Factors Shaping the Entrepreneurial Intentions Among Hospitality Students in Jordan: The Mediating Role of Self-efficacy

This study aims to explore hospitality students’ intentions toward entrepreneurial activities. The study examines the influence of modeling, entrepreneurial education, financial support, and students’ satisfaction with their major on their entrepreneurial intentions through the mediation of self-efficacy. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to hospitality students in three public universities in Jordan. A total of 246 valid responses were received. SEM was employed in this study to analyze the data through Smart-PLS software. The results demonstrated that students’ self-efficacy positively related to their entrepreneurial intentions. Furthermore, modeling and students’ satisfaction with their major were associated positively with self-efficacy, and self-efficacy mediated the influence of modeling and students’ satisfaction with their major on students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Conversely, entrepreneurial education and financial support were not significantly associated with self-efficacy; thus, there was a rejection of the proposed mediation of self-efficacy in the relationship between entrepreneurial education and financial support as an exogenous variable and entrepreneurial intentions as an endogenous variable. This study contributes to the discussion on what encourages students’ entrepreneurial intention, particularly in the hospitality field as there is a lack of studies regarding this vital topic.