Entrepreneurial Characteristics of Undergraduate Students in Deteriorated Economies (the case of Gaza Strip)

This research aims at identifying the entrepreneurial characteristics of university students in Gaza Strip using Exploratory Factor Analysis EFA. It also aims at testing the relationship between their entrepreneurial characteristics and entrepreneurial inclination using two multivariate techniques (discreminant and logistic analyses). Respondents were classified as entrepreneurially inclined and non-entrepreneurially inclined based on their desire to establish their own business after graduation from university. The population of the study is the students in their final year of bachelor education in selected faculties and specializations in engineering, commerce, and information technology at the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG). The research adopted the stratified random sampling technique and there were 451 usable questionnaires which represent the sample of the study with a response rate of 82%. This research is considered to be the first to examine the entrepreneurial characteristic of Palestinian University students. It is also among the few to present a complete image of entrepreneurial characteristics of university students in politically and economically deteriorated areas. It may serve as a reference for successive studies in the area and as a tool for comparison in similar areas around the world. New managerial and policy implications may also be inferred on the effect of socioeconomic deterioration and entrepreneurial inclination. Descriptive analysis shows that entrepreneurially inclined students, who prefer to establish their own business after graduation, represent (24.1%) of the sample. The results of EFA classified six characteristics of