Entrepreneurial Intention Among Senior High School Students in the Sunyani Municipality

Abstract

Most policymakers and academics agree that entrepreneurship is critical to the development and well-being of society. Entrepreneurs create jobs. They drive and shape innovation, speeding up structural changes in the economy. By introducing new competition, they contribute indirectly to productivity. Entrepreneurship is thus a catalyst for economic growth and national competitiveness. While there has been significant research on the causes of entrepreneurial propensity, only a limited number of studies have focused on the entrepreneurial intent among students (especially Senior High School students). Currently, in Ghana graduate unemployment has become an albatross around the necks of the average school leaver in particular and the society in general. Graduate unemployment has increased the already high dependency syndrome and many believe entrepreneurship is the number one medicine to this unfortunate situation. 42-item questions were used to assess the entrepreneurial intention. Two mixed and two single-sex institutions in the Sunyani municipality were studied. The sample size for the study was 499 for the four (4) institutions. Data was analyzed via SPSS-17.0. The study seeks: to identify the impact of family business on entrepreneurial intention; to assess the students’ perception on the impact of education on entrepreneurial intention; to identify the risk-taking propensity of senior high school (SHS) students in the Sunyani Municipality; to compare males’ entrepreneurial intentions with females; to examine SHS students’ orientation towards entrepreneurship. It is believed that the ideal stage to acquire basic knowledge about entrepreneurship and to foster a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship is during childhood and adolescence years. Generally, entrepreneurial intention among SHS students in the Sunyani municipality is high according to this study.Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Senior High School students; Entrepreneurial intentionJEL Classifications: MOO; M1