Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intention among Graduating Students in Ethiopian Universities: The Case of Madawalabu University

AbstractThe major objective of the study was to investigate the determinants of entrepreneurial intention among graduating students at Madawalabu University. For this end, data collected from 333 graduating students selected with stratified sampling technique. The Binary Logistic Regression Model was used to analyze the determinants of the entrepreneurial intention of graduating students. The result of the study revealed that only 41.5 percent of the graduating students reported their intention to start their own business and the majority of them preferred to join public and private organizations as career choices. From the cohort of fields of study, Business and Economics graduating students retorted a better entrepreneurial intention followed by Engineering and Technology graduate students. The model result revealed sex, prior experience, residence, parental role model perceived social norms, risk-taking readiness and propensity, and entrepreneurship education were the major significant determinants of the entrepreneurial intention of graduating students, and most of the variables included in the model were found to be determinants of entrepreneurial intentions that conform both theoretical and empirical literature. Therefore, policymakers need to design entrepreneurship courses in different curricula to nurture students towards self-employment and Universities should establish business incubation programs to nourish entrepreneurial talent at the university level.