Do I see myself as a digital entrepreneur? How entrepreneurial mindset and mentoring shape the digital education–venture intention pathway

Purpose This study examines how digital entrepreneurship education (DEE) relates to students' digital venture intention (DVI) in an emerging-economy higher education context. Drawing on experiential learning theory as a process lens, the study investigates Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) as a cognitive explanatory mechanism and mentoring support (MS) as a boundary condition of the DEE–EM relationship. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 418 university students in Punjab, Pakistan, using a three-wave time-lagged survey design. Digital entrepreneurship education and mentoring support were measured at Time 1, entrepreneurial mindset at Time 2, and digital venture intention at Time 3. The measurement model was assessed through CFA, while the hypotheses were tested using PROCESS Models 4 and 7 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples. Findings DEE was positively associated with DVI and with EM, while EM was positively associated with DVI. The indirect relationship between DEE and DVI through EM was significant, supporting EM as an explanatory mechanism. MS significantly conditioned the DEE–EM relationship, such that this association, and the corresponding indirect relationship between DEE and DVI through EM, were stronger at higher levels of MS. Originality/value The study advances digital entrepreneurship education research by explaining not only whether DEE is associated with DVI, but also how and under what supportive conditions this relationship occurs. It identifies EM as a cognitive pathway and MS as a theoretically grounded boundary condition, offering a conditional-process explanation of the DEE–DVI relationship in an emerging-economy higher education context.