Do entrepreneurship competitions increase the entrepreneurial intention of engineering students? The mixed effects of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial motivation.

Educators and policymakers are increasingly interested in making entrepreneurship education accessible to engineering students, including through entrepreneurship competitions. The current study explored the role of entrepreneurship competitions on the entrepreneurial intention of engineering students. We hypothesized that entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediates the effect of entrepreneurship competition on entrepreneurial intention. In addition, we hypothesized that entrepreneurial motivation moderates the effect of entrepreneurship competition on entrepreneurial intention. Data were collected from 283 engineering students using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modelling. The results revealed that entrepreneurship competition was positively associated with the intention to undertake entrepreneurial activity, which was also partially mediated by self-efficacy. The findings demonstrated a positive moderation effect of entrepreneurial motivation on the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention. This study provides empirical support for devising a variety of entrepreneurship competitions that can further support students to become entrepreneurial engineers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]