Purpose: To disentangle the ways in which social norms shape entrepreneurial
intentions of university students and to analyse the moderating effect of gender that
may arise.
Design/methodology/approach: We have used the entrepreneurial intention model
based on Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) literature and moderated by students’
gender affecting this intention. We tested some hypotheses using data from
undergraduate business students in Spain and their entrepreneurial intentions.
Findings: Our results suggest that perceived behavioural control and attitudes affect
the entrepreneurial intentions of university students towards entrepreneurship while
subjective norms do not. Furthermore, our findings reveal that the moderating effect of
gender has a positive influence for women in the relationship between those subjective
norms and the perceived behavioural control. However, as to some research done so
far, the moderating role of gender does not seem to have a particular effect on
predicting entrepreneurial intentions when moderating TPB dimensions.Practical implications: Given the socio-economic benefits attributed to
entrepreneurship, the results allow the design of more effective education initiatives
and policies.
Originality/value: This research provides support for the application of the TPB,
allowing for a better understanding of gender differences in entrepreneurial intentions.Peer Reviewe
