Digital Entrepreneurship Intention among Bumiputera University Students and the Role of Entrepreneurial Education

The influence of digital technologies has transformed many aspects of life globally, including the way we do business. The shift from traditional business paradigms has created vast opportunities for value creation. With the increasing challenges, competition and uncertainty in the job market, digital entrepreneurship has given an alternative career path to young adults to create employment opportunities and become self-reliant. Digital entrepreneurship has emerged as crucial driver of economic innovation, requiring a strong entrepreneurial mindset among university students. This study explores factors influencing digital entrepreneurship intention. Utilizing a structured quantitative approach, key determinants from the Theory of Planned Behavior (personal attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control) are analyzed alongside entrepreneurial education to assess the impact on Bumiputera students’ readiness and motivation to engage in digital ventures through a survey questionnaire. 173 valid responses from students of University Technology MARA were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that subjective norms and perceived behavioral control were positively significant in influencing digital entrepreneurship intention. However, attitude and entrepreneurial education have no significant effect on digital entrepreneurship intention within this demographic. Findings of the study provide an understanding of factors that shaped Bumiputera students’ intention to explore new ventures of entrepreneurial aspirations in the digital domain. These counterintuitive results suggest that current approach to entrepreneurial education may not be sufficient to ignite the specific intent among Bumiputera students to engage in digital ventures. These results offer valuable insights for educators and policymakers seeking to enhance entrepreneurship programs.