Navigating the technopreneurial odyssey: determining how technopreneurial self-efficacy, technopreneurial education and technological optimism cultivate tech-driven entrepreneurial intentions

Purpose This study aims to assess the impact of technopreneurial self-efficacy, technopreneurial education and technological optimism on Generation Z students’ intentions to engage in technopreneurship in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach The research employed a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional survey design. Data from 304 university students are analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Findings The findings confirm significant positive effects: technopreneurial self-efficacy has a direct impact on technopreneurship intention, and technopreneurship education mediates this relationship. Moreover, technological optimism moderates the relationships between technopreneurial self-efficacy and intention, as well as between technopreneurial education and intention. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to existing bodies of knowledge by expanding the tenets of the theory of planned behaviour, the generation cohort theory and the technology acceptance model by exploring how technopreneurs’ self-efficacy, technopreneurship education and technological optimism influence Generation Z students' intentions to engage in technopreneurship in South Africa. Practical implications The study findings can benefit educational institutions and policymakers by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of fostering technopreneurship, which will ultimately drive economic growth and innovation. Originality/value This study closes the gaps in the technopreneurship literature in emerging economies and underscores the importance of cultivating a technopreneurial mindset among youth to drive sustainable economic development.