What drives youth to become entrepreneurs? : an empirical examination

Purpose: Entrepreneurship can be perceived as a weapon in the fight against unemployment. It is especially true within the segment of young people. The paper seeks to investigate and report on the incentives for and obstacles to entrepreneurial motivation among youth. The focus will be put on capturing the extent of school pupils’ self-estimated chances and capabilities of becoming an entrepreneur.

Design/Methodology/Approach: A structured survey questionnaire was used to collect primary data from school pupils aged 12-17. A sample group of over 350 young participants of university-run entrepreneurship programs was selected. The data gathered in the research were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Findings: Our findings suggest that entrepreneurial motivation is the resultant of numerous factors such as one’s individual characteristics and intuitive capacity, as well as various environmental variables. Of the last ones, formal entrepreneurship education is crucial.

Practical Implications: Efforts to encourage people to become entrepreneurs could start as early as childhood or adolescence. University programs and courses for youth are a perfect forum for shaping entrepreneurial skills. Therefore, such initiatives should be supported by government funding schemes and heavily promoted.

Originality/Value: To the author’s best knowledge, the present study is the first empirical research into incentives and challenges that build perceptions and attitudes towards entrepreneurship among youth aged 12-17 in Poland.