Entrepreneurial Education and Social Support and Their Influence on Entrepreneurial Intention, Mediated by Attitude in University Students from Chiclayo

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the influence of entrepreneurship education and social support on entrepreneurial intention among university students in Chiclayo, assessing the mediating role of entrepreneurial attitude. A quantitative explanatory design was applied using a convenience non-probability sample of 376 students, and a PLS-SEM model was estimated with five-point Likert measures for entrepreneurship education, social support, entrepreneurial attitude, and entrepreneurial intention. Results showed adequate psychometric properties (mostly loadings > 0.70, high reliability, and AVE > 0.50) and discriminant validity via the Fornell–Larcker criterion. In the structural model, entrepreneurship education exerted a positive and significant direct effect on entrepreneurial intention (B = 0.752; p < 0.001), whereas social support did not show a significant direct effect on intention (p = 0.161). However, both entrepreneurship education and social support positively and significantly influenced entrepreneurial attitude, with social support displaying a particularly strong effect. Attitude did not mediate the proposed relationships, as indirect effects were not statistically significant. It was concluded that entrepreneurial intention was primarily explained by perceived entrepreneurship education, and it was recommended to strengthen practice-oriented pedagogies and complement social support with instrumental ecosystem mechanisms (mentoring, pre-incubation, and networking), alongside future longitudinal research and the inclusion of additional TPB-related variables.