Factors Affecting Entrepreneurial Intention of the Female Students of Business Colleges of Bhutan: Applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour

DOI: 10.28934/jwee22.12.pp170-186 ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER Factors Affecting Entrepreneurial Intention of the Female Students of Business Colleges of Bhutan: Applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour 9B Dawa Drakpa 1 23F The Royal University of Bhutan, Faculty of Gedu College of Business Studies, Department of Management, Bhutan Sonam Loday 2 24F The Royal University of Bhutan, Faculty of Gedu College of Business Studies, Department of Finance, Bhutan Karma Yangchen 3 25F Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue and Custom, Phuntsholing Regional Offices, Bhutan ABSTRACT With the increasing number of women participating in entrepreneurship, it has become an area of interest for most researchers. This paper is designed to evaluate the factors influencing entrepreneurial intention among female students of business colleges under the Royal University of Bhutan based on the TPB model. The data were collected from 230 final year female students through an online survey. Regression analysis was applied to test the study’s hypotheses. The result revealed that all the three dimensions of the TPB model have an influence on entrepreneurial intention among female business students. Of the three dimensions, the perceived behavioral control has a strong influence, whereas subjective norms with least influence on entrepreneurial intention (EI). 1 Corresponding author, e-mail: dawa.drakpa@gmail.com E-mail: sonamloday.gcbs@rub.edu.bt 3 E-mail: yangchey2015@gmail.com 2 Dawa Drakpa, Sonam Loday, Karma Yangchen 171 KEY WORDS: entrepreneurial intention, female, Royal University of Bhutan, TPB model, personal attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control Introduction Both nationally and internationally, it is noticeable that women-owned enterprises are lesser in numbers, yet, and it plays an imperative role in the nation’s economic activities. Literature supports that women can substantially contribute to the nation’s economic activities and development (Noguera et al., 2013; Hechavarria et al., 2018; Cardella et al., 2020). Observing the women interested in entrepreneurship, government, NGOs and private organizations are introducing various initiatives to encourage and support women entrepreneurs. For instance, in 2021, United Nations (UN) organized the first regional women’s entrepreneurship expo where European and Central Asia women were provided opportunities to create a network and share entrepreneurial knowledge (UN Women Regional Office, 2021). Whereas in India, The Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) provides an ecosystem for new and existing women entrepreneurs (Government of India, 2021). In Nepal, the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (WEAN) is created to increase the capacity of existing women entrepreneurs (WEAN, 2021). Likewise, in Bhutan, various initiatives are taken by institutes to create a platform to motivate female youths in entrepreneurship. A few such active institutes are the Bhutan Association of Women Entrepreneurs (BAOWE) which engages in providing financial support, training, mentoring and advocacy to female youths and women to participate in entrepreneurship (BAOWE, 2021). Similarly, Respect, Educate, Nurture, Empower Women (RENEW) has a Micro Finance Project (MFP) that provides financial support like micro-loans, insurance, saving, and credit facilities to vulnerable women (RENEW, 2020). Bhutan Development Bank Limited (BDBL) is another that lends credits to rural women entrepreneurs with a minimum of 10 per cent interest (Lama, 2018). Despite the various initiatives taken by institutes in Bhutan, women’s participation in economic activity is lesser than men’s (National Statistics Bureau, 2020; World Economic Forum, 2021). According to Global Gender Gap Report 2020, Bhutan was ranked 117 out of 156 countries in terms of Economic Participation and Opportunity (with a score of 0.954). This indicates that gender disparity exists in terms of women’s participation in 172 Journal of Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education (2022, No. 1-2, 170-186) economic activities in Bhutan (World Economic Forum, 2021). Labour Force Survey Report 2020, the economic inactivity rate 4 for women is 36.5%, compared to 27.5% for men. Yet, another proof is that women are behind men in economic activity (National Statistics Bureau, 2020). Internationally, it has been found that female participation in entrepreneurship activities is still low as compared to men (Pi-Shen et al., 2008; Kobeissi, 2010; Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2020). An entrepreneurial intention of women could be one of the main reasons for lesser women’s participation in entrepreneurial activities. Tenzin, (2018) conducted a study on entrepreneurial intention amongst Bhutanese university graduates and it was found that 7.1% of female students are less likely to venture into entrepreneurship as compared to their male counterparts. The findings were no different among Bhutanese school students (Utha et al., 2016). In Hong Kong, Lo et al. (2017) found that male students’ intention to start up was slightly higher than that of female students. A similar result was found with students of South African university students (Ndofirepi et al., 2018). Therefore, the focus of this research study is on factors influencing entrepreneurial intention (EI) among female students in business colleges of the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB). The basis of the analysis is on the model put forward by Ajzen, (1991), Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) which emphasizes three factors: personal attitudes (PA), social norms (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC). Various models have been tried to explain the EI, but in theory-driven research, the TPB model has been widely used by researchers. 26F Literature Review Women Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship as a research topic has been receiving greater attention in recent years, mainly due to its positive effect on a nation’s economic development (Ahmad et al., 2012; Sheriff et al., 2016) in terms of employment creation and economic growth (Mirzanti et al., 2015). Thus, most countries give importance to the policies related to entrepreneurship and initiate various programs to promote entrepreneurial activities. To 4 It is defined as the proportion of economically active population to working-age population. Dawa Drakpa, Sonam Loday, Karma Yangchen 173 increase participation in entrepreneurial activities, one should know and recognize ways to stimulate entrepreneurial intentions [EIs] (Turker & Selcuk, 2009). With the increasing number of women participating in entrepreneurship, it has become an area of interest for most researchers (Malach et al., 2010). Women entrepreneurship is viewed as a driving force in the economy (Kobeissi, 2010; Noguera et al., 2013; Hechavarria et al., 2018; Cardella et al., 2020) and is considered a must policy in many countries (Bosma et al., 2021). In many countries, governments and various institutes are actively taking the initiative to empower women and promote women entrepreneurship. For example, Canada adopted Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES) to progress women’s economic empowerment (Canada Association of Women Executives & Entrepreneurs, 2018); the Macedonian government has adopted the Strategy and Action Plan for Women Entrepreneurs 2019–2023 (Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Macedonia, 2019). In Bhutan, few institutes have supported female participation in entrepreneurship activities for the last several years, yet female participation is still low compared to men (Lama, 2018). The number of women who availed funding support from Loden foundation 5 is 72 out of 200 receivers (Loden Foundation, 2021); this indicates that women’s involvement in Bhutanese economic activity is much lesser than men’s. 27F Entrepreneurial Intention Model EIs have been a shared research area for many researchers. Since the early 1980s, numerous EI models have been established (Shapero & Sokol, 1982; Ajzen, 1991; Krueger & Brazeal, 1994). Of all, the most widely applied EI models are Shapero and Sokol's (1982) entrepreneurial intention model and Ajzen's (1991) TPB model. Both models define intentions as exponents of entrepreneurial behavior. Also, these models present a high level of mutual compatibility (Krueger et al., 2000). In comparison, the perceived desirability in an entrepreneurial intention model parallels the PA and SN components in the TPB in considering desirability as an outcome of cultural and social influences (Krueger, 1993). Krueger also compared both the models by taking a sample of 97 American university students and 5 The Loden Foundation is an NGO in Bhutan dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship by providing financial, mentoring and training support to Bhutanese start-ups. 174 Journal of Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education (2022, No. 1-2, 170-186) found that both the models offer researchers a reliable instrument for understanding the EI. In this paper, Ajzen’s TPB model (Ajzen, 1991) is used to study the factors influencing EI among female business students of RUB colleges of Bhutan. This theory is considered a highly structured theory of ‘planned behavior’ (Liñán, 2004), and it is widely applied in the practical situation as an entrepreneurial career choice (Krueger, 1993; Krueger et al., 2000). Moreover, it is a commonly adopted theory to study the student's EI (Aloulou, 2016; Costa & Mares, 2016; Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2016; Gorgievski et al., 2018; Munir et al., 2019). Ajzen’s TPB model identifies three antecedents to measure the intentions (Ajzen, 1991); Personal attitude (PA) refers to the degree to which the individual holds a positive or negative personal valuation about being an entrepreneur in their lives. In this study, it was emphasized on an individual’s degree of positive or negative opinion about being an entrepreneur. According to Iglesias-Sánchez et al. (2016), the higher the constructive opinion, the greater probability of the individual indicating EI in the future. Subjective norms (SN) refer to the social pressure or influence to undertake entrepreneurship. Social pressure or influence emanates from social references such as parents, relatives, tutors and friends or society as a whole. It appraises the perception of individuals’ performing a particular behaviour from the influences of social references group (Vamvaka et al., 2020). Thus, individuals’ intention to start a business is influenced by social reference groups’ expectations, pressures and approval. The perceived behavioural control (PBC) is personal perceptions of the behaviour’s feasibility (control beliefs) (Ajzen, 1991; Gelderen et al., 2008). It is an individual’s perception of the level of difficulties in becoming an entrepreneur and willingness to overcome those difficulties at the time of business start-up (Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2016). Women Entrepreneurial Intention History depicts that women were deprived of social freedom to participate in economic development (United Nations, 2010; Kaviarasu & Xavier, 2016; Shah, 2019), but things have changed now, women are given equal opportunities like men. With this change, many countries have considered female entrepreneurship an important policy objective (Global Dawa Drakpa, Sonam Loday, Karma Yangchen 175 Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2020). Despite the various support and initiative from government and social institutes, female participation is still low in entrepreneurship activities compared to men (Pi-Shen et al., 2008; Kobeissi, 2010; Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2020), and findings were the same with the undergraduate students in terms of EI. When it comes to the study of EI based on the TPB model, Kolvereid, (1996) found out that there is an indirect effect of PA, SNs and PBC on female self-employment intention. Whereas, results were mixed in the comparative study of students in Spain and Puerto Rico where female students had a positive PA towards entrepreneurship but their SN was not positive and their intentions were relatively low (Vamvaka et al., 2020). On the contrary, Ferri et al., (2018) found out that TPB factors had a positive impact on female EI whereas SNs had a strong influence compared to PA and PBC. According to Dabic et al. (2012), it was found that male students had higher confidence in perceived feasibility and desirability compared to female students. On the other hand, female students had higher confidence in their family’s support and were found to have a strong influence on EI than men (Karimi et al., 2013). According to the above literature, the following hypotheses were developed: H1: PA towards entrepreneurship has a positive influence on the EI of female students of business colleges in RUB. H2. SN towards entrepreneurship has a positive influence on the EI of female students of business colleges in RUB. H3: PBC towards entrepreneurship has a positive influence on the EI of female students of business colleges in RUB. Materials and Methods Data Collection and Participants The data were collected using a structured questionnaire from the final year female students of the three business colleges; Gedu College of Business Studies (GCBS) 6, Royal Thimphu College (RTC) 7 and Norbuling 28F 6 29F GCBS is the only premier college under the Royal University of Bhutan that offers fulltime contemporary business and management education in the country (https://www.gcbs.edu.bt/). 176 Journal of Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education (2022, No. 1-2, 170-186) Rigter College (NRC) 8 which is affiliated to RUB. The total population for this study was 540 final year female students (GCBS-258, RTC-243 and NRC-39), of which 230 were drawn as a sample size after using Yamane Taro’s formula (Yamane, 1967). Of 230 participants, 45.7% are from GCBS, 39.1% are from RTC and the rest are from NRC. All the participants are from Bachelor in Business Administration and Bachelor in Commerce courses with 17.8% and 82.2% of participants, respectively. The three colleges are selected because the range of entrepreneurial programs offered across these colleges is common and standardized under the RUB. The target audiences are the final year female students of three business colleges because considering their options would be much more realistic as they will be in the market for immediate career choices. 30F Measures A set of structured questionnaires was developed on the basis of the TPB model (Ajzen, 1991). There were four dimensions in this study; PA consisting of three items; SN consisting of three items; PBC consisting of three items and EI with three items. Items for these four dimensions are borrowed from research done by Liñán and Chen (2009); Robledo et al. (2015); Iglesias-Sánchez et al. (2016), whose objectives were similar to this research. To measure each factor, seven points Likert scale with 1 expressing the strongest disagreement and 7 the highest level of agreement (Likert, 1932) was used. Results Reliability and Validity The items used in the questionnaire were already validated by previous studies (Liñán & Chen, 2009; Robledo et al., 2015; Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2016). Nevertheless, considering the importance of reliability and validity 7 4RTC is the first affiliated private college to RUB. Out of two private colleges in Bhutan, RTC is the first private college that provides business and management education in the country (https://www.rtc.bt/). 8 NRC is the second and recent affiliated private college to RUB. Out of two private colleges in Bhutan, NRC is the newest private college that provides business and management education in the country (https://www.nrc.bt/ ) Dawa Drakpa, Sonam Loday, Karma Yangchen 177 tests for the instrument, the study has validated the internal consistency of the questionnaire by applying Cronbach’s Alpha and composite reliability. It is the most commonly used statistical tool for reliability testing (Yang et al., 2015; Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2016; Shah et al., 2020). As shown in table 1, Cronbach’s alpha of each construct is between 0.755 to 0.943 and composite reliability is between 0.807 to 0.933, which is higher than the acceptable level of 0.7. The average variance extracted (AVE) is used to test the convergent validity. The AVE of each construct ranges from 0.584 to 0.821, which is higher than the acceptable level of 0.5. The discriminant validity of the constructs is analysed by verifying that the √AVE of the construct is higher than the correlation with other constructs, as recommended by (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). As shown in table 2, the result supports Fornell and Larcker’s criteria for discriminant validity. Table 1: Reliability Statistics Constructs Items EI PA SN PBC 3 3 3 3 Composite reliability 0.856 0.933 0.807 0.900 Cronbach Alpha 0.866 0.943 0.755 0.904 Factor loadings 0.814 0.906 0.762 0.866 AVE 0.666 0.821 0.584 0.750 Source: survey data Table 2: Discriminant validity EI EI PA SN PBC 0.816 0.407** 0.421** 0.560** PA SN 0.906 0.487** 0.191** 0.764 0.349** PBC 0.866 Sources: survey data Notes: *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001; the diagonal italic values are the √AVE of the constructs; the remaining values are the bivariate correlations between constructs. Regression Analysis The regression result (table 3) depicts that 42% of the variance on EI is due to the PA, SN, and PBC. The relationship between exogenous and endogenous variables was statistically found significant with (p<0.01). 178 Journal of Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education (2022, No. 1-2, 170-186) Among the three dimensions, PBC has a strong effect on EI of three business colleges (β = 0.535, p<0.01), followed by PA (β =0.306, p<0.01) and SN (β = 0.179, p<0.01) with the least effect on EI of female students of business colleges. Thus, study’ H1 “PA towards entrepreneurship has a positive influence on EI of female students of business colleges in RUB”, H2 “SN towards entrepreneurship has a positive influence on EI of female students of business colleges in RUB” and H3 “PBC towards entrepreneurship has a positive influence on EI of female students of business colleges under RUB” are supported. Table 3: Regression of EI Independent variable Model PA SN PBC Constant β Sig. 0.306 0.179 0.535 -1.124 0.000 0.027 0.000 0.018 Notes: R2 = 0.420; Adjusted R2 = 0.413; F=54.66; p<0.01 Discussion and Implication The previous research findings reveal that women are less likely to venture into entrepreneurship as compared to their counterparts (Pi-Shen et al., 2008; Kobeissi, 2010; Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2020) and findings were no different from the case of Bhutan (Utha et al., 2016; Tenzin, 2018; Lama, 2018). Thus, intending to find the factors influencing EI among female students in business colleges of RUB, the study has researched with the adoption of Ajzen’s (1991) TPB model to measure the female students’ EI. The model comprises three dimensions: PA, SN and PBC. This study has revealed that all three dimensions, PA, SN and PBC have a positive influence on the EI of female students of business colleges in Bhutan. These results are very much in line with Kolvereid (1996); Aeeni et al. (2015); Khuong and An (2016); Ferri et al. (2018); Sarwar et al. (2021) and in general, among university students, the three-dimensions were found to have a positive influence (Karimi et al., 2013; Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2016; Kabir et al., 2017). Of the three dimensions, the PBC has a strong influence on EI. Similar results were with Robledo et al. (2015); Kusumawardani et al. (2020) but against to Iqbal et al. (2012); Kautonen et Dawa Drakpa, Sonam Loday, Karma Yangchen 179 al. (2015); Ferri et al. (2018); Sussman and Gifford (2018); Vamvaka et al. (2020) findings. Whereas SN has the least influence on EI in this study, which is in line with previous studies conducted by Liñán (2004); Aeeni et al. (2015) but contrary to Yang et al. (2015); Iglesias-Sánchez et al. (2016); Aloulou (2016); Abdullah et al. (2019) findings. Some studies even found that SN has negative influence on EI (Iqbal et al., 2012; Prajapati, 2019; Kusumawardani et al., 2020). Ajzen (1991) stated in his theory that PBC depends on an individual’s perception of internal factors such as own ability and determination, and external factors such as the resources and support available to the individual. Thus, the strong influence of PBC on female students’ EI indicates that the female students possess confidence in their ability and determination, also, as in the resources and support available for starting a start-up. Hence, the study recommends that educators and policymakers should continue and create a female-friendly and supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem, and platform to showcase their business ideas. This would ensure the continuity of the same spirit in female students on their ability and determination towards entrepreneurship. For SN, it has a positive influence on EI among female students of business colleges of RUB but with the least effect. However, previous studies found that the SN is an important factor that influences the EI (Yang et al., 2015; Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2016; Aloulou, 2016; Abdullah et al., 2019; Iqbal et al., 2012; Prajapati, 2019; Kusumawardani et al., 2020), it should not be ignored. Thus, the study recommends that the support of social reference groups (parents, family, friends and tutors) at the time of career decision will positively influence women. Conclusion and Limitations This study has evaluated the factors influencing EI among female students of business colleges under the RUB with the adoption of the TPB model (Ajzen, 1991). The study concludes that all three dimensions (PA, SN and PBC) are predictors of EI among female students of RUB. Further, it was found that PBC has a strong influence on EI among RUB female students, which indicates female students have confidence in their ability and knowledge for starting a start-up. Followed by PA, SN has the least influence on EI. Overall, the study deduced that all the dimensions (PA, SN, and PBC) have a positive influence on EI of female students of business colleges under the RUB, with 42% of the variance in EI. 180 Journal of Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education (2022, No. 1-2, 170-186) However, the study has some limitations that provide a scope for further research. First, the sample enumerated was specific to business colleges under the RUB. Thus, the findings cannot be fully generalized. Second, the study was limited to the TPB dimensions only. Other dimensions, such as prior entrepreneurial exposure, cultural context and personal traits, may have equal influence on EI. 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