The role of gender in developing entrepreneurial intentions among University of Venda graduates Stanislous Zindiye, Knowledge Shumba

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the entrepreneurial intentions are influenced by gender orientation among the University of Venda graduates in South Africa. More specifically the study aimed to test whether; Male entrepreneurs are more likely to perceive Lack of Support as a barrier to entrepreneurship intentions than female entrepreneurs; Female entrepreneurs are likely to perceive Fear of Failure as a barrier to entrepreneurship intentions than male entrepreneurs, Female entrepreneurs are more likely to perceive Lack of Competency as a barrier to entrepreneurship intentions than male entrepreneurs; and Female entrepreneurs possess a higher Risk-Taking Propensity as compared to male entrepreneurs. The study focused on the graduating students in the Department of Business Management at the University of Venda as the primary units of analysis. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection and SPSS Version 27 was used to analyse the data. The study’s findings showed that Lack of Support has a positive and significant effect on Entrepreneurial Intentions of potential male entrepreneurs as compared to female entrepreneurs. The empirical findings revealed that females consider Fear of Failure as an attribute which is worth considering when making their entrepreneurial plans. The male respondents on the other hand do not consider the fear of failure as a significant impediment to their entrepreneurial plans. The study’s results revealed that Lack of Competency is positively related to the Entrepreneurial Intentions of both female and male. However, the effect of Lack of Competency on Entrepreneurial Intentions is positive and significant amongst females and is not significant amongst males. The study’s findings revealed that Risk-taking Propensity is positively related to the Entrepreneurial Intentions of both female respondents and male entrepreneurs.