Affecting Factors Agricultural MSc Student's Entrepreneurial Intention with emphasis on Mediating Effect of Attitude towards Entrepreneurial Behavior in University of Zanjan

The main purpose of this research was to study affecting factors on students’ entrepreneurial intention with emphasis on mediating effect of attitude toward entrepreneurial behavior. The statistical population of the research contained of all M.Sc. students in agriculture faculty of Zanjan University in 2015- 2016 academic year (N=489). According to Bartlett et al. (2001) table, a sample size of 220 was selected using a stratified random sampling method (n=220). Data were collected using the standard questionnaires (after adjusting the questions with the field of research). Content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. Construct validity and composite reliability of the research instrument were tested by estimating the measurement model and they were satisfactory after making necessary corrections. Data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) multivariate technique and the Bootstrapping method was used for testing mediating effect. The results showed that two variable of perceived behavior control (ρ-value=0.001, β=0.808) and social norms (ρ-value=0.001, β=0.374) had a positive and significant effect on students’ entrepreneurial intention. In addition to this, the results indicated that sum of indirect effect of perceived behavior control (ρ-value=0.001, β=0.237) and social norms (ρ-value=0.001, β=0.210) on students’ entrepreneurial intention through the variable of attitude toward entrepreneurial behavior was significant and the three the variables explained 64 percent of variances of the students’ entrepreneurial intention.