Abstract:

Technology entrepreneurship may have important contribution to economic growth, innovativeness, regional development and competitiveness. The academic research particularly in the field of technology entrepreneurship is a relatively recent phenomenon, therefore this field provides diverse new research opportunities (Shane and Venkataraman, 2003; McPhee and Bailetti, 2012).

Perceived desirability of entrepreneurship is a key determinant of entrepreneurial intentions (Shapero and Sokol, 1982; Krueger and Brazeal, 1994; Krueger at al., 2000; Schlaegel and Koenig, 2014). Perceived desirability reveals how attractive entrepreneurship is for an individual (Shapero and Sokol, 1982). Schlaegel and Koenig (2014) demonstrate that perceived desirability of entrepreneurship mediates the effects of other determinants on entrepreneurial intentions. The understanding of the antecedents of perceived desirability of entrepreneurship among students may contribute to predicting and influencing their entrepreneurial intentions.

The aim of this study is to examine the role of university factors for perceived desirability of technology entrepreneurship among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. This study relies on a survey among students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in 15 Bulgarian universities during 2015 and 2016. The sample for this study is composed of 879 STEM students, who have not taken steps for starting a business and have not established own business. The dependent variable high desirability of technology entrepreneurship is binary. The independent variables include university research excellence, participation in entrepreneurship education, university’s industry ties, university support for entrepreneurship and perceptions of positive entrepreneurship attitudes among professors. Binary logistic regression is employed as a method for data analysis.

This study demonstrates that university research excellence, university support for entrepreneurship and perceptions of positive entrepreneurship attitudes among professors are positively associated with desirability of technology entrepreneurship among Bulgarian STEM students after controlling for age, gender, entrepreneurial role models, social network support, previous experience in a technology company. Surprisingly, participation in entrepreneurship education and university’s industry ties do not influence feasibility of technology entrepreneurship.

The present study attempts to fill several research gaps identified in the literature on technology entrepreneurship and the role of university. This study provides evidence about the positive effect of several university factors on desirability of technology entrepreneurship and therefore helps to create greater understanding about why some students may create new technology firms (Shane and Venkataraman, 2003). The study responds also to the calls for more research exploring the role of university particularly in the field of technology entrepreneurship (Mosey et al., 2017). The empirical results presented in the study have important practical implications for higher education institutions and policy makers.

Keywords:

Technology entrepreneurship, desirability, university, STEM students, Bulgaria.