Entrepreneurial Education, Self-Motivation, Self-Efficacy, and Entrepreneurial Intention among University Students in Ecuador

Abstract

The study aimed to analyze the influence of entrepreneurial education and self-motivation on entrepreneurial intention among university students in Loja (Ecuador), incorporating entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a mediating variable. The methodology was developed through structural equation modeling (SEM) using a cross-sectional design and a Likert-type questionnaire applied in January 2026 to a refined sample of 379 students. The measurement model was properly evaluated; in the structural model, entrepreneurial education did not exhibit a significant direct effect on intention (β=0.061; p=0.297), whereas self-motivation showed a relevant direct effect (β=0.437; p<0.001). Significant mediating effects of self-efficacy were confirmed both between education and intention (β_ind=0.081; p=0.002) and between self-motivation and intention (β_ind=0.309; p<0.001), the latter representing the strongest pathway. It was concluded that entrepreneurial intention was mainly explained by a psychological pathway in which self-motivation fostered self-efficacy, which in turn translated educational and self-regulatory resources into entrepreneurial disposition.