Entrepreneurial Education, Self-Motivation, Self-Efficacy, and Entrepreneurial Intention among University Students in Ecuador (#1507)

Authors

Escalona Aguilar, Erik Omar

Montes Ninaquispe, Jose Carlos

Conejero Riquelme, Natalia Eloisa

Castillo Coronado, Yazmin Del Milagro

Armijos, Juan Carlos

Portilla Sampen, Jose Elias

Abstract

The study aimed to analyze the influence of entrepreneurial education and self-motivation on entrepreneurial intention among university students in Loja (Ecuador), incorporating entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a mediating variable. The methodology was developed through structural equation modeling (SEM) using a cross-sectional design and a Likert-type questionnaire applied in January 2026 to a refined sample of 379 students. The measurement model was properly evaluated; in the structural model, entrepreneurial education did not exhibit a significant direct effect on intention (β=0.061; p=0.297), whereas self-motivation showed a relevant direct effect (β=0.437; p<0.001). Significant mediating effects of self-efficacy were confirmed both between education and intention (β_ind=0.081; p=0.002) and between self-motivation and intention (β_ind=0.309; p<0.001), the latter representing the strongest pathway. It was concluded that entrepreneurial intention was mainly explained by a psychological pathway in which self-motivation fostered self-efficacy, which in turn translated educational and self-regulatory resources into entrepreneurial disposition.