Determining the relationship between entrepreneurial skills, perceived behavioural controls and motivation on entrepreneurial intention among UUM postgraduate students

Entrepreneurship is an important aspect for the growth of a country’s economy and it helps the generation of revenue for government. This has driven many countries to focus on the need to develop entrepreneurs among upcoming graduates, inclusive of Malaysia. However, graduate tracer studies conducted have shown that involvement of graduates in entrepreneurship is limited despite
high unemployment rates of graduates. This study attempted to examine variables that influence entrepreneurial intention among postgraduate students which were entrepreneurial skills, perceived behavioural controls and motivation. A quantitative approach was used to collect data through a survey questionnaire and a total of 250 responses were collected from UUMKL postgraduate students, which was then analysed using SPSS version 27. The results of Pearson’s Correlation confirmed the significance of entrepreneurial
skills, perceived behavioural controls and motivation in determining
entrepreneurial intention. A Linear Regression analysis was also conducted, which indicated that out of the three variables, motivation is the strongest predictor of entrepreneurial intention. The final analysis conducted was a Multiple Regression analysis which confirmed the significance of the theoretical framework employed in this study. The study limitations and suggestions for future research are provided and discussed.