Entrepreneurial Capabilities of the Students at the Agriculture and Applied Educational Centers and Factor Affecting It (Case of Fars Province)

Entrepreneurship courses had a tremendous potential to help in the employment status of graduates in agriculture and applied educational centers. This research aimed at investigating factor affecting entrepreneurial capabilities of the students at the agriculture and applied educational centers in Fars Province. The research was applied, and it was descriptive- correlation, in terms of controlling the variables, in which used a survey method. The population of the study consisted of all 1018 graduate students in four agricultural applied educational centers in Fars Province (Shiraz, Jahrom, Aliabad Kamin & Marvdasht) in 2010-11 academic year. Based on Cochran’s formula, 178 cases were selected through stratified random sampling. Questionnaire was the main tool to collect data. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of agricultural extension and education experts. The reliability of the scale used in the study was assessed by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The results indicated that Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was above 0.71 for all scales. SPSS17 software was used to analyze data. The results indicated that there was a significant positive between educational and management factor and entrepreneurial mentality for students entrepreneurship capabilities. The results of stepwise multivariate regression analysis indicated that educational and management factors, and entrepreneurial mentality could be explained as 35.7 percent of the variability of the entrepreneurship capabilities. Finally, some recommendations have been made to improve current situation toward increasing entrepreneurship capabilities of the students in the agriculture and applied educational centers in Fars province.