ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN PARAGUAY
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Abstract
This study aims to understand the university entrepreneurial ecosystem in Paraguay by identifying institutional, psychological, and contextual factors that influence students’ entrepreneurial intention. A quantitative cross-sectional approach was used, employing the GUESSS survey along with confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to validate an integrative model explaining the determinants of entrepreneurial intention. Key findings show that entrepreneurial self-efficacy is the strongest direct predictor of entrepreneurial intention (R² = 0.162), while resilience and external learning positively impact self-efficacy and subjective well-being, which in turn influence entrepreneurial intention. The university environment enhances subjective well-being, although well-being showed a marginally negative relationship with entrepreneurial intention. The entrepreneurial activation construct demonstrated low reliability and requires refinement. In conclusion, the validated model offers an integrated view of Paraguay’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, highlighting the need to strengthen psychological competencies and the university environment to foster entrepreneurial intention, and provides a foundation for designing contextualized and sustainable educational policies and programs.
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