Journal of Entrepreneurship Education (Print ISSN: 1098-8394; Online ISSN: 1528-2651)

Abstract

Entrepreneurial Intention in Business Students: The Impact of an Art-Based Program

Author(s): Francoise Contreras, Juan Carlos Espinosa, Alejandro Cheyne, Sergio Pulgarín

Currently, entrepreneurship is one of the most important alternatives for the social and economic development of a country. However, despite the fact that many universities around the world offer various entrepreneurship programs, their effectiveness in increasing the number of entrepreneurs and developing entrepreneurial intention is still unclear. Thus, the purpose of this longitudinal study was to determine if a novel art-based entrepreneurship program influences the entrepreneurial intention of a sample of business students at a university in Colombia, South America. Based on the Ajzen model, this study is focused on entrepreneurial intention as a precursor of entrepreneurial behaviour. As a pedagogical strategy, this program not only focused on how to create a new business, but it also developed the students’ entrepreneurial spirit by utilizing art to foster their creativity and stimulate new ways of thinking. Moreover, the students’ entrepreneurial intention was assessed before the program (i.e., in 2014) and every two years after the program (i.e., in 2016 and 2018) to observe its long-term effectiveness. Based on the results, this program was effective in increasing the students’ entrepreneurial intention, mainly among the females. The main implication of the findings is the importance of promoting entrepreneurship intention in educational settings through art-based pedagogical approaches.

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