How is the entrepreneurial mindset of university students formed? The role of entrepreneurial inspiration, education, methods, and environment

Although few studies have been conducted on entrepreneurial mindset among students in the higher education sector, most of them have tried to explain the entrepreneurial mindset of students from traits and skills perspective. Considering that the results of these studies are unreliable in predicting the entrepreneurial mindset; using a cognitive approach, we investigated the formation of the entrepreneurial mindset among higher education students in Iran by considering the effect of latent variables of entrepreneurial environmental support, education, and methods and the mediating role of entrepreneurial inspirations. Our sample included 436 university students from management faculties in Iranian higher education institutions. The results of showed that the latent variables of entrepreneurial environmental support, education and inspiration had a positive and significant effect on the entrepreneurial mindset of students in the higher education sector in Iran. However, the effect of entrepreneurial education methods on the entrepreneurial mindset was not confirmed. In addition, the results of the study confirmed the indirect effect of entrepreneurial education (formal and non-formal) through entrepreneurial inspiration on the entrepreneurial mindset of those students. This research, while filling the gap in studies on entrepreneurial mindset among students, especially in a developing country like Iran, has appropriate practical implications for government and educational policymakers. For this purpose, formal and non-formal education courses can be held, entrepreneurial events can be organized, and entrepreneurs can be invited to attend universities and higher education institutions to develop the entrepreneurial mindset of students.