The Influence of Innovation and Leadership. Aptitudes on Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions and the Impact of Innovation and Leadership on Future Career Anxiety Post COVID-19

The current economic crisis and the COVID-19 have had severe consequences on individuals that lost their job and got anxious on career. The uncertainty on the future and career anxiety may have a negative impact on the future career decisions-making and entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurship, socialSocial entrepreneurship in particular, can not only contribute to the creation of healthier societies by enhancing quality of life (Zahra & Wright, 2016) and human well-being but also increase career anxietyCareer anxiety. We addressed the possibility that the students’ aptitudes such as innovation and leadership may have a positive impact on entrepreneurial intentionsEntrepreneurial intentions, whereas students’ future career anxietyCareer anxiety is negatively related with entrepreneurial intentionsEntrepreneurial intentions. A total of 709 Italian university studentsUniversity students completed an online questionnaire composed by the constructs considered in this study. Results in the multivariate linear regression analyses partially supported our hypotheses: both leadership and innovation aptitudes positively affect students’ entrepreneurial intentionsEntrepreneurial intentions. However, we did not find a negative association between future career anxietyCareer anxiety and entrepreneurial intentionsEntrepreneurial intentions. Further, the results show that entrepreneurial competences acquired during university studies positively affect students’ entrepreneurial intentionsEntrepreneurial intentions. As implications, teachers and educators should stimulate students’ entrepreneurial aptitudesEntrepreneurial aptitudes to promote entrepreneurship and specifically innovation and leadership aptitudes. In addition, more competences related to entrepreneurship should be delivered to students. This may also contribute to stimulate their entrepreneurial aptitudesEntrepreneurial aptitudes.