Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intention Among Ethiopian University Graduate Students

This study examines the impact of formal education, students' attitudes towards change, and their entrepreneurial self-efficacy on their entrepreneurial intentions during their time in private higher education institutions (PHEIs). Motivated by high unemployment rates and limited job opportunities for graduates, the research employed a mixed-method approach with descriptive and explanatory designs. A total of 460 self-administered questionnaires were distributed to graduate students at Admas, Harambee, Rift Valley, and Unity Universities, with 411 returned, yielding an 89.34% response rate. The Collected data was analyzed using SPSS V26, and employed descriptive and multivariate analysis. Thus, the regression analysis indicated that 71.6% of the variation in students' entrepreneurial intentions is explained by the predictors in the model (R2= .716, p<0.05), demonstrating substantial explanatory power. The result indicates that all independent variables; formal Education, Attitude towards change, and entrepreneurial Self-efficacy influences the entrepreneurial intention of graduate program students. However, Attitude towards Change (AtC) and Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy (ESE) have significant influence on the entrepreneurial intention of graduate students’ while the influence of Formal Education (FE) was less significant. Finally, recommendations for the PHEIs, policymakers, and researchers have been highlighted.