Entrepreneurial self-efficacy in Portugal: a cross-sectional study in higher education students

This study aimed to determine the level of entrepreneurial self-efficacy in higher education students and to verify if there were differences statistically significant, taking into account the scientific area of the course attended by the student, in the five dimensions of the entrepreneurial self-efficacy scale, namely: Developing new products or new market opportunities; Developing critical human resources; Initiating investor relations; Building innovative environments; and Working under stress. A total of 795 students attending the 1st year at a Portuguese higher education institution, aged between 17 and 52 years old, participated in the study. The students registered a medium level of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Statistically significant differences were found in entrepreneurial self-efficacy taking into account the students’ scientific area. It was the Technology and Management students who had the highest levels of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the students in the Education area who had the lowest levels. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy contributes to the generation of ideas and the creation of new businesses with success. Therefore, higher education institutions should be able to improve the entrepreneurial skills and increase the self-efficacy of their students.The authors are grateful to (a) the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and the ERDF under the program PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019) and (b) CETRAD, This research is financed by national funds, through the FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the UID/SOC/04011/2019 Project.