Promoting Entrepreneurial Behavior among Agricultural Students: A Two-Step Approach to Structural Equation Modeling

Increasing rate of unemployment among the graduates of Iranian higher agricultural education system has been developed into one of the major socio-economic problems of the nation. Entrepreneurship is one of the most important factors contributing to economic and social development, that is, it is a main driver for employment creation. As such, many policy initiatives in Iran attempt to pull agricultural students toward an entrepreneurial career choice. In this regard, considering the importance of entrepreneurship, and applying Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior, the present study was conducted to investigate the factors affecting entrepreneurial behavior of agricultural students in Razi University. The population of this study consisted of all senior agricultural students of Razi University in Iran (N=300), 169 of whom were selected as the sample using the proportional stratified sampling method. Data were analyzed by SPSS and AMOS version23 software in two phases of descriptive and inferential statistics. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that personal attitude toward entrepreneurship, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm were the main predictors of entrepreneurial intention (R2=0.46) and behavior (R2=0.45) among agricultural students. The findings of this study can have practical implications concerning the promotion of entrepreneurial intention and behavior among agricultural students for higher agricultural education managers, planners, and educators.