Investigating Entrepreneurial Mentality among Students of Ilam Islamic Azad University

Nowadays universities are keen to play a more effective role in the development of their societies. Entrepreneurial education for enhancing entrepreneurial mentality in students is one of the new functions of universities and educational centers in meeting society's needs. So, an identification of entrepreneurial characteristics of students can help fostering goals of universities for planning and implementation of entrepreneurship-oriented programs. The purpose of this research was to investigate entrepreneurial mentality among students of Ilam Islamic Azad University. The research was carried out applying a descriptive-survey method. The research population consisted of students of Ilam Islamic Azad University. Using Random Sampling Technique, 115 students were selected. Instrument of data gathering was questionnaire. Methods of Cronbach's Alpha and Split-half were employed to determine the main scales of the questionnaire's reliability. The coefficients were found to be equal to 0.89 and 0.51 respectively, indicating a high level of reliability. Validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by expert's panel. Data analysis was accomplished using SPSS. The results revealed that mentality of ambiguity tolerance, need for achievement, risk-taking, creativity, and internal locus of control among most students while the need for independence amongst most students was low. A comparison of entrepreneurial mentality between newly admitted vs senior students indicated significant difference between these two groups. Male and female students differently benefited from creativity, the females enjoying more creativity than males. As regards other entrepreneurial mentality characteristics there is no significant difference observed between male and female students.