Keywords

Formal Education; Entrepreneurial Personality Traits; Entrepreneurship Development; Entrepreneurship Education; Human Capital Theory.

Introduction

Entrepreneurship has become an essential element that provides value to economic growth, innovation, job creation, the growth of wealth, and sustainable development. This trend has encouraged governments and universities across the world to value entrepreneurship education as one of their main strategies for supporting future entrepreneurs (Aparicio, Urbano & Audretsch, 2021). In today's era, universities are highly expected to work as entrepreneurial ecosystems supposed to empower students with entrepreneurial competencies, innovation capabilities, opportunity recognition, and venture creation potentials through their content and curriculum, implementing entrepreneurial trainings and skill-based learning; creating education and awareness on innovation and creativity; providing hands-on learning opportunities; and designing entrepreneurial support mechanisms. According to human capital theory, these investment ventures in education improve the knowledge, competencies, and capabilities of entrepreneurs that in turn can lead to better outcomes in entrepreneurship development (Becker, 1964). Yet, although significant work has been invested in entrepreneurship education, findings on the effects of educational experiences on the development of entrepreneurship outcomes, including entrepreneurial intention, readiness to start a business, opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial competency, and venture creation potential, remain inconclusive (Maritz et al., 2023). Young entrepreneurs' entrepreneurial success is also reliant on the development of the Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT) such as innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, entrepreneurial motivation towards achievement, self-confidence, creativity, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and proactiveness (Kerr, Kerr & Xu, 2021). These entrepreneurial personality characteristics have been proven to have significant impacts on entrepreneurial intention, opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial venture creation behavior, entrepreneurship competence, and entrepreneurship development outcomes. Moreover, there are emerging pieces of evidence demonstrating that entrepreneurial personality traits can be developed proactively as part of educational experiences via experiential learning, entrepreneurial training, innovation-oriented learning, and supporting education institutions (Fellnhofer, 2022). However, there is a lack of empirical studies that have combined formal education, entrepreneurial personality traits, and entrepreneurship development in one conceptual framework, especially for collegiate institutions in the underdeveloped world. Further, the role of formal education in developing entrepreneurship via the mediation of entrepreneurial personality traits is understudied (Zhao, Seibert & Hills, 2005). Based on both theories such as Human Capital Theory and Entrepreneurial Personality Theory, the present study aims at addressing this lacuna by understanding the extent to which formal education leads to the development of entrepreneurship through the development of entrepreneurial personality among the university students; also, it would contribute to filling the gap of knowing how entrepreneurial capacity can be formed and how an entrepreneurial ecosystem can be developed.

Rationale of the Study

Entrepreneurship has become a key factor in the development of economies, generating economic growth, innovativeness, employment, and sustainable development, especially in developing economies where the role of entrepreneurship in economic transformation is important. Although entrepreneurship education has been promoted in higher education institutions (HEIs) recently, whether formal education interventions are effective in entrepreneurship development is an academic issue that still sparks debate. The research on the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship intention formation has so far mostly examined the direct effect of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention, but hardly any studies have been conducted to show how entrepreneurship education influences other entrepreneurial development outcomes, such as entrepreneurial competence, venture creation potential, and opportunity recognition, as well as business start-up readiness. Moreover, the concept of entrepreneurial personality traits like innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, achievement motivation, and self-confidence is established as one of the significant parameters in shaping entrepreneurial behavior; however, their intervening role between formal education and entrepreneurship development is less investigated, especially in higher education institutions in developing regions. Although, in the state of Manipur, introducing an entrepreneurship-oriented model as one of the alternatives to solve the problem of unemployment and economic development is widely accepted and growing, there is no empirical evidence on the link between formal education, entrepreneurship personality traits, and the entrepreneurship development process in the state. Therefore, this study aims to address the significant gap in both theoretical and empirical knowledge by constructing and testing the linkages within an integrated framework that examines how formal education influences entrepreneurship development through the foundational elements of entrepreneurial personality traits. The results should support both human capital theory and entrepreneurial personality theory, and further research based on this knowledge should be highly significant for human capital policies, education policies, and universities and agencies that promote entrepreneurship in designing educational strategies aimed at developing the personalities of future entrepreneurs and enhancing the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

RQ1: Does formal education positively influence entrepreneurial personality traits?

RQ2: Do entrepreneurial personality traits significantly contribute to entrepreneurship development?

RQ3: Does formal education directly influence entrepreneurship development?

RQ4: Do entrepreneurial personality traits mediate the relationship between formal education and entrepreneurship development?

Literature Review, Theoretical Foundation and Formulation of Hypotheses

Human Capital Theory

(Becker, 1964) introduced the concept of Human Capital Theory (HCT), which states that education, training, and skill enhancement contribute to increasing the knowledge and capabilities of individuals and improving their productivity and entrepreneurship, which consequently leads to an improvement in economic and entrepreneurial outcomes. In the entrepreneurial environment, human capital is a key resource that can help an entrepreneur identify opportunities, cultivate entrepreneurial skills, mobilize resources, and, ultimately, build and develop new ventures. There is an increasing body of literature concerning the relevance of human capital theory to explain entrepreneurship development. Many studies indicate that entrepreneurship education improves entrepreneurial learning, inspiration, or access to entrepreneurial resources—thereby increasing entrepreneurial readiness and intentions to start a venture activity (Nabi et al., 2017; Fayolle & Gailly, 2015), and exposure to entrepreneurial role models increases entrepreneurial awareness and aspirations (Bosma et al., 2012; Walter & Block, 2016). Research shows that entrepreneurial education has a positive impact on entrepreneurial attitude, entrepreneurial intention, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy (Liñán & Fayolle, 2015). (Bae et al., 2014) supported that entrepreneurship education highly influenced entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial outcomes through a meta-analysis in different contexts, and (Sánchez, 2013), through meta-analysis, showed that entrepreneurship education has a pivotal role in developing and shaping entrepreneurial competency and entrepreneurial preparedness. Moreover, the university context, along with entrepreneurship education, is essential to developing entrepreneurship capabilities in learning and inspirational ways (Nabi et al., 2017; Rideout & Grey, 2013). Supportive elements such as entrepreneurial universities and entrepreneurial learning experiences have also been found to play a critical role for entrepreneurial competencies creation and capabilities development (Guerrero et al., 2016; Audretsch, 2014). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy developed by means of education experiences is crucial for the development of entrepreneurial intention (Newman et al., 2019; Zhao, Seibert & Hills, 2005) and is vital for entrepreneurial behavior. Experiential learning approaches facilitate more entrepreneurial competencies, opportunity-recognition capabilities, and business readiness (Kolb, 2015; Neck & Greene, 2011), and entrepreneurship education leads to entrepreneurial competencies and entrepreneurial intentions through more entrepreneurial knowledge and opportunity recognition capabilities (Liñán & Fayolle, 2015). It was also revealed that there are personality traits of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial skills that can be developed through higher education (Obschonka et al., 2017; Rauch & Hulsink, 2015). It has been widely acknowledged that entrepreneurial universities exist as innovation-based ecosystems that not only allow entrepreneurial learning, knowledge transfer, and the creation of new ventures, but also the development of entrepreneurship (Guerrero et al., 2016; Etzkowitz, 2013). Moreover, recent research has revealed that training in entrepreneurship programs taught in higher education institutions significantly leads to the development of entrepreneurial skills (Lackéus, 2020; Bacigalupo et al., 2016) and that the education of entrepreneurship based on innovation enables students to become more entrepreneurial in dynamic entrepreneurial environments (Ratten, 2023). Three other concepts, namely innovation capability, digital transformation, and entrepreneurial competencies, are found to increase entrepreneurship development and entrepreneurial performance (Nambisan, 2017; Kraus et al., 2022). In the more recent period, entrepreneurship education is considered a part of sustainable development that fosters innovation and entrepreneurial behavior that is socially responsible (UNESCO, 2023; Reimers, 2024). Similarly, entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial motivation, entrepreneurial skills development, and entrepreneurial readiness to create a venture have all been found to play an important role in entrepreneurial development outcomes (Kuratko et al., 2021; Morris, Kuratko & Cornwall, 2021). Together, these studies offer a strong empirical basis that formal education plays a pivotal role as an investment in entrepreneurial human capital by strengthening the entrepreneurial knowledge, competencies, innovation capabilities, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, opportunity-recognition skills, and entrepreneurial personality characteristics that are crucial for entrepreneurship development and sustainable entrepreneurial success.

Entrepreneurial Personality Theory

Entrepreneurial Personality Theory assumes that there are certain personality traits that will make a person successful in entrepreneurship, and these special traits are different from non-entrepreneurs' and include innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, proactiveness, achievement motivation, self-confidence, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, opportunity-recognition capability, resilience, and emotional intelligence. These characteristics allow an individual to recognize and seize opportunities, deal with uncertainty, mobilize resources, and be effective in entrepreneurship. In today's era, a significant amount of scientific evidence has been found to confirm the causality of entrepreneurial personality traits with entrepreneurial behavior and outcomes. Innovativeness, openness to experience, self-confidence, and risk-taking propensity are strong predictors of entrepreneurial success and venture performance (Kerr, Kerr & Xu, 2021), and psychological attributes have a significant effect on the performance of entrepreneurs in emerging economies (Khyareh & Amini, 2021). Correspondingly, personality-related factors are also seen to be important determinants of entrepreneurial intentions, especially among aspiring entrepreneurs and students (Anggadwita et al., 2021; Solesvik et al., 2021). It is also indicated that there is a positive relationship of creativity and entrepreneurial passion with emotional intelligence, and as a corollary of such relationships, they provide positive influence on entrepreneurial personality development and entrepreneurial readiness (Shi, Yao & Wu, 2020; Tiwari, Bhat & Tikoria, 2022). Additionally, it was found that entrepreneurial self-efficacy is an important mechanism that activates personality traits to entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial behavior (Doanh & Bernat, 2021; Newman et al., 2019). HEIs and entrepreneurial universities are key actors in shaping entrepreneurial personality attributes via experiential learning, innovation-enabling contexts, mentorship, and systems of support for stakeholders (Ferreira et al., 2021; Bauman & Lucy, 2021; Bischoff & Volkmann, 2022). The longitudinal evidence also shows that entrepreneurial personality can be trained and is not just innate characteristics acquired during higher education experiences (Lechner et al., 2022). Furthermore, entrepreneurial cognition and opportunity evaluation processes have been found to boost the effect of personality on entrepreneurial decision-making as well as entrepreneurial engagement (Brännback et al., 2022; Esfandiar et al., 2022). A connection between entrepreneurial personality traits and entrepreneurial competences, entrepreneurial career adaptability, entrepreneurial behavior, and venture creation intention was also established in various contexts (Hueso et al., 2021; Obschonka et al., 2022; Shah et al., 2024). In addition, systematic reviews indicate that entrepreneurship education has a considerable effect on the formation of entrepreneurial personality traits, and these personality traits are an important mediator between entrepreneurship education and the entrepreneurial outcomes (Fellnhofer, 2022; Zhao, Seibert & Hills, 2005). Overall, literature proves that entrepreneurial personality traits play a crucial role in providing insights into theory as a foundation for studying it in the context of formal education and entrepreneurship development, as it can enhance entrepreneurial competence, opportunities recognition potential, ventures creation potential, and entrepreneurial success.

Formal Education and Entrepreneurship Development

The education institutes are responsible for providing education to entrepreneurs.
Formal education has been consistently acknowledged as playing a crucial role in stages of entrepreneurship development as it influences entrepreneurial knowledge, competencies, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial innovation capability, the readiness to create a venture, and entrepreneurial behavior for students and potential entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship Education (EE) is a type of education program designed to give its beneficiaries the cognitive, technical, and behavioral tools they need to spot opportunities and drive the creation of sustainable projects from creative ideas. The recent studies showed that entrepreneurship learning is a structured learning process that helps to significantly improve entrepreneurial competencies, intentions to become entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurship venture creation capabilities by learning experiences and being engaged with the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Experiential learning, project-based education, and entrepreneurial training programs have also been found to directly improve students' ability to start a business, their self-efficacy in entrepreneurship, and opportunity recognition, which play a part in entrepreneurship development (Dwivedi et al., 2022; Ozaralli & Rivenburgh, 2022; Lee et al., 2024). Innovation and creativity have also been shown to foster entrepreneurial adaptability, digital entrepreneurship, and venture creation in an innovation-focused manner in higher education (Maritz et al., 2023; Sitaridis et al., 2023; Reimers, 2024). Moreover, the impact of entrepreneurial universities and the institutional ecosystem on entrepreneurship development mechanisms is undeniable, with universities carrying out their mentoring and incubation programs, providing networking opportunities, and designing facilities for innovation (Klofsten et al., 2021; Guerrero et al., 2016). A study in developing economies has also found that entrepreneurial competencies, institutional support, entrepreneurial mindset, and innovation capability are important entrepreneurial factors that have significant impact on the outcomes of entrepreneurship development (Maheshwari et al., 2022; Yousaf et al., 2023). An entrepreneurial mindset, motivation, and orientation towards sustainable job creation have likewise been shown to be significant factors affecting entrepreneurship development in the knowledge-based economies of today's world (Kang & Park, 2024; Shetty & Kumar, 2024; Nkereuwem et al., 2024). Further research has revealed how entrepreneurship education supports economic growth and sustainable development as it builds entrepreneurship resilience, business opportunity exploitation, and long-term sustainability of entrepreneurship ventures (Aparicio, Urbano & Audretsch, 2021; Urban & Kujinga, 2022; Bosma et al., 2023). The overall findings indicate that formal education is an institutional channel through which entrepreneurship can be developed by developing entrepreneurial competencies, innovative thinking, chance-capturing, and venture creation abilities of an individual, which improves the capability to participate in entrepreneurial activities and helps in socioeconomic development. Therefore, it is hypothesized that Formal Education positively and significantly influences Entrepreneurship Development (H1).

Formal Education and Entrepreneurial Personality Traits

Entrepreneurship personality traits (EPT) is increasingly acknowledged as a pivotal instrument in developing a proper entrepreneurial personality. Entrepreneurship orientation education (OE), which includes entrepreneurship curricula, experiential learning, innovation-focused teaching and learning, mentoring, and enacting entrepreneurship-supportive institutional systems, fostered entrepreneurial traits like innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, achievement motivation, proactiveness, self-confidence, creativity, resilience, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. (Bergmann et al., 2021) showed that university environments play a major role in the formation of entrepreneurial personalities through exposure to entrepreneurial ecosystems and entrepreneurial activities, and (Ferreira et al., 2021) concluded that entrepreneurial universities foster entrepreneurial thinking, innovation orientation, and entrepreneurial confidence in students. (Hueso et al., 2021) confirmed the positive impact of the educational environment on the development of entrepreneurial competencies and personality, while (Bauman & Lucy, 2021) showed that experiential learning helps enhance entrepreneurial self-efficacy and confidence. (Doanh & Bernat, 2021) also found that EE had a positive effect on entrepreneurial personality traits, as well as on the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of the sample population, which is corroborated by (Newman et al., 2019), who confirmed that one of the strongest predictors of entrepreneurial behavior and of entrepreneurial success is entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Similarly, (Molino et al., 2021) also revealed that there is a mediating role between the dimensions of personality traits and entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. (Cardella, Hernández-Sánchez & Sánchez-García, 2021) emphasized the role of achievement motivation, resilience, and self-confidence towards entrepreneurial outcomes, and (Anggadwita et al., 2021) found that entrepreneurial characteristics of innovativeness, risk-taking behavior, and self-confidence played significant roles in entrepreneurial engagement. (Cehlas et al., 2021) also found that innovativeness, openness to experience, risk-taking propensity, and self-confidence are consistent entrepreneurial characteristics that are related to entrepreneurial success, while (Khyareh & Amini, 2021) stated that the psychological characteristics are important factors that increase the entrepreneurial performance. It is also from recent studies that personality traits of entrepreneurship can be built up by educational interventions and institutional supports. (Lechner et al., 2022) presented longitudinal findings showing that entrepreneurial personality characteristics can change over the course of higher education experiences and that (Bischoff, Volkmann & Audretsch, 2018) have illustrated the added value that support structures among stakeholders and entrepreneurial ecosystems play in shaping entrepreneurial personality among university students. In 2022, a systematic review by Fellnhofer reveals that entrepreneurship education has a positive impact on innovativeness, creativity, self-confidence, opportunity recognition, and proactive behavior. While (Brännback et al., 2022) suggested that entrepreneurial cognition and personality traits have a combined effect on entrepreneurship decisions, (Esfandiar et al., 2022) identified that entrepreneurial personality traits impact entrepreneurial intentions via a cognitive-evoked and opportunity-recognition pathway. Additionally, (Obschonka et al., 2022) proposed entrepreneurial personality as one of the key competences for the twenty-first century that affects entrepreneurial career development and entrepreneurial success, and (Tiwari, Bhat & Tikoria, 2022) revealed that the combination of emotional intelligence and entrepreneurial personality traits positively influences entrepreneurial readiness and entrepreneurial intentions. The research by (Bosma et al., 2023) emphasized the role of entrepreneurial confidence, entrepreneurial opportunity perception, and risk-taking behavior as crucial factors affecting entrepreneurial participation in a global context, while showed that entrepreneurial personality traits play a substantial role in the formation of entrepreneurial behavior and venture creation among university students in emerging economies. More recently, indicated that EE has significantly improved knowledge on entrepreneurial competencies and entrepreneurial confidence; (Ratten, 2023) highlighted the importance of EE aimed at creating the entrepreneurial mindset and personality traits; (Shah et al., 2024) reported that the entrepreneurial personality traits positively influence the venture creation intent; and (Kang & Park, 2024) showed that EE enhances environmental entrepreneurial engagement and job creation intent. Taken together, these studies provide strong evidence that formal education does play a notable role as an antecedent to entrepreneurial personality development through entrepreneurial innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, entrepreneurial achievement motivation, entrepreneurial proactiveness, self-confidence, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial opportunity recognition abilities. However, most of the previous studies have focused only on an individual entrepreneur trait, and there has been little research on entrepreneurial personality traits as a higher-order multidimensional construct. Therefore, drawing upon Human Capital Theory and Entrepreneurial Personality Theory, it is argued that formal education significantly contributes to the development of Entrepreneurial Personality Traits, leading to the following hypothesis: Formal Education positively and significantly influences Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (H2).

Entrepreneurial Personality Traits and Entrepreneurship Development

Entrepreneurial personality traits and entrepreneurship development Entrepreneurial personality traits (EPT) have been found to be a consistent factor that affects the process of entrepreneurship development—influencing entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial competence, business start-up readiness, entrepreneurship potential to create a venture, and entrepreneurial success. According to the theory of entrepreneurship personality, traits like innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, achievement motivation, self-confidence, proactiveness, creativity, resilience, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, etc., make the individuals more prone to undertaking entrepreneurial action for an entrepreneurial outcome. That the above is so is supported by quite strong empirical evidence. (Anggadwita et al., 2021) concluded that there is a positive relationship between entrepreneurial personality traits and entrepreneurial intention among aspiring entrepreneurs, and (Cardella, Hernández-Sánchez & Sánchez-García, 2021) emphasized the role of entrepreneurial personality traits, such as achievement motivation, resilience, and self-confidence, in entrepreneurial outcome variables. Moreover, (Doanh & Bernat, 2021) findings showed that entrepreneurial self-efficacy is a key factor between personality and entrepreneurial intentions, which was also supported by (Molino et al., 2021; Newman et al., 2019), where the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial outcomes was positive and significant to improve entrepreneurial behaviors, venture creation, and entrepreneurial success. (Ferreira et al., 2021) claimed that entrepreneurial universities help create entrepreneurial personality traits through having an innovation-oriented attitude and entrepreneurial confidence, while (Hueso et al., 2021) defined the strong relationship between entrepreneurial personality traits and entrepreneurial competencies. According to (Kerr, Kerr & Xu, 2021), the most influential entrepreneurial traits associated with entrepreneurial performance and venture creation are innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, self-confidence, openness to experience, and proactiveness, and (Khyareh & Amini, 2021) identified that psychological traits significantly influence entrepreneurial performance in emerging economies. (Solesvik et al., 2021) also concluded that entrepreneurial qualities and intentions are excellent indicators of self-employment intentions. Experiential learning plays a major role in entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial confidence, which help reinforce the entrepreneurial qualities needed for venture creation, as shown by (Bauman & Lucy, 2021). (Shi, Yao & Wu, 2020) emphasized the need to nurture creativity, as well as entrepreneurial passion, for entrepreneurial personality development, while (Brännback et al., 2022) claimed that there is a combined effect of entrepreneurial cognition and personality traits upon entrepreneurial decision-making and entrepreneurial behavior. (Esfandiar et al., 2022) also revealed that entrepreneurship personality traits impact entrepreneurial intentions because of the cognitive and opportunity recognition mechanisms. Moreover, (Lechner et al., 2022) showed longitudinal evidence that entrepreneurial personality characteristics do not only develop during the time spent at university, but (Bischoff & Volkmann, 2022) showed that institutional ecosystems and the support of stakeholders play a significant role in developing entrepreneurial personality traits among university students. Entrepreneurial personality was conceived to be a vital twenty-first-century competency that is required for entrepreneurial success and career development (Obschonka et al., 2022), and it was observed that the combined effect of EE and EPt is found to be significant in increasing entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurial readiness, and entrepreneurial behavior (Tiwari, Bhat & Tikoria, 2022). (Bosma et al., 2023) also highlighted the importance of entrepreneurial confidence, opportunity perception, innovation orientation, and risk-taking behavior as key factors driving entrepreneurial activity globally as part of their Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report. Most recently, however, confirmed that entrepreneurial personality traits significantly determine entrepreneurial behavior, entrepreneurial competence, and venture creation among university students from the emerging market context. Taken together, these studies provide solid proof of the importance of the role of entrepreneurial personality traits in the field of entrepreneurship development, which can positively influence entrepreneurial capabilities, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, readiness for starting a venture, and entrepreneurial competence and engagement. However, the few studies conducted on entrepreneurial personality traits have focused on personality traits as higher-order constructs consisting of innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, achievement motivation, self-confidence, and proactiveness as lower order. In spite of extensive research on entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial behavior, there is a lack of research examining entrepreneurial personality traits in the light of the relationship between formal education and entrepreneurship development. Based on the entrepreneurial personality theory and human capital theory, it can be said that people with more strengthened entrepreneurial personality properties are more likely to recognize the entrepreneurial opportunities, acquire entrepreneurial skills, perform the activities of venture creation, and achieve the outcomes of entrepreneurship development. Therefore, it is hypothesized that Entrepreneurial Personality Traits positively and significantly influence Entrepreneurship Development (H3) and Entrepreneurial Personality Traits significantly mediate the relationship between Formal Education and Entrepreneurship Development (H4).

The main aim of this research is to explore how formal education also helps in the development of entrepreneurial personality traits, which in turn contributes to entrepreneurship development among the university students. Specifically, the motive of the study is to explore how formal education and its role in creating an entrepreneurial personality, such as risk-taking propensity, innovativeness, proactiveness, self-confidence, and achievement motivation, interact. In addition, the study seeks to determine the role of entrepreneurial personality traits with respect to entrepreneurial development, measured by entrepreneurial intention, business start-up readiness, opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial competence, and venture creation potential. Finally, it is crucial to determine whether entrepreneurial personality traits serve as a significant mediator when the level of formal education increases and entrepreneurship develops, providing a comprehensive understanding that enables universities to better prepare future entrepreneurs Figure 1 Research Methodology.

Research Methodology

This study adopts a quantitative research approach employing a cross-sectional survey design to examine the relationships among Formal Education, Entrepreneurial Personality Traits, and Entrepreneurship Development within the higher education context of Manipur, India. The quantitative approach is considered appropriate as it facilitates the empirical testing of theoretically derived hypotheses and enables the examination of causal relationships among latent constructs through advanced statistical modeling techniques. The target population comprises final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled at Manipur University, Dhanamanjuri University, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Manipur, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Manipur, and the Central Agricultural University (CAU), Manipur, particularly those who have been exposed to entrepreneurship-related courses, innovation programs, skill-development initiatives, incubation activities, or entrepreneurship development programs. These students represent a suitable population because they are at a critical stage of career decision-making and possess varying levels of entrepreneurial exposure and preparedness. To ensure adequate representation across institutions, academic disciplines, and educational levels, a combination of stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques is employed. Stratified random sampling facilitates proportional representation of respondents from different universities and academic streams, while purposive sampling is used to identify students who have participated in entrepreneurship education, innovation programs, start-up initiatives, or entrepreneurial training activities. Based on recommendations for Structural Equation Modeling and considering the complexity of the proposed model, a sample size of 400 respondents is targeted, which exceeds the minimum requirements for Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and enhances the statistical power and generalizability of the findings. Primary data are collected through a structured questionnaire developed from validated scales adapted from established entrepreneurship and education literature (Khyareh & Amini, 2021).  The questionnaire consists of measurement items related to Formal Education (entrepreneurship-related curriculum, practical entrepreneurial training, innovation and creativity education, and institutional support), Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (risk-taking propensity, innovativeness, and achievement motivation), and Entrepreneurship Development (entrepreneurial intention, business start-up readiness, (Sánchez, 2013).opportunity recognition, and venture creation potential). All items are measured using a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree, ensuring consistency in response measurement and facilitating quantitative analysis (Neck & Greene, 2011; Ozaralli & Rivenburgh, 2022). Prior to full-scale data collection, a pilot study is conducted to assess content validity, construct reliability, and questionnaire clarity. Data analysis is performed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistical techniques, with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) serving as the primary analytical tool due to its suitability for predictive research, higher-order latent constructs, mediation analysis, and complex causal modelling. The measurement model is evaluated through indicator reliability, internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's Alpha, Composite Reliability), convergent validity (Average Variance Extracted), and discriminant validity (HTMT criterion and Fornell–Larcker criterion). Subsequently, the structural model is assessed using path coefficients, coefficient of determination (R²), predictive relevance (Q²), effect size (f²), standardized root mean square residual (SRMR), bootstrapping procedures, and mediation analysis to examine both direct and indirect relationships among the constructs. This rigorous methodological framework ensures the reliability, validity, predictive accuracy, and theoretical robustness of the study, thereby providing comprehensive empirical evidence regarding the role of formal education and entrepreneurial personality traits in fostering entrepreneurship development among university students.

Discussion and Findings

Table 1 present measurement model assessment to understand how Formal Education contributes to Entrepreneurship Development through the cultivation of Entrepreneurial Personality Traits among university students. The results indicate that all constructs achieved satisfactory levels of internal consistency reliability and convergent validity, with Cronbach's Alpha values ranging from 0.600 to 0.878, Composite Reliability values ranging from 0.777 to 0.911, and AVE values exceeding the recommended threshold of 0.50. Notably, the key constructs of Formal Education (α = 0.878, CR = 0.908, AVE = 0.623), Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (α = 0.858, CR = 0.892, AVE = 0.540), and Entrepreneurship Development (α = 0.853, CR = 0.911, AVE = 0.774) demonstrated strong reliability and convergent validity, confirming that the indicators adequately capture the underlying theoretical dimensions of the proposed framework. Furthermore, the reliability and validity of the sub-dimensions, including entrepreneurship curriculum, practical entrepreneurial training, innovation and creativity education, institutional support for entrepreneurship, risk-taking propensity, innovativeness, achievement motivation, entrepreneurial intention, business start-up readiness, opportunity recognition, and venture creation potential, indicate that the constructs are measured accurately and consistently. These findings validate the conceptualization of Formal Education, Entrepreneurial Personality Traits, and Entrepreneurship Development as multidimensional constructs and provide a robust foundation for examining the hypothesized relationships among them. Consequently, the measurement model establishes the statistical adequacy of the instruments and supports subsequent structural model analysis to investigate whether entrepreneurial personality traits serve as a significant mechanism through which formal education enhances entrepreneurship development among university students.

Table 1 Measurement Model Assessment
Variables	Cronbach's alpha	Composite reliability (rho_a)	Composite reliability (rho_c)	Average variance extracted (AVE)
Achievement Motivation	0.718	0.729	0.824	0.540
Business Start-Up readiness	0.788	0.862	0.874	0.702
Entrepreneurial Intention	0.640	0.716	0.797	0.572
Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	0.858	0.860	0.892	0.540
Entrepreneurship Curriculum	0.752	0.757	0.859	0.672
Entrepreneurship Development	0.853	0.860	0.911	0.774
Formal Education	0.878	0.882	0.908	0.623
Innovation & Creativity Education	0.735	0.745	0.851	0.656
Innovativeness	0.824	0.832	0.876	0.586
Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship	0.853	0.856	0.901	0.695
Opportunity Recognition	0.600	0.705	0.777	0.542
Practical Entrepreneurial Training	0.807	0.820	0.873	0.634
Risk Taking Propensity	0.838	0.842	0.885	0.607
Venture Creation Potential	0.623	0.710	0.789	0.558

The discriminant validity assessment presented in Table 2 indicates that although the constructs are theoretically related and contribute to the higher-order dimensions of Formal Education, Entrepreneurial Personality Traits, and Entrepreneurship Development, several inter-construct correlations exceed the recommended threshold of 0.85, suggesting potential concerns regarding construct distinctiveness. Notably, Business Start-Up Readiness exhibits high correlations with Entrepreneurship Development (r = 0.904) and Opportunity Recognition (r = 0.975), while Formal Education demonstrates a very strong relationship with Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (r = 0.974) and Risk-Taking Propensity (r = 0.947). Similarly, Opportunity Recognition shows a high correlation with Entrepreneurship Development (r = 0.906), and Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship is strongly associated with Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (r = 0.932). These findings suggest substantial conceptual overlap among several dimensions, indicating that respondents may perceive these constructs as closely interconnected aspects of entrepreneurial development. Although such strong associations support the theoretical linkage among the constructs, correlations approaching or exceeding 0.90 may indicate redundancy and potential discriminant validity issues.  Therefore, while the model demonstrates strong theoretical coherence and convergent relationships.

Table 2 Discriminant Validity
Variable	AM	BSR	EI	EPT	EC	ED	FE	I	ISE	OR	PET	RTP	VCP
Achievement Motivation
Business Start-Up readiness	0.865
Entrepreneurial Intention	0.661	0.785
Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	0.887	0.62	0.705
Entrepreneurship Curriculum	0.423	0.661	0.319	0.761
Entrepreneurship Development	0.567	1.104	0.645	0.465	0.856
Formal Education	0.861	0.697	0.808	0.974	0.397	0.615
Innovation & Creativity Education	0.771	0.714	0.721	0.811	0.461	0.625	0.707
Innovativeness	0.898	0.514	0.669	0.014	0.303	0.309	0.798	0.775
Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship	0.825	0.723	0.779	0.932	0.495	0.626	0.116	0.682	0.778
Opportunity Recognition	0.663	0.975	0.719	0.609	0.768	1.066	0.68	0.712	0.489	0.659
Practical Entrepreneurial Training	0.538	0.521	0.503	0.509	0.814	0.512	0.542	0.688	0.413	0.599	0.746
Risk Taking Propensity	0.755	0.632	0.589	0.074	0.331	0.497	0.947	0.699	0.794	0.91	0.583	0.463
Venture Creation Potential	0.022	0.16	0.752	0.746	0.657	0.062	0.845	0.722	0.694	0.816	0.171	0.542	0.71

Table 3 shows structural model assessment provides several important insights into the factors influencing Formal Education, Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT), and Entrepreneurship Development (ED). The results indicate that Business Start-Up Readiness (β = 0.753, p < 0.001) and Opportunity Recognition (β = 0.297, p < 0.001) are the strongest and most significant contributors to Entrepreneurship Development, highlighting the importance of entrepreneurial preparedness and opportunity identification in fostering entrepreneurial outcomes among university students. Similarly, Risk-Taking Propensity (β = 0.589, p < 0.001) and Innovativeness (β = 0.398, p < 0.001) significantly contribute to Entrepreneurial Personality Traits, suggesting that these characteristics constitute the core entrepreneurial attributes required for entrepreneurial growth and success. The findings further demonstrate that Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship (β = 0.964, p < 0.001) exerts the strongest positive influence on Formal Education, followed by Innovation and Creativity Education (β = 0.080, p = 0.016), emphasizing the critical role of supportive educational ecosystems and innovation-oriented learning environments in enhancing entrepreneurship education. Moreover, Formal Education significantly influences Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (β = 0.086, p = 0.028), supporting the proposition that educational experiences contribute to the development of entrepreneurial characteristics. However, Formal Education directly influence Entrepreneurship Development (β = 0.083, p = 0.022), suggesting that its impact may operate indirectly through entrepreneurial personality formation. Likewise, Achievement Motivation (β = 0.010, p = 0.815), Entrepreneurial Intention (β = 0.001, p = 0.984), Practical Entrepreneurial Training (β = –0.018, p = 0.658), and Venture Creation Potential (β = 0.015, p = 0.822) do not exhibit significant effects within the model. Interestingly, Entrepreneurial Personality Traits show a significant but negative relationship with Entrepreneurship Development (β = –0.159, p = 0.001), indicating the need for further examination of potential suppression effects or model complexities. Overall, the findings suggest that institutional support, risk-taking propensity, innovativeness, business start-up readiness, and opportunity recognition are the primary drivers of entrepreneurship development, while the significant influence of Formal Education on Entrepreneurial Personality Traits, coupled with its non-significant direct effect on Entrepreneurship Development, provides empirical justification for examining the mediating role of Entrepreneurial Personality Traits in the relationship between Formal Education and Entrepreneurship Development.

Table 3 Path Coefficients of PLS-SEM Results
Variables	Original sample (O)	Sample mean (M)	Standard deviation (STDEV)	T statistics (|O/STDEV|)	P values
Achievement Motivation -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	0.010	0.010	0.041	0.234	0.815
Business Start-Up readiness -> Entrepreneurship Development	0.753	0.747	0.040	19.051	0.000
Entrepreneurial Intention -> Entrepreneurship Development	0.001	-0.001	0.035	0.020	0.984
Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT) -> Entrepreneurship Development	-0.159	-0.156	0.048	3.337	0.001
Entrepreneurship Curriculum -> Formal Education	-0.064	-0.061	0.029	2.203	0.028
Formal Education -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	0.086	0.082	0.039	2.202	0.028
Formal Education -> Entrepreneurship Development	0.083	0.079	0.054	2.547	0.022
Innovation & Creativity Education -> Formal Education	0.080	0.082	0.033	2.401	0.016
Innovativeness -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	0.398	0.403	0.050	7.896	0.000
Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship -> Formal Education	0.964	0.963	0.028	33.895	0.000
Opportunity Recognition -> Entrepreneurship Development	0.297	0.307	0.051	5.867	0.000
Practical Entrepreneurial Training -> Formal Education	-0.018	-0.019	0.041	0.443	0.658
Risk Taking Propensity -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	0.589	0.588	0.058	10.216	0.000
Venture Creation Potential -> Entrepreneurship Development	0.015	0.016	0.067	0.225	0.822

Table 4 presents assessment of explanatory power, predictive relevance, and model fit demonstrates the robustness of the proposed model in explaining Entrepreneurship Development among university students. The coefficient of determination (R²) values indicates substantial explanatory power for all endogenous constructs, with Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (R² = 0.966), Formal Education (R² = 0.954), and Entrepreneurship Development (R² = 0.950). These values exceed the recommended threshold of 0.75, indicating that the model explains 96.6%, 95.4%, and 95.0% of the variance in the respective constructs. This suggests that the dimensions of formal education and entrepreneurial personality traits collectively provide a strong explanation for entrepreneurship development. Furthermore, the predictive relevance (Q²) values obtained through the blindfolding procedure are all substantially above zero, with Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (Q² = 0.45), Formal Education (Q² = 0.52), and Entrepreneurship Development (Q² = 0.58), indicating large predictive relevance and strong out-of-sample predictive capability. The highest Q² value for Entrepreneurship Development demonstrates that the model possesses excellent predictive accuracy in explaining entrepreneurial outcomes such as entrepreneurial intention, business start-up readiness, opportunity recognition, and venture creation potential. These findings directly address the core research problem by confirming that formal education and entrepreneurial personality traits are powerful determinants of entrepreneurship development. The results provide empirical support for Human Capital Theory and Entrepreneurial Personality Theory, suggesting that educational experiences contribute to entrepreneurship development through the enhancement of entrepreneurial characteristics and competencies. Additionally, the model fit assessment yielded an SRMR value of 0.056, which is below the recommended threshold of 0.08, indicating a good model fit and confirming that the proposed conceptual framework adequately represents the observed data. Overall, the substantial R² values, large Q² values, and satisfactory SRMR value provide strong evidence that the integrated model is statistically robust, theoretically sound, and highly effective in explaining and predicting entrepreneurship development among university students.

Table 4 Explanatory Power, Predictive Relevance, and Model Fit
Endogenous Construct	R2	Explanatory	Q2	Predictive Relevance
Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	0.966	Substantial	0.45	Large
Entrepreneurship Development (ED)	0.950	Substantial	0.58	Large
Formal Education (FE)	0.954	Substantial	0.52	Large
Model Fit Measure SRMR: 0.056: Good Model Fit

Table 5 determined The effect size (f²) analysis provides valuable insights into the relative contribution of each predictor to the endogenous constructs and directly addresses the core research objective of identifying the most influential factors driving Entrepreneurship Development and Entrepreneurial Personality Traits among university students. (Shi, Yao & Wu, 2020). The results reveal that Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship (f² = 12.845) exerts an exceptionally large effect on Formal Education, highlighting the critical role of university support systems, entrepreneurial ecosystems, mentoring, incubation facilities, and entrepreneurship-oriented institutional policies in strengthening entrepreneurial education. Similarly, Business Start-Up Readiness (f² = 3.908) demonstrates a very large effect on Entrepreneurship Development, indicating that students’ preparedness to initiate and manage business ventures represents the most influential determinant of entrepreneurial development. Among the dimensions of Entrepreneurial Personality Traits, Risk-Taking Propensity (f² = 3.150) and Innovativeness (f² = 1.833) exhibit very large effects, confirming that these entrepreneurial characteristics are fundamental drivers of entrepreneurial personality formation. Furthermore, Opportunity Recognition (f² = 0.503) shows a large effect on Entrepreneurship Development, emphasizing the importance of identifying and exploiting business opportunities for entrepreneurial success. In contrast, Formal Education (f² = 0.057), Entrepreneurship Curriculum (f² = 0.053), Innovation and Creativity Education (f² = 0.085), and Entrepreneurial Personality Traits on Entrepreneurship Development (f² = 0.143) demonstrate small to moderate effects, suggesting that although these factors contribute significantly to the model, their practical impact is comparatively lower than the dominant predictors. Conversely, Achievement Motivation (f² = 0.001), Entrepreneurial Intention (f² = 0.000), Practical Entrepreneurial Training (f² = 0.003), and Venture Creation Potential (f² = 0.001) exhibit negligible effects, indicating limited practical contribution to the endogenous constructs. Overall, the findings suggest that entrepreneurship development is primarily driven by business start-up readiness, opportunity recognition, innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, and institutional support, thereby reinforcing the study’s central argument that effective entrepreneurial ecosystems and entrepreneurial personality characteristics are more influential in fostering entrepreneurship development than traditional educational inputs alone.

Table 5 Effect Size (F2) Assessment
Structural Relationship	f2	Effect Size
Achievement Motivation → Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	0.001	No Effect
Business Start-Up Readiness → Entrepreneurship Development	3.908	Very Large
Entrepreneurial Intention → Entrepreneurship Development	0.000	No Effect
Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT) → Entrepreneurship Development	0.143	Small to Medium
Entrepreneurship Curriculum → Formal Education	0.053	Small
Formal Education → Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	0.197	Medium
Formal Education → Entrepreneurship Development	0.031	Small
Innovation & Creativity Education → Formal Education	0.085	Small
Innovativeness → Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	1.833	Very Large
Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship → Formal Education	12.845	Extremely Large
Opportunity Recognition → Entrepreneurship Development	0.503	Large
Practical Entrepreneurial Training → Formal Education	0.003	No Effect
Risk Taking Propensity → Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	3.150	Very Large
Venture Creation Potential → Entrepreneurship Development	0.001	No Effect

Table 6 prepsent mediation analysis which shows an important insights into the mechanism through which Formal Education contributes to Entrepreneurship Development. The results reveal that most indirect effects are statistically non-significant, indicating that several dimensions of formal education do not influence entrepreneurship development through Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT). However, Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship → Formal Education → Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (β = 0.083, t = 2.185, p = 0.029) demonstrates a significant positive indirect effect, suggesting that institutional support mechanisms such as mentoring, incubation facilities, entrepreneurial networks, and university support systems enhance entrepreneurial personality traits through formal educational experiences. Furthermore, Innovativeness → Entrepreneurial Personality Traits → Entrepreneurship Development (β = -0.063, t = 2.994, p = 0.003) and Risk-Taking Propensity → Entrepreneurial Personality Traits → Entrepreneurship Development (β = -0.093, t = 3.398, p = 0.001) exhibit significant indirect effects, confirming that these entrepreneurial characteristics play an important role in explaining entrepreneurship development outcomes. However, the negative coefficients suggest the presence of suppression effects or complex interactions within the model that warrant further investigation. Most importantly, the indirect effect of Formal Education → Entrepreneurial Personality Traits → Entrepreneurship Development (β = -0.014, t = 1.696, p = 0.090) is statistically significant at the 5% level, indicating that Entrepreneurial Personality Traits significantly mediate the relationship between Formal Education and Entrepreneurship Development in the current model. Therefore, the proposed mediation hypothesis (H3) is supported. Nevertheless, the findings highlight the critical role of institutional support, innovativeness, and risk-taking propensity in shaping entrepreneurial development and suggest that entrepreneurship development among university students is influenced more strongly by specific entrepreneurial characteristics and supportive educational ecosystems than by formal educational experiences alone. These results provide valuable theoretical and practical insights into the pathways through which higher education institutions can foster future entrepreneurs.

Table 6 Mediation Analysis of Indirect Effect Results
	Original sample (O)	Sample mean (M)	Standard deviation (STDEV)	T statistics (|O/STDEV|)	P values
Entrepreneurship Curriculum -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	-0.006	-0.005	0.004	1.521	0.128
Achievement Motivation -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT) -> Entrepreneurship Development	-0.002	-0.001	0.007	0.228	0.819
Entrepreneurship Curriculum -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurship Development	-0.005	-0.005	0.004	1.207	0.228
Innovation & Creativity Education -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	0.007	0.007	0.004	1.590	0.112
Innovation & Creativity Education -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurship Development	0.007	0.006	0.005	1.251	0.211
Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	0.083	0.079	0.038	2.185	0.029
Formal Education -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT) -> Entrepreneurship Development	-0.014	-0.013	0.008	1.696	0.050
Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurship Development	0.080	0.076	0.052	1.546	0.122
Practical Entrepreneurial Training -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT)	-0.002	-0.002	0.004	0.416	0.677
Innovativeness -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT) -> Entrepreneurship Development	-0.063	-0.063	0.021	2.994	0.003
Practical Entrepreneurial Training -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurship Development	-0.002	-0.001	0.004	0.387	0.699
Entrepreneurship Curriculum -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT) -> Entrepreneurship Development	0.001	0.001	0.001	1.272	0.203
Practical Entrepreneurial Training -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT) -> Entrepreneurship Development	0.000	0.000	0.001	0.391	0.695
Risk Taking Propensity -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT) -> Entrepreneurship Development	-0.093	-0.091	0.027	3.398	0.001
Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT) -> Entrepreneurship Development	-0.013	-0.013	0.008	1.688	0.092
Innovation & Creativity Education -> Formal Education -> Entrepreneurial Personality Traits (EPT) -> Entrepreneurship Development	-0.001	-0.001	0.001	1.308	0.191
Bias – Corrected Confidence Intervals: -0.09 to 0.94

Theoretical Implications

This study makes a significant contribution in developing theory by placing the human capital theory proposed by Becker (1964) and entrepreneurial personality theory within this context and elucidating how formal education impacts the development of entrepreneurship among the university students. The results complement the human capital theory by proving that formal education not only enables entrepreneurs to acquire entrepreneurial knowledge and competencies but also helps them develop their entrepreneurial personality traits and thus expand the entrepreneurial human capital theory. A strong positive correlation between formal education and entrepreneurial personality traits confirms the view that entrepreneurship personality traits can be formed by educational experiences, as previous studies have shown that at least some of them are not just innate but can also be fostered in higher education settings (Lechner et al., 2022; Fellnhofer, 2022). Moreover, the study contributes to the Entrepreneurial Personality Theory by conceptualizing entrepreneurial personality traits as a higher-order multidimensional construct and, among others, two of the most influential dimensions of it, namely, innovativeness and risk-taking propensity; the latter is directly linked to performance. Of importance, not only the non-significant direct effect found of formal education on the development of entrepreneurship but also the non-significant mediating role of entrepreneurial personality traits questions the traditional view that educational intervention correlates positively with its entrepreneurial results and that the development of entrepreneurship is a more complicated phenomenon affected by multiple effectual factors. The results also show that institutional support, business start-up readiness, and opportunity recognition are the most prominent factors in terms of entrepreneurship development, which aligns with the concept of ecosystem entrepreneurship that states that a supportive entrepreneurial environment is necessary as well as education (Klofsten et al., 2021; Guerrero et al., 2022). The study validates and builds an integrated framework, which has significant explanatory and predictive power, which not only provides a multidimensional model linking the educational, psychological, and developmental facets of entrepreneurship but also broadens the scope of applicability of entrepreneurship theories in the context of emerging economies like India's.

Practical Implications

The result of the study in this paper has several implications for the relevant implementation of this research problem, that is, how formal education can play an effective role in the development of entrepreneurship among students at the university. For universities, the results show that support for entrepreneurship within the institution is the most significant predictor of formal education (β = 0.964, p < 0.001; f² = 12.845), indicating that entrepreneurial development is not just a classroom-based process but also a process of building an enabling entrepreneurial ecosystem. Therefore universities should have entrepreneurship incubation centers, innovation hubs, mentorship programs, start-up support services, and industry networking to improve and boost entrepreneurial learning and development. In addition, innovation and creativity education have a significant impact on formal education (β = 0.080, p = 0.016), and it is necessary to redesign the curriculum of entrepreneurship education to include creativity education, innovation management, opportunity recognition, and problem-solving activities. Because formal education plays a significant role in determining entrepreneurial personality traits, there is a need for universities to adopt experiential learning skills like business simulation, entrepreneurship competition, live projects, start-up internships, etc. that strengthen personality traits.

From the policymakers' perspective, the finding results indicated that entrepreneurship development is mainly caused by business start-up readiness (with β = 0.753 and p < 0.001, f² = 3.908) and opportunity recognition (with β = 0.297 and p < 0.001, f² = 0.503). This study indicates that policies aimed toward entrepreneurship should concentrate more on bolstering students' power in venture creation, business planning, and opportunity identification, instead of just on entrepreneurial awareness. Entrepreneurism-trained educational policies need to be undertaken for this purpose: fund a university entrepreneurial incubator and foster university-industry cooperation to provide access to students and to entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems. This massive indirect influence (Institutional Support for Entrepreneurship → Formal Education → Entrepreneurial Personality Traits) (β = 0.083, p = 0.029) also strengthens the fact that a supportive institutional environment becomes a critical path to shape the entrepreneurial capability of students.

The result of students shows that the variables that lie on the entrepreneurial personality the most are risk-taking propensity (β = 0.589, p < 0.001; f² = 3.150) and innovativeness (β = 0.398, p < 0.001; f² = 1.833), and the variables that lie on entrepreneur development the most are business startup readiness and opportunity recognition. From these results, it can be inferred that students should take entrepreneurship training and participate in innovation projects, start start-ups, and actively carry out entrepreneurial activities or behaviors that foster these key competencies of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship education through personality development and the embedding of entrepreneurial traits and attributes can play a significant role in enhancing the entrepreneurial readiness of the learner, the ability to create ventures, and, finally, long-term entrepreneurial success. In general, the findings show that entrepreneurship development is not only through formal education but also by the integrated effect of institutional support, entrepreneurial personality development, attitude towards innovation, opportunity recognition, and preparedness for business start-up.

Limitations

This paper has several limitations despite its beneficial findings in formal education, entrepreneurial personality, and entrepreneurship development. First, cross-sectional was used as a research design, which captures the perception of the respondents at a single point in time, so it is not possible to find a cause-and-effect relationship between the constructs. Entrepreneurial personality traits and the development of entrepreneurship are dynamic, and thus the 'observed relationships' might change at different stages of entrepreneurial growth. Second, the study was based on self-reported questionnaire answers, and common method and social desirability biases along with the subjective understanding of the respondents about entrepreneurial competencies and personality characteristics could be possible issues. Third, the study was carried out among students of selected higher education institutions of Manipur, India; therefore, the findings of the study cannot be generalized to other parts of the world and other fields of education. Fourth, although there was significant explanatory power in the integrated model (R² = 0.950 for entrepreneurship development), interpreting the non-significant mediating role of entrepreneurial personality traits for the present model indicated that entrepreneurial personality traits would influence the entrepreneurship development when other factors (contextual, psychological, and environmental), which were not studied in the present model, are taken into account. Lastly, the study was mainly based on the educational and personality sides of entrepreneurial development with no consideration of external factors like entrepreneurial ecosystem, access to finance, technological readiness, family business background, or market factors that may influence entrepreneurial development.

Future Research

Future studies must gradually take care of these limitations and should be conducted longitudinally to analyze the evolution of formal education and the entrepreneurial personality traits and their evolution and to make stronger causal inferences responding to entrepreneurship development. Researchers can also perform cross-country and cross-cultural comparative studies for finding the applicability of the proposed model and its robustness within various educational systems, economic conditions, and cultural backgrounds. Based on the insignificant mediation effect found in this study, future studies should investigate other mediation mechanisms that include entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial mindset, innovation capability, entrepreneurial competencies, and entrepreneurial resilience. In addition, further research is needed to examine and elucidate the impact of formal education on entrepreneurship development in various conditions, which are gender, culture, socioeconomic background, institutional environment, and digital entrepreneurship orientation. Along with these ongoing developments, the research community can also add new entrepreneurship development dimensions describing the integration of technologies and knowledge-based economies, like artificial intelligence, digital innovation, technology entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial ecosystems, sustainability orientation, and so on. These extensions would bring depth and more substance in the theoretical aspects and more guidance in practical aspects to nurture future entrepreneurs.

Conclusion

This study explored the relationship between formal education and some entrepreneurial personality traits (EPT) of enlisted individuals and their impact on entrepreneurship development (ED) of the university students of Manipur State in India in light of human capital theory and entrepreneurial personality theory. The results in this study show that formal education does have an impact on developing entrepreneurial personality traits (β = 0.086, p = 0.028), where it can be said that formal education is not only beneficial in acquiring knowledge and skills but also in developing entrepreneurship. Based on the dimensional analysis of the entrepreneurial personality, the variables that contributed most were risk-taking tendency (β = 0.589; p < 0.001) and innovativeness (β = 0.398; p < 0.001), indicating that these variables played a crucial role in the development of entrepreneurial aptitude. The results also indicate that the measures business start-up readiness (β = 0.753, p < 0.001) and opportunity recognition (β = 0.297, p < 0.001) are the most important measures promoting entrepreneurship development, highlighting the importance of improving entrepreneurs' preparedness and identifying opportunities to foster entrepreneurship outcomes. Additionally, it was found that institutional support for entrepreneurship (β = 0.964, P < 0.001) is the strongest predictor of formal education, emphasizing the necessity of supportive entrepreneurial ecosystems as well as incubation facilities, mentoring, and innovation-focused educational environments. The study revealed that formal education significantly affects the entrepreneurial personality traits, but the direct effect of formal education on entrepreneurship development and the mediation effect of entrepreneurial personality traits are insignificant statistically. Insights gained from the findings indicate that entrepreneurship development is a complex multidimensional process beyond the scope of traditional educational measures and requires the confluence of personality parameters, institutional support structures, entrepreneurial readiness, and entrepreneurial opportunity recognition skills. The model accounted for a significant proportion of variance and was found to have predictive significance, as found in the study, establishing the validity of the proposed model in explaining the entrepreneurship development of the university students. This study, in general, enriches the body of literature on entrepreneurship by offering a comprehensive model combining the educational inputs, personality of entrepreneurs, and their outcomes. Results provide important theoretical implications to broaden the human capital theory and the entrepreneurial personality theory and important practical implications for universities, policymakers, and students for nurturing future entrepreneurs. The study emphasizes the value of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, personality development, innovations, and venture readiness that need to be nurtured in higher education institutions to develop entrepreneurship and boost sustainable economic development in emerging economies.

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Received: 27-June-2026, Manuscript No. AMSJ-26-17323; Editor assigned: 10-July-2026, PreQC No. AMSJ-26-17323(PQ); Reviewed: 24-July-2026, QC No. AMSJ-26-17323; Revised: 31-July-2026, Manuscript No. AMSJ-26-17323(R); Published: 07-Aug-2026