Investigating the Potential of Entrepreneurship and its Related Social Factors (Case Study: Tabriz University)

IntroductionEntrepreneurship as one of the most influential circles in development is a method for solving the problem of unemployment in many societies. Entrepreneurs provides opportunities through the proper recognition of these opportunities and using static capital. Through organizing and managing resources, they can operate their ideas and thus help to market activeness. In Iran, in the last century, efforts have been made to develop economic and industrial development, but success has not been so impressive. In the context of the economic growth of society and the issue of unemployment, the unemployment of college graduates is a fundamental issue in our society, and thus conducting relevant research and identifying this critical issue is crucial. One of the most important hypotheses about university graduate's unemployment is the weakness of the entrepreneurial mood and the lack of academic applied training in this context. Accordingly, in this research, we will try to, first, assess the entrepreneurial potential among university students, secondly, identify some factors related to the entrepreneurial potential of the sample, and finally provide the necessary strategies to increase the entrepreneurial potential of the studied society according to empirical results.
Theoretical FrameworkThe term entrepreneurship comes from the French word entreprendre and means commitment. In the Webster University Dictionary, an entrepreneur is someone who organizes, manages, and accepts the dangers of an economic activity. Entrepreneurship has been considered for its importance by various disciplines, as the idea of entrepreneurship was first introduced in economic schools, then, in psychology and sociology schools. Today, the term entrepreneur is presented for various activities and in different perspectives. But theoretical and experimental development of this concept is due to the efforts of thinkers such as Schumpeter (1943), McClelland (1963), and Drucker (1986). In this research, various factors have been used to explain sociological factors influencing entrepreneurship. This research has four hypotheses: 1.There is a meaningful relationship between parents’ parenting and entrepreneurial potential. 2. There is a direct relationship between positive attitude towards self-employment and entrepreneurship potential. 3. Positive assessment of social mobility increases entrepreneurial potential of people 4. Positive attitude toward work and business improves entrepreneurship potential.
MethodologyThis study is a survey study in terms of content and control conditions. It is cross sectional in terms of time, and applied in terms of goal and is micro in terms of range, mainly because its units are students. Statistical population consists of undergraduate and postgraduate students of Tabriz University in 2013. Total number of undergraduate and graduate students at Tabriz University in 2013 was 15,720. To estimate the sample size, Cochran formula was used, which was estimated to be 321. A random stratified sampling method was used to select the samples. In this study, to determine the measuring tool, formal validity was applied. After initial test and modification, the questionnaire was distributed among management and social science researchers and scholars to standardize questions in order to reach face validity of questionnaire. Alpha Cronbach method was used to assess the reliability of the data collection tool.
ResultsBased on the average results, the student's entrepreneurial potential score (70.28) was moderate and among the dimensions of the entrepreneurship potential variable, success request (77.30) had the highest score. Also, Pearson correlation showed that there is a significant and direct correlation between entrepreneurial potential and independent variables of research, namely parenting education methods, attitude towards self-employment, assessment of social mobility and attitude to work. In other words, it became clear that with a more positive evaluation of student's attitudes towards self-employment, work and social mobility, their entrepreneurial potential score have been improved. On the other hand, democratic education has strengthened student's entrepreneurship. In regression analysis, it was found that the potential of entrepreneurial sample was more influenced by the attitude toward self-employment (0.34), and that, parent's educational method (0.26), evaluation of social mobility (0.20) and attitude toward work (0.13) have the most significant role in explaining variation of the dependent variable.
ConclusionIn this research, the theoretical framework of the research was set by referring to most theoretical perspectives and empirical sources and by using the results obtained from their review. To analyze the social factors affecting entrepreneurial potential, hypothesis research was presented and tested. The results of the research hypothesis showed that the investigated social factors were effective in enhancing the entrepreneurial potential of the students and increasing it. In this regard, we can consider positive changes for the potential of entrepreneurship among students through reinforcing each investigated variable, too. These results confirmed the views of McClelland (1963), Parsons (1998), Joseph McGuire (1962) and other scholars of the field, who emphasized on the effect of these factors on people's entrepreneurship. In terms of empirical research, the results of the present study are consistent with the results of Alborzie (2011) and Zahiri (2006).