Entrepreneurial antecedents of secondary school students in western province, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Business entrepreneurship is an essential ingredient of economic prosperity and the need to understand the antecedents contributing to entrepreneurial ambition in Sri Lankan teenagers is paramount for successful policy planning in future. The attitudes and behaviors of youth will be conditioned during the developmental years and as a consequence perception towards entrepreneurship will be conditioned heavily during this phase of development. Despite the continued interest in promoting entrepreneurship among the young generation, researchers have paid little attention to primary and secondary educational stages. The main objective of this research is to analyze the factors affecting entrepreneurial ambition of teenage students as a career choice. The research is formulated as a quantitative research adhering to the deductive approach. Research finds the existence of two factors; Perception of benefits of entrepreneurship and family and friends teenage students. Further it reveals the moderation effect caused by prior entrepreneurial education on the interaction between perception of benefits of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ambition. The study reveals existence of differences with respect to entrepreneurial ambition and antecedents in different communities. The study recommends introducing entrepreneurial education with more emphasis to teenage students. The understanding of the preferences of the young generation will support policy efforts to create useful avenues for entrepreneurial success in the future