Digital Entrepreneurship Education and Digital Entrepreneurial Intention: Insights from Social Cognitive Career Theory

This study examines the multidimensional relationship between digital entrepreneurship education (DEE) and digital entrepreneurial intention (DEI) among engineering students in Da Nang, Vietnam, using Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) as the theoretical framework. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, combining qualitative interviews to refine measurement constructs with a quantitative survey of 390 students. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyze the relationships among educational, psychological, and cognitive factors.The analytical outcomes reveal that four principal factors influence students' DEI: entrepreneurial personality traits (PER), entrepreneurial capacity (CAP), perceived behavioral control (PBC), and attitudes toward behavior (AT). Consistent with the tenets of SCCT, these factors encapsulate the amalgamation of individual characteristics, self-assessment of abilities, and contextual elements that shape career trajectories. Furthermore, among the educational variables, the digital entrepreneurship curriculum (TEC) assumes a crucial role in molding DEI through both direct and indirect pathways, whereas the digital entrepreneurship teaching method (TEM) predominantly enhances capacity and PBC but does not exert a substantial influence on AT or PER. These findings illustrate that DEE profoundly affects students' AT, CAP, and PER, thereby nurturing digital entrepreneurial cognition, which aligns with SCCT’s framework for the development of career intentions. The study advocates for the modernization of digital curricula, the implementation of proactive digital pedagogies, and the establishment of digital entrepreneurship ecosystems within universities to augment the efficacy of digital entrepreneurship education.