Bridging the Student Entrepreneurship Intentions and Venturing Gap: A Blueprint for Focused Student Entrepreneurship Promotion in Vhembe District, South Africa

With the South African economy struggling to meet its societal needs and future conservation, entrepreneurship offers a lifeline, particularly for youth experiencing unemployment because of a lack of job opportunities. This study explored the dynamics of entrepreneurship intentions and venturing among student entrepreneurs within the agricultural sector. The study was conducted in Thulamela, a local municipality of the Vhembe District. Structured questionnaires were administered to 150 students as a data collection tool during the face-to-face interviews with aspiring and established entrepreneurs. Descriptive statistics provided insight into their socio-economic characteristics and type of business ventures. The discriminant analysis method assisted in distinguishing between aspiring and established student entrepreneurs. The study revealed that entrepreneurship intention surpasses the actual venturing among students. The study also revealed that student entrepreneurship intentions are stimulated by exposure to entrepreneurship related information and the social group one belongs to while venturing into entrepreneurship is propelled by attitude, start-up capital acquisition, and available support systems. The study recommends promoting entrepreneurship education at an entry level to capacitate aspiring student entrepreneurs. The study recommends the establishment of a support system that is essential for student entrepreneurship.