The relationship between entrepreneurial passion, self-efficacy, outcome expectations and regulative institutional environment and entrepreneurial career choice amongst Saudi Arabia technical students

The main objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial passion (EPI, EPF and EPD), entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), entrepreneurial outcome expectations (EOEs), a regulative institutional environment
(RIE) and entrepreneurial career choice (ECC) amongst Saudi Arabian technical students. The data were collected from final-year students across nine technical colleges in the three largest regions of Saudi Arabia, using structured survey questionnaires. A stratified technique as the probability sampling design was employed to select a sample from the population of 10,615 students in public technical colleges in Riyadh, Makkah Al-Mukarramah and Eastern regions of Saudi Arabia. A total of 750 questionnaire forms were distributed, out of which 585 forms were reverted giving a response rate of 78%. The structural equation modelling Smart-PLS software (vn 3.2.7) was used to analyze the data and to test the hypotheses. The results established a significant positive association between EPF and the students' entrepreneurial career choice. However, the study found no significant association between EPI, EPD and their' choice. In addition, the study established that ESE and EOEs significantly mediated the association between EPI, EPF, EPD and the students' career choice. It also revealed that RIE significantly moderated the association between ESE, EOEs and the students' choice. The results were also empirical evidence that supported the research framework and therefore SCCT as the underpinning theory of the study. The results provided important insights for academic institutions, educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders to further comprehend the influences of EPI, EPF, EPD, ESE, EOEs, RIE on students' entrepreneurial career choice. They are also important to policy makers at the Saudi Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) and Saudi universities in designing policies and programmes on entrepreneurship. Finally, limitations of the study and suggestions for future research were discussed.