Outlook of female students towards entrepreneurship: An analysis of a selection of business students in Dubai

Abstract

Purpose

In today's world, entrepreneurship is seen as the vital source for economic growth and education is a vital component in the creation and development of entrepreneurial attitudes. It is, therefore, natural to consider students as the primary resource of future entrepreneurs. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to carry out an empirical research amongst females in their first year of business studies in Dubai, providing a descriptive analysis of students' entrepreneurial intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

A primary survey amongst female first‐year business studies students in Dubai was conducted. A five‐point Likert scale was used for each question and mean scores were generated from the ranks.

Findings

The results show that the young female students in Dubai are positive regarding the role that universities can play in fostering their interest towards entrepreneurship, both for their education and the incubator for their new venture.

Practical implications

Significant scope for promotion of entrepreneurship in the education system in the United Arab Emirates is found. Emirati females students showed a high inclination to become entrepreneurs provided they underwent a specialized entrepreneurial Business Program. More attention is required by policy makers and higher education authorities to foster “hands‐on” entrepreneurship as a part of business studies program.

Originality/value

Both academia and practitioners have increased their efforts in promoting entrepreneurial mindset within the society. However, only a few studies have investigated entrepreneurial attitudes amongst students; even fewer have considered entrepreneurial intentions of females and no studies have been conducted in the Middle East. This paper fills this gap.

Citation

Gallant, M., Majumdar, S. and Varadarajan, D. (2010), "Outlook of female students towards entrepreneurship: An analysis of a selection of business students in Dubai", Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 218-230. https://doi.org/10.1108/17537981011070127