1. Comparison of Entrepreneurial Intention Level between Overseas Scholarship Recipients and Local Students in Taiwan
National Chiao-Tung University
Marketing Research
Prof. Charles Trappey
Fall 2007
Karen Ochaeta

2. Outline Introduction Literature Review Research Questions Hypotheses
Methodology
Results
Analysis and Discussion
Limitations
Conclusion
Future Research
References

3. Introduction
Based on previous studies about entrepreneurial intention models, the present research aims to establish the entrepreneurial intention level of two samples: overseas students under a scholarship programme in Taiwan and local students, both on the second year of Master degree (students facing career decisions).
The purpose of this research it to find out if there is a direct relationship between the entrepreneurial intention level and the situation under individuals study their graduate career (i.e. overseas or locally) and at which degree it affects its decision to start a new business in the future.

4. Literature Review
Entrepreneurship is a way of thinking that emphasizes opportunities over threats.
Intentions are valid predictors of entrepreneurial behavior.
Attitudes influence behavior by their impact on intentions.
Intentions and attitudes depend on the situation and person.
Intention models will predict behavior better than individual (personality) variables (Krueger, 2000).

5. Literature Review
According to Segal (2005), the motivation to become an entrepreneur follows the pattern shown in the Figure below:
Personal
Background
Attitude
Conviction
Intention
Situation

6. Literature Review
Other researchers have established a similar pattern, although with small variances (Liñan, 2005)
Perceived
Desirability
Propensity
to act
Intention
Perceived
Feasibility

7. Research Questions
Question No.1: The difference between the level of entrepreneurial intention of two groups of students –local and overseas- can be used to determine the influence of international education experience on entrepreneurial behavior?
Question No. 2: Are the entrepreneurial attitude and intentions among overseas scholarship recipients in Taiwan influenced by the experience gained during the programme?
Question No. 3: Are the entrepreneurial attitude and intentions among overseas scholarship recipients in Taiwan influenced by the knowledge acquired during the programme?

8. Hypotheses
Hypothesis 1: The entrepreneurial intention level between local and overseas students is different
Hypothesis 2: The perceived influence that the experience of graduate education has over entrepreneurial intention is different between local and overseas students
Hypothesis 3: There is a direct relationship between the experience of graduate education and the entrepreneurial intention level

9. Methodology Sample Questionnaire – Likert Scale
28 overseas students under a Scholarship Programme, coming from developing countries from 2 different universities in Taiwan
28 local students from 1 university
Questionnaire – Likert Scale
Second year of Master degree Technology Management, Computer Science, and Industrial Engineering Management 1
Professional Attraction
Local students 2
Entrepreneurial Capacity
Graduate Education 3
Entrepreneurial Intention 4
Education Experience
International Education
overseas

10. Methodology Data Analysis Correlation T-test analysis
Comparison of sections (1),
(2), and (3) of both samples,
local and overseas students to
test hypothesis 1 and 2
Establish the strength of
relationship among
Graduate/International
education experience and
level of entrepreneurial
intention to test
hypothesis 3

11. Results
Hypothesis 1: The professional attraction toward entrepreneurship is different between local and overseas students (not supported)
Hypothesis 2: The entrepreneurial intention level between local and overseas students is different (supported)
Hypothesis 3: The perceived influence that the experience of graduate education has over entrepreneurial intention is different between local and overseas students (supported)
Local Students
Overseas Students
Pr > t
Null
Hypothesis
Hypothesis Supported?
Professional Attraction
4.61
5.37
0.0056
n/a
Entrepreneurial Intention
4.13
5.42
0.0003
Rejected
YES
Perceived Influence of graduate education experience
3.43
5.20
<0.0001

12. Results Correlation analysis for overseas students x 0.63 0.50 0.86
Significant correlation
Professional
Attraction
(Perceived
Desirability)
Weak association
0.63
Entrepreneurial
Intention
Conviction
Entrepreneurial
Capacity
(perceived
Feasibility)
Weak association
0.50
Graduate
Education
Experience
(situation)
0.86 x
Strong association
0.33

13. Results Correlation analysis for local students 0.52 0.61 0.56 0.80
Professional
Attraction
(Perceived
Desirability)
Weak association
0.52
Entrepreneurial
Intention
Conviction
Entrepreneurial
Capacity
(perceived
Feasibility)
Weak association
0.61
Graduate
Education
Experience
(situation)
0.56
Weak association
Strong association
0.80

14. Discussion
Although the level of entrepreneurial intention between local and overseas students is significantly different, it is possible to establish a pattern of behavior based on the correlation analysis of the responses.
For local students, the perceived feasibility (entrepreneurial capacity) of becoming entrepreneurs is strongly associated to the graduate education experience, nevertheless it does not affect positively the entrepreneurial intention level, since they perceive that their capacity is not enough to take the risk of running a business.
The previous statement is the contrary for overseas students; they perceive that the graduate experience does not influence directly the entrepreneurial capacity –the knowledge associated with it- but it does influence the entrepreneurial intention level. In this case, this behavior can be related to the fact they are considering the graduate education experience as an incentive to become entrepreneurs based on the overall experience of studying abroad.

15. Limitations
Availability of overseas students under different graduate programmes.
Difficulties to do sample segmentation in order to eliminate the personal background factor and its influence over the entrepreneurial intention level.

16. Conclusion
The present research has addressed a situational factor that can affect the entrepreneurial intention level of a sample of graduate students that are about to face career decisions. The cultural background clearly influences the decision making, nevertheless the results show how the experience of studying abroad is directly related to the intention level of becoming an entrepreneur in the future, and how different cultures perceive the influence that academic education has on entrepreneurial capacity.

17. Future Research
Test the difference between overseas students before and after the graduate programme to eliminate the cultural factor during the comparison of two samples.
Establish the specific experiences and situations (e.g. internship, career design) that might have influence over entrepreneurial intention for overseas students.

18. References
Douglas, E., and Shepherd, D. (2002). Self-employment as a career choice: attitudes
entrepreneurial intentions, and utility maximization. Journal of Entrepreneurial Theory and
Practice, 26(3),
Krueger, N.F., Reilly, M.D., and Carsrud, A. (2000). Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Business Venturing, 15,
Legget, K. (2007). International education is helping to spread the benefits of social
entrepreneurship across the globe. International Educator Journal, 6,
Liñán, F., and Chen, Y.W. (2006). Testing the entrepreneurial intention model on a two country
sample. Document de Treball d’economia dell’empresa, 37.
Liñán, F., Rodríguez, J.C., and Rueda, J.M. (2005). Factors affecting entrepreneurial intention
levels. 45th Congress of European Regional Science Association. Amsterdam.
Paasio, K., and Pukkinen, T. (2006). Path dependency in becoming an entrepreneur. 51st World
Conference of International Council for Small Business, 8.
Segal, G., Borgia, D., and Schoenfeld, J. (2005). The motivation to become an entrepreneur.
Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 11(1),
Schroder, E., and Schmitt-Rodermnd, E., (2006). Crystallizing enterprising interests among adolescents though a career development program: The role of personality and family background. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69,