Impacts of green curriculum exposure and sustainability awareness on green entrepreneurship intention among Malaysian university students: The mediating role of self-efficacy

With the rise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), green entrepreneurship has emerged as a key strategy for advancing sustainable economic development. Although interest in entrepreneurial intentions is on the rise, research focusing specifically on green entrepreneurial intention among Malaysian university students remains limited. Therefore, this study aims to examine the role of green curriculum exposure, sustainability awareness, and self-efficacy in green entrepreneurial intention among university students based on the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A total of 302 respondents were collected from undergraduate students studying in public and private universities in Malaysia using a purposive sampling technique. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed for assessing measurement and structural models. The results revealed that green curriculum exposure and sustainability awareness positively impact self-efficacy. Additionally, green curriculum exposure positively impacts sustainability awareness, and self-efficacy positively impacts green entrepreneurial intention, which has been confirmed. Similarly, the mediating role of self-efficacy between green curriculum exposure, sustainability awareness, and green entrepreneurial intention was supported. The findings contribute to the theoretical and practical implications of green entrepreneurship by providing empirical evidence within the Malaysian context. The Ministry of Higher Education and relevant stakeholders can design targeted green education to foster sustainability-driven entrepreneurship among university students.