Knowing thoughts by seeing deeds: The role of creative self-concept, entrepreneurial mindset, and creative behaviour in innovation and entrepreneurship education

Despite increasing investment in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IE) education, universities do not necessarily see higher levels of entrepreneurial activities among graduates. We aimed to deepen our understanding of IE education by examining the relationships among pre-educational creative self-concept (CSC), entrepreneurial mindset (EM), creative behaviour (CB), and entrepreneurial intention (EI) for students who transferred from community colleges to universities. 463 students in a university in Hong Kong responded to a pre-course questionnaire. Path analyses revealed that those who exhibited higher CSC and more positive EM also tended to engage in more creative activities (i.e., CB). This helped them to develop better EI. Furthermore, CSC and EM reinforced each other in promoting EI. Our results demonstrate that promoting entrepreneurship requires the development of corresponding belief and attitude, but only through their manifestations in creative endeavours, including problem-solving exercises that can be administered more quickly and cost effectively than conventional entrepreneurial activities.