methodology
Data and sample
GUESSS - international project “Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’
Survey”. Multifaceted inquiry into entrepreneurial potential of university students.
International dataset of over 260,000 respondents from 58 countries in 2021. For this
purpose, an online questionnaire was developed.
The data collection took place between February and June 2021.
The total of 5,407 Russian students from 21 higher education institutions took part
in the study.
To select sub-sample it is removed:
• Active entrepreneurs
• Universities, where the number of respondents is below 2% (~30 resp.) of
total
• People older then 34 years at the time of collection
• Invalid answers
Final sub-sample is identified in the number of
1272 student nascent entrepreneurs
9

10.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Methodology
10
Data analysis
Preliminary analysis:
• Descriptive analysis to outline minimum, maximum, mean value and standard deviation, as well as distribute
dummy variables by categories.
Main analysis:
• Cronbach's alpha tests in order to assess the internal consistency and reliability of the scale.
• Multicollinearity test between two independent variables in order to check what level of mutual effects between
them.
• Constructing a correlation matrix to in order to determine the statistical significance and effects between each of
the intersections.
• Regression analysis in the format of a hierarchical model to analyze coefficients of regression, statistical
significance, standard errors, R2 and VIF of each model.
• Robustness check to outline the reliability of the model.

11.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Methodology
11
Variables
Name of variable
– Entrepreneurial knowledge and skills (Souitaris et
al., 2007)
Independent
variables
Dependent
variable
Moderator
Controls
Metrics
7-point Likert scale
Exemplary questions:
– Understanding of the attitudes, values, and motivations of entrepreneurs
– Understanding of the actions someone has to take to start a business
– Practical management skills to start a business
– Ability to develop networks
– Ability to identify an opportunity
– Attendance of entrepreneurship courses
Categorical variable: 2- specialized program or mandatory discipline; 1 – at least
once or elected; 0 – no entrepreneurship courses or programs
– Attending entrepreneurship courses as elective
– Attending entrepreneurship courses as compulsory part of studies
– Studying in specific program on entrepreneurship
(Kent, 1990)
– Individual proactiveness
7-point Likert scale
Exemplary questions:
– Planning ahead on projects
– “Stepping-up” and getting things going on project
(Bolton & Lane, 2012)
– Entrepreneurial university environment
7-point Likert scale
Question to measure:
– University enhances, facilitates and supports the development of research,
technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
(UN developments)
–
–
–
–
–
–
Age
Gender
Marital status
Subjective well-being
University entrepreneurial infrastructure
Field of study
–
–
–
–
Degree
Region
Parents - entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurial experience

12.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Results
12
Results
Model 1 shows the effects of all control
variables on the dependent variable. Statistically
significant variables for the analysis are age
(-1,4216, p < 0,05) and subjective well-being
(0,2263, p < 0,05).
In the Model 2 are also added independent variables.
Statistical
positive
significance
of
entrepreneurial
knowledge and skills on individual proactiveness (0,2673, p
< 0,05) is found, as well as the lack of statistical
significance of attendance of entrepreneurship courses
(0,0177, p > 0,05).
Age of a person has a negative effect on
individual proactiveness, which means the greater
predisposition of young people to be more
proactive.
H1(+) is confirmed as if values of the independent
variable increase, the indicators of proactiveness follows it.
People with a higher assessment of their own
quality of life are more inclined to be proactive.
H2(+) is rejected due to the fact that attendance of
entrepreneurship courses does not have a direct effect on
the development of proactiveness.
Model 1 describes a 8,44% of proactiveness
variance.
Model 2 describes a 18,56% of proactiveness
variance.

13.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Results
13
Results
In the Model 3 moderation to the relationship
between entrepreneurial knowledge and skills and
individual proactiveness is added.
In the Model 4 moderation to the relationship between
attendance of entrepreneurship courses and individual
proactiveness is added.
H3(+) is rejected due to the fact that this
relationship has no statistical significance.
H4(+) is rejected due to the fact that initial effect of
independent variable on the dependent does not have
statistical significance, as well as the moderation.
Model 3 describes a 20,18% of proactiveness
variance.
Model
variance.
4
describes
a
20,05%
of
proactiveness

14.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Additional analysis
14
Additional analysis
Mediation effects
Moderation effects in capitals
It is motivated by making effect of the attendance of
It is motivated by making moderation of relationships
entrepreneurship courses on the dependent variable between independent variables and dependent meaningful
meaningful by including mediators in the face of separated by analysis of subsample which includes student nascent
entrepreneurial knowledge and skills.
entrepreneurs from capitals only.
The attendance of entrepreneurship courses mediated
The entrepreneurial knowledge and skills have
by entrepreneurial knowledge statistically significant and statistical significance and positive effects on proactiveness
have positive effects on individual proactiveness (0,050, p < (0,6032, p < 0,05), but the university support weakens this
0,05).
relationship (-0,0632, p < 0,05).
The attendance of entrepreneurship courses mediated
entrepreneurial skills statistically significant and have positive
The attendance of entrepreneurship courses,
effects on individual proactiveness (0,039, p < 0,05).
corresponding to the main model,
does not have a
statistical effect on proactiveness, as well as all control
Effects of controls are corresponding to the main model.
variables (p > 0.05).
This model describes 20% of proactiveness variance.
This model describes 18,74% of proactiveness variance.

15.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Discussion
15
Discussion
H1(+) suggests that the presence of entrepreneurial
knowledge and skills has a positive effect on the proactiveness of
student nascent entrepreneurs, which is confirmed by data analysis
and is in line with the effectuation theory (Sarasvathy, 2001) and
supported by Tolentino et al. (2014).
In H3(+) the moderator has no direct effect on the
relationship between entrepreneurial knowledge and skills and
proactiveness, as well as weakens it in additional analysis, which is
not in line with theory of university embeddedness (Rowan, 1993).
H2(+) analysis showed that attendance of entrepreneurship
courses does not have a direct effect on the development of the
proactiveness, but including mediators in the model changes it to a
positive correlation between them, which means it does not matter
whether a person attends these courses, it is important what
benefits he takes out of them.
In H4(+), the moderator has no statistically significant effect
on the relationship between attendance of entrepreneurship
courses and proactiveness, as well in the limited subsample, so it
can be concluded that it does not matter what kind of
entrepreneurial environment an educational institution has if
attending courses does not matter.
Lizzio et al. (2002) state that one of the ways to achieve
success is structuring one's activities and independently develop
the knowledge he has gained, but Zhao & Smallbone (2019) argue,
that entrepreneurship education in general does not have a direct
effect.
May et al. (2020) argue, that university environment provides
an important context for the development of initiative, but Linán et
al. (2010) state, that the development of entrepreneurial culture
does not always have the expected effects, which is in line with the
results of this study.

16.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Conclusion
16
Theoretical contribution:
– The study makes a literary contribution to the consideration of the importance of effectuation theory
(Sarasvathy, 2001) and the results of the study in case of antecedents of formation the individual
proactiveness of students nascent entrepreneursis are in line with it.
– The importance of theory of university embeddedness (Rowan, 1993) is not determined due to the rejection
of hypotheses, but the number of researches that confirms the importance of this theory are collected.
– Contribution to the expansion of the concept of proactiveness is made, clarifying it from the point of view of
identifying antecedents related to education.
Managerial implications:
– Using the advantages of research, universities can understand how to balance the amount of material and
support provided in such a way as to simultaneously motivate students and support them in their intentions,
but not to overdo it.
– Students will be able to acquire the independence necessary in later life to find new opportunities and
internships

17.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Conclusion
17
Limitations
The analysis operates on data based on the subjective
answers of respondents and the student’s inability to
objectively assess their real stage of development
causes responses biases.
One of the options could be a live interview, since it is
possible that with personal contact a person is more
disposed to open up to a pleasant interviewer.
The survey is conducted among the main fairly large
universities in the country and does not allow to consider
the opinion of students studying in small towns.
It would be worthwhile to select universities not only
those located in large developing cities, but also in small
ones that require resources and time for development.
Absolute majority of respondents has a lack
entrepreneurial experience, which may indicate that all
their statements about their well-to-do competencies for
business management may be only assumptions not
supported by real experience.
Expand the circle of interviewees, including a larger
number of respondents who are able to provide answers
based on real experience, rather than a sense of their
competencies.

18.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
Conclusion
18
Recommendations for future researches
Conduct a deeper, statistically complex analysis, which, due to its completeness and depth, may well show slightly
different results, as well as confirm the reasons for rejecting the hypotheses set out in this study.
Expand the circle of people interviewed, although the sample in this study is already quite large, it will be useful to
interview students at different levels of life and studying at universities of different levels of development.
Study the effects of the context in which events occur and its relationship with the mentality of people in Russia, since it is
extremely important to determine why the surrounding circumstances that directly effect the behavior of people in most
countries of the world do not have a significant effect in the chosen country.

19.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
References
19
References
Ardichvili, A., Cardozo, R., & Ray, S. (2003). A theory of entrepreneurial opportunity identification
and development. Journal of Business Venturing, 18(1), 105–123.
Frese, M., & Gielnik, M. M. (2014). The psychology of entrepreneurship. Annual Review of
Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1(1), 413-438.
Ashforth, B. E., Harrison, S. H., & Corley, K. G. (2007). Identification in organizations: An
examination of four fundamental questions. Journal of Management, 33(3), 457-484.
Galvão, A., Marques, C., & Ferreira, J. J. (2020). The role of entrepreneurship education and
training programmes in advancing entrepreneurial skills and new ventures. European Journal of
Training and Development, 44(6/7), 595–614.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological
Review, 84(2), 191–215.
Bateman, T. S., & Crant, J. M. (1993). The proactive component of organizational behavior: A
measure and correlates. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 14(2), 103-118.
Cardon, M. S., & Kirk, C. P. (2013). Entrepreneurial passion as mediator of the self-efficacy to
persistence relationship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 39(5), 1027-1050.
George, G., Corbishley, C., Khayesi, J. N., & Haas, M. R. (2015). Bringing meaning into institutional
theory: Understanding institutional entrepreneurs’ translation of meaning across institutional logics.
Academy of Management Journal, 58(3), 846-874.
Gieure, C., Benavides-Espinosa, M. del M., & Roig-Dobón, S. (2019). Entrepreneurial intentions in
an international university environment. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior &
Research, 25(8), 1605–1620.
Castillo, L. G., Conoley, C. W., Choi-Pearson, C., Archuleta, D. J., Phoummarath, M. J., & Van
Landingham, A. (2006). University environment as a mediator of Latino ethnic identity and
persistence attitudes. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(2), 267–271.
Guerrero, M., & Urbano, D. (2012). The development of an entrepreneurial university. Journal of
Technology Transfer, 37(1), 43-74.
Davidsson, P., & Honig, B. (2003). The role of social and human capital among nascent
entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Venturing, 18(3), 301–331.
Hmieleski, K. M., & Baron, R. A. (2009). Entrepreneurs’ optimism and new venture performance: A
social cognitive perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 52(3), 473-488.
Edelman, L. F., Manolova, T., Shirokova, G., & Tsukanova, T. (2020). Context matters: The
Jennings, J. E., & Brush, C. G. (2013). Research on women entrepreneurs: Challenges to (and
importance of university and family for young nascent entrepreneurs. Russian Managenent Journal, from) the broader entrepreneurship literature? Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), 663-715.
18(2), 127-154.
Khan, S., Nasir, N., Jamshed, S., Omer, M., Nasir S. (2020). Exploring the Orientation factors of
Fayolle, A., & Gailly, B. (2013). The Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial
Women Entrepreneurs: A Life Course Approach. International Journal of Psychosocial
Attitudes and Intention: Hysteresis and Persistence. Journal of Small Business Management, 53(1), Rehabilitation, 24(4), 2376-2398
75–93.
Kolvereid, L., & Isaksen, E. (2006). New business start-up and subsequent entry into selfemployment. Journal of Business Venturing, 21(6), 866-885.
Fayolle, A., Liñán, F., & Moriano, J. A. (2014). Beyond entrepreneurial intentions: values and
motivations in entrepreneurship. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 10(4),
679–689.

20.

International Business and
Management
The role of the entrepreneurship education in
the development of individual proactiveness:
Study of Russian student nascent
entrepreneurs
References
20
References
Langkamp Bolton, D., & Lane, M. D. (2012). Individual entrepreneurial orientation: development of
a measurement instrument. Education + Training, 54(2/3), 219–233.
Sarasvathy, S. D. (2001). Causation and Effectuation: Toward a Theoretical Shift from Economic
Inevitability to Entrepreneurial Contingency. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 243–263.
Liñán, F., Rodríguez-Cohard, J. C., & Rueda-Cantuche, J. M. (2010). Factors affecting
Seibert, S. E., Crant, J. M., & Kraimer, M. L. (2001). Proactive personality and career success.
entrepreneurial intention levels: a role for education. International Entrepreneurship and
Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 127-136.
Management Journal, 7(2), 195–218
Mei, H., Lee, C.-H., & Xiang, Y. (2020). Entrepreneurship Education and Students’ Entrepreneurial Sorokin P., Povalko A., Vyatskaya Y. (2021) Informal Entrepreneurship Education: Overview of the
Russian Field. Foresight and STI Governance, 15(4), 22–31.
Intention in Higher Education. Education Sciences, 10(9), 257.
Morris, M. H., Webb, J. W., Fu, J., & Singhal, S. (2013). A Competency-Based Perspective on
Entrepreneurship Education: Conceptual and Empirical Insights. Journal of Small Business
Management, 51(3), 352–369.
Souitaris, V., Zerbinati, S., & Al-Laham, A. (2007). Do entrepreneurship programmes raise
entrepreneurial intention of science and engineering students? The effect of learning, inspiration
and resources. Journal of Business Venturing, 22(4), 566–591
Muñoz-Bullón, F., Sánchez-Bueno, M. J., & Vos, S. (2013). Nascent entrepreneurs’ personality
attributes and the international dimension of new ventures. International Entrepreneurship and
Management Journal, 11(3), 473–492.
Tolentino, L. R., Garcia, P. R. J. M., Lu, V. N., Restubog, S. L. D., Bordia, P., & Plewa, C. (2014).
Career adaptation: The relation of adaptability to goal orientation, proactive personality, and career
optimism. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 84(1), 39-48.
Newman, A., Obschonka, M., Schwarz, S., Cohen, M., & Nielsen, I. (2018). Entrepreneurial selfefficacy: A systematic review of the literature on its theoretical foundations, measurement,
antecedents, and outcomes, and an agenda for future research. Journal of Vocational Behavior.
Zhao, H., Seibert, S. E., & Hills, G. E. (2005). The mediating role of self-efficacy in the development
of entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(6), 1265-1272.
Zhao, H., & Seibert, S. E. (2006). The big five personality dimensions and entrepreneurial status: A
Parker, S. K., Collins, C. G. (2010). Taking Stock: Integrating and Differentiating Multiple Proactive meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 259-271.
Behaviors. Journal of Management, 36(3), 633-662.
Zhao H, Seibert, S. E., & Lumpkin, G. T. (2009). The Relationship of Personality to Entrepreneurial
Prabhu, V., Sutton, C., & Sauser, B. (2008). Creativity and certain personality traits: Understanding Intentions and Performance: A Meta-Analytic Review. Journal of Management, 36(2), 381–404
the mediating effect of intrinsic motivation. Creativity Research Journal, 24(1), 22-30.
Zhao, D., & Smallbone, D. (2019). What affects nascent entrepreneurs’ proactiveness. Asia Pacific
Management Review.
Rauch, A., Wiklund, J., Lumpkin, G. T., & Frese, M. (2009). Entrepreneurial orientation and
business performance: An assessment of past research and suggestions for the future.
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 33(3), 761-787.
Rowan, J. (1993). Subpersonalities: The people inside us. Routledge.