Comparison of entrepreneurial abilities in students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

The importance of entrepreneurship in developing countries is obvious and universities play a special role in this regard. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare the entrepreneurial ability including internal control, need for independence, need for achievement, risk taking and creativity in students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in 2013-14 academic year. In this cross-sectional study, 750 students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences were randomly selected in 2013-1 academic year. The data was collected through a 74 item researcher-made questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistic, ANOVA and Duncan tests. Entrepreneurial abilities of the majority of students (n=687, 93.72%) were unfavorable. There was a significantdifference between different schools in terms of entrepreneurial ability (f=14.1, p= 0.015), need for independence (f=8.59, p=0.03) and need for achievement (f=6.34, p 0.05) with a 95% confidence. A significant difference was also found in terms of creativity (f=25.23, p=0.005) and internal control (f=63.78, p=0.001) with a 99% confidence. Students of health school and nursing and midwifery school were classified in one group in terms of entrepreneurial ability, need for achievement, need for independence and creativity with no differences. However, the rates of these components were significantly lower than those in students of paramedical school. In terms of internal control, there was a significant difference between students of the three schools; however, no significant difference was found in terms of risk taking. Low entrepreneurial ability of students suggests the necessity of further planning and more attention to reinforcing components which affect entrepreneurial abilities in educational and educational assistance programs.