Gender comparison of linear and nonlinear effects of antecedents entrepreneurial intention model in agricultural students

Although researches show that the formation of entrepreneurial intention is based on social and psychological capital; but linear relationships, as well as ignoring gender, may not clearly explain the formation of the mechanism of entrepreneurial intention. Based on this, the main purpose of the present study was to compare the linear and non-linear effect of social capital on the entrepreneurial intention of agricultural students with the mediation of psychological capital, which was done separately by gender for a deeper understanding. The statistical population of the research consisted of final-year undergraduate agricultural students in the public universities in the academic year 2021-2022. In this regard, 384 questionnaires, designed in a five-option Likert scale and collected by multi-stage sampling method, were analyzed using the PLS-SEM algorithm in Smart Pls4 software. The reliability and face validity of the instrument were confirmed through ordinal coefficient theta and an expert panel. The results showed that in female students, the nonlinear model of the effect of social capital on the entrepreneurial intention with the mediation of psychological capital is superior to the linear model. But in male students, the model is only linear. In addition, the results of the research revealed that the mechanism of the effect of the studied structures in male and female students is different in some ways. The results of the present research can help education officials and planners to adopt policies and practices for male and female students that will promote their entrepreneurial intentions.