Pathways to successful entrepreneurship: Parenting, personality, early entrepreneurial competence, and interests

The relationship between entrepreneurial personality patterns linked to risk, innovation and gender across industrial sectors

This study examines the personality patterns of solo founders in both high-tech and non-high-tech sectors during the first seven years of their entrepreneurial journey to emphasize the patterns' implications during policymaking, investment decisions, and self-assessments. IAB/ZEW startup panel microdata for the sector classification of 4470 solo entrepreneurs in Germany were analyzed to identify Big Five trait patterns influenced by risk propensities, innovation inclination, and gender. The entrepreneurial profiles indicate positive openness, emotional resilience, and sector-specific clusters. Conscientiousness suggests flexibility, and while variations in extraversion and agreeableness exist, negative neuroticism was predominantly found, except for gender-related differences and multidimensional service innovators. Big Five traits provide information about important foundational profile patterns to describe unique solo entrepreneur types influenced by risk, innovation, and gender. Originality and value: Risk propensity characterizes 'Adaptive Services,' 'Dynamic Knowledge Innovators,' and 'Strategic Risk Navigators.' Additionally, 'Multidimensional Service Innovators' and 'Focused Tech Innovators' signify innovation understanding. The Big Five profiles show openness and emotional stability across sectors, providing crucial insights for effective entrepreneurial support and investment strategies.

Analysis of the factors influencing the college students' employment willingness under the strategy of "strengthening the provincial capital"

University graduates can inject strong impetus into the development of cities. However, China's "Strengthening the Provincial Capital" strategy attracts many college graduates, resulting in many limitations in attracting college students to employment in non-provincial capital cities. This paper systematically studies college students' work and entrepreneurial intention factors. We conduct a social survey of employment and entrepreneurial intentions among university graduates in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, and obtain 12,897 questionnaires. Then, we construct an index analysis system (IAS) and analyze the 12897 questionnaires systematically based on IAS. The results show that urban characteristics and personal orientation most directly affect college graduates' employment and entrepreneurial willingness. Based on the statistical conclusions, we put forward corresponding policy recommendations. Colleges should build a "government-enterprise-school" cooperation mechanism, implement strategically focused attraction policies following local conditions and local conditions, and promote the employment of college students to promote employment and entrepreneurship in non-provincial capitals.

The impact of the big five personality variables on self-employment survival

Based on large, representative Australian household panel, this study investigates to what extent the Big Five personality variables influence self-employment survival and differentiates between successful or unsuccessful exit. In addition, the influence of two moderating variables, tertiary education and the motivation to become self-employed, are considered. Contrary to expectations, we found no impact of the Big Fives variable on self-employment survival in general. In the case of unsuccessful exit, we found that entrepreneurs with a higher level of Conscientiousness tend to stay self-employed although they may not be satisfied with their job. Similarly, entrepreneurs with a tertiary education prolong unsuccessfully self-employment stints, particularly if they exhibit higher level of Emotional Stability. Necessity-driven entrepreneurs exit unsuccessful stints earlier, especially if they exhibit a lower level of conscientiousness.

Resilient entrepreneurs? - revisiting the relationship between the Big Five and self-employment

The Big Five personality traits and their influence on entrepreneurial action have been repeatedly studied using a trait-based approach. The present paper partly deviates from this perspective by analysing the role of personality prototypes in relation to entrepreneurship. This person-centred approach suggests that combinations of Big Five traits form individual personalities. By using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we show that at least three prototypes can be identified, one of which - the resilient type - can be hypothesized to significantly increase the likelihood of entrepreneurial action. Our regression results provide evidence of a positive impact of this prototype on the likelihood of and transitioning into self-employment but not the likelihood of exit. We also show that the prototyping approach explains individual self-employment decisions over and above what can already be explained by the profiling approach, another person-centred Big Five approach. The paper concludes with implications for policy and research.

Closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship: The importance of skill variety

Given that skill variety is widely regarded a key component of entrepreneurial human capital, gender differences in entrepreneurship could be rooted in the formation of such skill variety. Analyzing 12-year longitudinal data following 1,321 Finnish adolescents into adulthood, we study whether gender differences in skill variety open up early in the vocational development of entrepreneurs vs. non-entrepreneurs, thereby contributing to the persisting gender gap in entrepreneurship in adulthood. Specifically, structural equation modeling was used to test and compare the mediating effect of early skill variety in adolescence vs. education- and work-related skill variety in early adulthood on the gender gap in entrepreneurial intentions in adulthood. We find that education- and work-related skill variety indeed operate as an obstacle for women entrepreneurship, despite women outperforming men in early skill variety in adolescence. Hence, we identify a critical turning point in early adulthood where women fall behind in their development of entrepreneurial human capital.

Entrepreneurial Intention of Students (Managers in Training): Personal and Family Characteristics

To increase the entrepreneurial intention, it is necessary to understand the main drivers that are driving students, as carriers of future economic development, towards starting a personal business venture. With regards to that, the main aim of this research was to analyze the entrepreneurial intention among students (managers in training) in the field of tourism and hospitality management. Particular attention was paid to the influence of their socio-demographic characteristics, as well as their parents on entrepreneurial intention. The research was conducted in survey form on a sample of 310 students in Serbia in 2020. The main findings indicated that entrepreneurial intention is higher among the male students, as well as among those students whose parents are entrepreneurs or whose fathers are retired. Besides theoretical contribution, the research results might contribute to scientific and research organizations and institutions in providing the guidelines for forming study programs that will raise the students’ entrepreneurial intention.

Big Five Personality, Academic Entrepreneurial Motivation, and Academic Entrepreneurial Intention: A Research Method Based on Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Scholars are the main force behind academic entrepreneurship. The method of how to stimulate scholars’ academic entrepreneurial intention and how to further promote social and economic development are important questions for the academic community. Research on the “net effect” of the factors affecting academic entrepreneurial intention has achieved some theoretical results. However, the results that affect academic entrepreneurial intention are complex and not influenced by a single factor, but rather by the interaction between various factors. Therefore, this study used a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis research method to explore how various factors can affect scholars’ academic entrepreneurial intention from two dimensions: the Big Five personality traits and academic entrepreneurial motivation. Our findings showed two configurations that affect high academic entrepreneurial intention of university scholars: the openness to experience—ribbon—dominant path, and the ribbon—dominant path. Additionally, two configurations were revealed for the formation of not-high academic entrepreneurial intention: extraversion—conscientiousness—inhibition and extraversion—agreeableness—gold—hindrance paths. Moreover, this study revealed that a causal asymmetry exists between the high and the not-high academic entrepreneurial intention configurations. This study broadens the application of the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method in the research of academic entrepreneurial intention and provides theoretical and practical insights for researchers and practitioners on how to effectively stimulate scholars’ academic entrepreneurial intention.

Effects of parental entrepreneurial performance on the mode of entrepreneurial entry by the next-generation family members: evidence from an emerging economy

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to examine the effects of perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards, or PPERs (i.e. the offspring's perception of the degree of parental success in entrepreneurship), on the corporate venturing (CV) mode of entrepreneurial entry and the interaction effects of family business involvement (FBI) and formal employment on the association between PPER and CV by the next-generation family members.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was administered to a sample of 738 small business owners in Kenya; of which, 440 small business owners were selected because they grew up in a family business context. A probit model was used to examine the main and interaction effects.

Findings

PPERs significantly influenced CV. FBI improves the positive relationship whereas formal employment reduces the effects of PPER on CV.

Practical implications

Families in business need to improve conversations with their children to include discussions concerning the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards of running a family business, which may shape not only the entrepreneurial entry path of their offspring but also the willingness to establish businesses that may grow and lead to continuity of the family business of origin.

Originality/value

The study investigates the effect of being embedded in a business family in shaping the CV mode of entrepreneurial entry by the next-generation family members who may not, on the one hand, find independent own founding an attractive option and for whom, on the other hand, the succession mode of entry may not be an option.

The Influence of Embeddedness on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy: A Gender Perspective in the Agri-Food Sector

This study aims to identify the antecedents of entrepreneurial activity in the agri-food sector of the Portuguese region of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (TMAD), taking into account a gender perspective. Thus, we intend to assess whether the environment influences embeddedness, and whether embeddedness, individual entrepreneurial orientation, innovative behaviour and gender impact or influence the perceptions of feasibility and desirability as antecedents of entrepreneurial activity of entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector of the TMAD region. The measurement instrument was applied to 249 firms in the agri-food sector, created in the last 5 years. A model was conceptualised where the relationships between the constructs relating to embeddedness, IEO and EI were presented, and three control variables were subsequently added: the innovative behaviour, the environment and gender. Univariate and multivariate statistical techniques, such as structural equation modelling, were used to assess the proposed conceptual model. Thus, considering the complexity of the model under study, we performed an analysis which considered personal factors or characteristics, such as innovative behaviour, gender and IEO, as these are characteristics of the individual and may be influenced or shaped by external factors such as the context, i.e., the environment and embeddedness.

Personality trait differences across types of entrepreneurs: a systematic literature review

The personality traits that define entrepreneurs have been of significant interest to academic research for several decades. However, previous studies have used vastly different definitions of the term “entrepreneur”, meaning their subjects have ranged from rural farmers to tech-industry start-up founders. Consequently, most research has investigated disparate sub-types of entrepreneurs, which may not allow for inferences to be made regarding the general entrepreneurial population. Despite this, studies have frequently extrapolated results from narrow sub-types to entrepreneurs in general. This variation in entrepreneur samples reduces the comparability of empirical studies and calls into question the reviews that pool results without systematic differentiation between sub-types. The present study offers a novel account by differentiating between the definitions of “entrepreneur” used in studies on entrepreneurs’ personality traits. We conduct a systematic literature review across 95 studies from 1985 to 2020. We uncover three main themes across the previous studies. First, previous research applied a wide range of definitions of the term “entrepreneur”. Second, we identify several inconsistent findings across studies, which may at least partially be due to the use of heterogeneous entrepreneur samples. Third, the few studies that distinguished between various types of entrepreneurs revealed differences between them. Our systematic differentiation between entrepreneur sub-types and our research integration offer a novel perspective that has, to date, been widely neglected in academic research. Future research should use clearly defined entrepreneurial samples and conduct more systematic investigations into the differences between entrepreneur sub-types.

UNDERSTANDING triggering skills for ENTREPRENEURS: The case of ESIC

The aim of this paper is to present the methodology and results of a study on the role played by an institution in higher education, the ESIC Business & Marketing School, in teaching different master's degree programmes to examine whether they respond to the demands of potential entrepreneurs who are seeking to acquire the tools and develop the skills necessary to eventually become successful. The main conclusions were that the students with the intention of achieving a higher level of entrepreneurial skills were enroled in the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) programme without omitting other master's degree programmes also chosen by students with entrepreneurial concerns. It was also found that the variable with the highest impact on entrepreneurial motivation was family environment. Our data lead us to maintain that these students were not always going to start up a new business. The originality of this paper comes from our survey with 1,135 responses from the master's degree programmes taught in five cities in Spain with the inclusion of an analysis for LATAM students.

Technology Entrepreneurship of Large State-Owned Firms in Emerging Economies

Firms in emerging economies face greater resource constraints and higher levels of firm informality than those in developed economies. Particularly, large state-owned firms struggle for survival when encountering intense competition in the changing domestic markets and the global market. Technology entrepreneurship is proved an effective approach for these firms to gain competitive advantages. However, because large firms are less innovative and less adaptable, they often fail in technology entrepreneurship. As such, this article proposes a four-step scheme for large state-owned firms to develop technology entrepreneurship strategies and to implement entrepreneurial activities. A case study of the FAW Group Corporation, a Chinese automobile manufacturer, is conducted to elaborate the proposed scheme.

Intrapreneurial behavior, big five personality and individual performance

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to extend the prevailing literature on the relationship between personality and individual performance (IP) through the mediation of intrapreneurial behavior (IB). This study, therefore, integrated the traits theory and the psychological entrepreneurship theory to improve the IP of medium enterprise (ME) managers by examining the mediating role of IB on the relationship between big five personality traits five factor model (FFM) and IP.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper used the survey method of data collection, through self-administered questionnaire. Partial least square structural equation modeling method was used to analyze the result of the sample of 355 production/operations managers.

Findings

The result study shows that three big five personality traits (conscientiousness, disagreeableness and emotional stability) have a direct relationship with IB. However, IB positively mediates the relationship between conscientiousness, disagreeableness and emotional stability on IP of production/operation managers.

Practical implications

The result implies that positive relationship between personality traits (conscientiousness, disagreeableness and emotional stability) and work performance will manifest better, only when the IB is encouraged among managers.

Originality/value

To the best knowledge of the authors, this paper is the first to examine the mediating effect of individual IB on FFM – IP relationship. Studies on IB were also limited especially in developing countries, Africa and specifically Nigeria. As such, individual IB requires the attention of researchers and managers in MEs against the assumption that entrepreneurial orientation is a firm-level activity only.

Being Smart Is Not Enough: Personality Traits and Vocational Interests Incrementally Predict Intention, Status and Success of Leaders and Entrepreneurs Beyond Cognitive Ability

Three separate studies demonstrate that socio-emotional skills add incremental validity beyond cognitive ability when predicting leadership and entrepreneurship intention, emergence as well as success. Study 1 uses a longitudinal approach and tests the cognitive ability and vocational interests of 231 students to predict their leadership and entrepreneurship intention. It demonstrates that cognitive ability predicts their intention to become a business leader or entrepreneur 2 years in the future. Importantly, the vocational interests “enterprising” and “social” increase this ability-driven prediction of leadership and entrepreneurship intention (ΔR²_Lead.Intent. = 15%, ΔR²_{Entre.Intent.} = 9%). Study 2 investigates 123 business leaders and shows that those with higher cognitive ability more likely emerge as top-level leaders, receive more income and get slightly better supervisor-ratings on their performance. The leaders’ Big Five traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability) added validity beyond cognitive ability when predicting these criteria (ΔR²_Income = 9%, ΔR²_Lead.Level = 8%, ΔR²_Perform. = 15%). Finally, Study 3 includes 155 participants and demonstrates that cognitive ability predicts a person’s entrepreneurial status but not performance. Additionally, considering the Big Five traits improves the prediction of who becomes an entrepreneur and successfully performs as such (ΔR²_Status = 7%, ΔR²_Perform. = 18%). Importantly, selected Big Five traits and vocational interests boost the importance of cognitive ability in the field of leadership and entrepreneurship. Concluding, this series of studies suggests that it is the combination of personality traits or interests with cognitive ability which is most powerful when predicting leadership and entrepreneurship intention, emergence and success.

The relationship between entrepreneurial intent, gender and personality

PURPOSE

We examine gender differences in personality traits of people with and without entrepreneurial intent to assess whether women who intend to become entrepreneurs exhibit particular tendencies that can be fostered.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

Participants completed an online battery of well-established questionnaires to cover a range of personality traits relevant to entrepreneurship and gender. Participants also answered items concerning intent to become an entrepreneur. A factor analysis of personality traits produced four factors (Esteem and Power, Ambition, Risk Propensity, and Communal Tendency, the latter reflecting Openness and Cooperation, without Hubris). We constructed four parallel regression models to examine how gender, entrepreneurial intent, and the interaction of gender with intent related to these four personality factor scores.

FINDINGS

Participants who endorsed a desire to become an entrepreneur reported higher Ambition. Women with entrepreneurial intentions endorsed higher levels of Communal Tendency than men with entrepreneurial intent. Those without entrepreneurial intent did not show gender differences in Communal Tendency.

IMPLICATIONS

Current findings suggest that men and women who intend to become entrepreneurs share many traits, but women with entrepreneurial intent show unique elevations in communal tendencies. Thus, a worthwhile locus for intervention into the gender disparity in self-employment may be providing space for and acknowledgement of prosocial motivation and goals as one successful route to entrepreneurship.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

Given the underutilized economic potential of women entrepreneurs, there is a fundamental need for a rich array of research on factors that limit and promote women's entry into entrepreneurship. Current findings indicate that personality may be one piece of this puzzle.

Entrepreneurial Passion and Personality: The Case of Academic Entrepreneurship

Since entrepreneurial thinking and acting within organizations is increasingly important for the success of organizations, entrepreneurial passion is an emerging key construct in the study of organizational behavior. Here we quantify effects of personality traits on entrepreneurial passion in organizations, thereby comparing a person- vs. variable-oriented trait approach and testing such effects against alternative explanation models (rational choice approach, social learning approach, and social identity approach). Analyzing data from N = 137 German scientists across two measurement occasions, structural equation modeling revealed that an entrepreneurial Big Five profile (person-oriented approach), but none of the single Big Five traits (variable-oriented approach), predicted entrepreneurial passion (which in turn mediated the link between this domain-specific personality profile and entrepreneurial behavior). Likewise, the entrepreneurial personality profile, but not the single Big Five traits, predicted the simultaneous occurrence of entrepreneurial passion and behavior (passionate entrepreneurial behavior). Interestingly, the alternative explanation models (rational choice approach, social learning approach, and social identity approach) failed to predict entrepreneurial passion and passionate entrepreneurial behavior. The results suggest that the basic entrepreneurial personality character of a person contributes to the shaping of his or her entrepreneurial passion, which is relevant for actual entrepreneurial activity. The results thus illustrate how a person-oriented trait approach can inform the study, and concepts of, entrepreneurial passion.

Intergenerational Transmission of Work Values: A Meta-Analytic Review

Work values act as guiding principles for individuals' work-related behavior. Economic self-sufficiency is an important predictor for psychological well-being in adulthood. Longitudinal research has demonstrated work values to be an important predictor of economic behavior, and consequently of self-sufficiency. Socialization theories designate parents an important role in the socialization of their children to cultural values. Yet, extant literature is limited in demonstrating the role families play on how youth develop agentic pathways and seek self-sufficiency in transition to adulthood. This study presents a meta-analytic review investigating the intergenerational transmission of work values, which is frequently assessed in terms of parent-child value similarities. Thirty studies from 11 countries (N = 19,987; Median child age = 18.15) were included in the analyses. The results revealed a significant effect of parents on their children's work values. Both mothers' and fathers' work values, and their parenting behavior were significantly associated with their children's work values. Yet, similarity of father-child work values decreased as child age increased. Our findings suggest a moderate effect, suggesting the influence of general socio-cultural context, such as generational differences and peer influences, in addition to those of parents on youth's value acquisition. Our systematic review also revealed that, despite its theoretical and practical importance, social science literature is scarce in comprehensive and comparative empirical studies that investigate parent-child work value similarity. We discuss the implications of our findings for labor market and policy makers.

Enhancing the contribution of volunteering to career commitment with friendship among university students

Purpose

Encouraging college students to volunteer is a supposed but uncharted way to contribute to their career commitment. Clarifying the ways of the contribution is therefore necessary. From the social capital perspective, volunteering and network density among friends represent social capital to reinforce each other. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to study the enhancement of the contribution by the density.

Design/methodology/approach

The examination employs a two-wave panel survey of 410 university students to estimate the effects of volunteering and friend network density at Wave 1 on career commitment at Wave 2. Essentially, the examination adjusted for biases due to sample attrition and self-selection into volunteering.

Findings

Volunteering at Wave 1 showed a significant contribution to career commitment at Wave 2. Moreover, the contribution significantly increased with friend network density at Wave 1.

Research limitations/implications

Findings from this panel survey of university students in Hong Kong require future research for substantiation. For instance, such research can apply an experimental design to volunteering to guarantee the internal validity of the contribution of volunteering.

Practical implications

Social capital theory is applicable to the promotion of career commitment. Specifically, optimizing the strength of social capital through the combination of volunteering and friendship is promising.

Originality/value

Empirical support for the application of social capital theory to career development is evident. Particularly, the joint contribution of volunteering and friendship is demonstrable.

Studying entrepreneurial occupations in the Terman women

To achieve a better understanding of entrepreneurship development in women, longitudinal data on 672 individuals collected from 1922 to 1959 were analysed in a secondary investigation of the Terman Longitudinal Study. Women's reports on their occupations during 10 different years were assigned to one of two categories: work for pay (0/1), and work allowing for self-employment (0/1) in the respective year. Structural equation modelling supported earlier results concerning male entrepreneurial activity. Personality and aspects of the parenting context the women had experienced by the average age of 12 predicted early entrepreneurial competencies (inventions, leadership) and occupational interests by age 13, which related to an entrepreneurship-related career goal in 1936, when the participants were about 27 years of age on average. Such a career goal in turn predicted a higher number of occasions of entrepreneurship-prone work. Surprisingly, we also found a relationship to divorce. Women who had experienced the failure of a marriage were in occupations with a potential for entrepreneurship more often. Reasons are discussed against a backdrop of historical timing and current findings to identify general aspects of entrepreneurship development.

Examining the emerging entrepreneurial mindset in adolescence: A study in Nigeria

This study investigated the relationship of family environment, network, parental socio-economic status, self-efficacy and proactive personality on entrepreneurial intention of secondary school adolescents and the mediating role of self-efficacy. The participants were 250 secondary school SS2 adolescents randomly selected from six secondary schools in Ibadan Metropolis, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Structural Equation Modelling was used to analyse the data obtained from the participants. The results showed that all the contextual and individual factors had significant relationship with entrepreneurial intention and self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship. It was suggested that counselling psychologists should consider the contextual and individual variables while assisting students in building their entrepreneurial intention.

Paid Employee or Entrepreneur? How Approach and Avoidance Career Goal Orientations Motivate Individual Career Choice Decisions

The focus of much career choice research is framed around a unidimensional conceptualization of motivation in which the tendency to approach a career assumes a proportionately equal and opposite willingness to avoid it. Drawing upon regulatory focus theory, we advance a dual-channel model of career choice, which allows us to capture the competing goal orientations leading individuals to approach and avoid any given career choice decision. Our results support our main hypothesis that both promotion and prevention career goal orientations mediate the relationship between individual differences, situational characteristics, and career choices in either paid employment or entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurial Regions: Do Macro-Psychological Cultural Characteristics of Regions Help Solve the "Knowledge Paradox" of Economics?

In recent years, modern economies have shifted away from being based on physical capital and towards being based on new knowledge (e.g., new ideas and inventions). Consequently, contemporary economic theorizing and key public policies have been based on the assumption that resources for generating knowledge (e.g., education, diversity of industries) are essential for regional economic vitality. However, policy makers and scholars have discovered that, contrary to expectations, the mere presence of, and investments in, new knowledge does not guarantee a high level of regional economic performance (e.g., high entrepreneurship rates). To date, this "knowledge paradox" has resisted resolution. We take an interdisciplinary perspective to offer a new explanation, hypothesizing that "hidden" regional culture differences serve as a crucial factor that is missing from conventional economic analyses and public policy strategies. Focusing on entrepreneurial activity, we hypothesize that the statistical relation between knowledge resources and entrepreneurial vitality (i.e., high entrepreneurship rates) in a region will depend on "hidden" regional differences in entrepreneurial culture. To capture such "hidden" regional differences, we derive measures of entrepreneurship-prone culture from two large personality datasets from the United States (N = 935,858) and Great Britain (N = 417,217). In both countries, the findings were consistent with the knowledge-culture-interaction hypothesis. A series of nine additional robustness checks underscored the robustness of these results. Naturally, these purely correlational findings cannot provide direct evidence for causal processes, but the results nonetheless yield a remarkably consistent and robust picture in the two countries. In doing so, the findings raise the idea of regional culture serving as a new causal candidate, potentially driving the knowledge paradox; such an explanation would be consistent with research on the psychological characteristics of entrepreneurs.

Longitudinal Associations Between Gender-typed Skills and Interests and Their Links to Occupational Outcomes

Although gender-based occupational segregation has declined in past decades, the world of work remains segregated by gender. Grounded in research showing that individuals tend to choose jobs that match their interests and skills, this study examined the longitudinal associations between gendered activity interests and skills from middle childhood through adolescence and tested gendered interests and skills, measured in adolescence, as predictors of occupational outcomes in young adulthood. Data were collected from 402 participants at four time points- when they averaged 10, 12, 16, and 25 years old. Results revealed that the longitudinal linkages between male-typed interests and skills were bidirectional, that both male-typed interests and skills in adolescence predicted working in male-typed occupations in young adulthood, and that skills, but not interests, predicted income. In contrast, female-typed interests predicted female-typed skills, but not the reverse, adolescent female-typed skills (but not interests) predicted working in female-typed occupations in young adulthood, and there were no links between female-typed interests or skills and income. Discussion focuses on the differential meanings and developmental implications of male-versus female-typed interests and skills.

Personality and the gender gap in self-employment: a multi-nation study

What role does personality play in the pervasive gender gap in entrepreneurship across the globe? This two-study analysis focuses on self-employment in the working population and underlying gender differences in personality characteristics, thereby considering both single trait dimensions as well as a holistic, configural personality approach. Applying the five-factor model of personality, Study 1, our main study, investigates mediation models in the prediction of self-employment status utilizing self-reported personality data from large-scaled longitudinal datasets collected in the U.S., Germany, the U.K., and Australia (total N = 28,762). Study 2 analyzes (observer-rated) Big Five data collected in 51 cultures (total N = 12,156) to take a more global perspective and to explore the pancultural universality of gender differences in entrepreneurial personality characteristics. Across the four countries investigated in Study 1, none of the major five dimension of personality turned out as a consistent and robust mediator. In contrast, the holistic, configural approach yielded consistent and robust mediation results. Across the four countries, males scored higher on an entrepreneurship-prone personality profile, which in turn predicted self-employment status. These results suggest that gender differences in the intra-individual configuration of personality traits contribute to the gender gap in entrepreneurship across the globe. With the restriction of limited representativeness, the data from Study 2 suggest that the gender difference in the entrepreneurship-prone personality profile (males score higher) is widespread across many cultures, but may not exist in all. The results are discussed with an emphasis on implications for research and practice, which a particular focus on the need for more complex models that incorporate the role of personality.

Screening enterprising personality in youth: an empirical model

Entrepreneurial attitudes of individuals are determined by different variables, some of them related to the cognitive and personality characteristics of the person, and others focused on contextual aspects. The aim of this study is to review the essential dimensions of enterprising personality and develop a test that will permit their thorough assessment. Nine dimensions were identified: achievement motivation, risk taking, innovativeness, autonomy, internal locus of control, external locus of control, stress tolerance, self-efficacy and optimism. For the assessment of these dimensions, 161 items were developed which were applied to a sample of 416 students, 54% male and 46% female (M = 17.89 years old, SD = 3.26). After conducting several qualitative and quantitative analyses, the final test was composed of 127 items with acceptable psychometric properties. Alpha coefficients for the subscales ranged from .81 to .98. The validity evidence relative to the content was provided by experts (V = .71, 95% CI = .56 - .85). Construct validity was assessed using different factorial analyses, obtaining a dimensional structure in accordance with the proposed model of nine interdependent dimensions as well as a global factor that groups these nine dimensions (explained variance = 49.07%; χ2/df = 1.78; GFI= .97; SRMR = .07). Nine out of the 127 items showed Differential Item Functioning as a function of gender (p < .01, R 2 >.035). The results obtained are discussed and future lines of research analyzed.

Who Wants to Be an Entrepreneur? The Relationship Between Vocational Interests and Individual Differences in Entrepreneurship

The current study examines the relationship between individual differences in entrepreneurship and vocational interests in a sample of 565 adults. Specifically, it investigates associations between vocational interests (as assessed by Holland’s realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional model), entrepreneurial potential (as assessed by measure of entrepreneurial tendencies and abilities [META]), and entrepreneurial activity, both within and outside organizations. Results reveal predictable associations between Holland’s taxonomy of vocational interests and entrepreneurial outcomes. Incremental validity tests show that Holland’s vocational interests predict entrepreneurial activity even when entrepreneurial potential and demographic variables are taken into account. Furthermore, structural equation modeling indicates that META is the strongest and most consistent predictor of entrepreneurial activity. Practical and theoretical implications for vocational guidance and career assessment are considered.

Understanding entrepreneurial intent in late adolescence: the role of intentional self-regulation and innovation

Entrepreneurship represents a form of adaptive developmental regulation through which both entrepreneurs and their ecologies benefit. We describe entrepreneurship from the perspective of relational developmental systems theory, and examine the joint role of personal attributes, contextual attributes, and characteristics of person-context relationships in predicting entrepreneurial intent in a sample 3,461 college students enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States (60 % female; 61 % European American). Specifically, we tested whether personal characteristics (i.e., gender, intentional self-regulation skills, innovation orientation) and contextual factors (i.e., entrepreneurial parents) predicted college students' intentions to pursue an entrepreneurial career. Our findings suggest that self-regulation, innovation orientation, and having entrepreneurial role models (i.e., parents) predict entrepreneurial intent. Limitations and future directions for the study of youth entrepreneurship are discussed.