Saudi youth and entrepreneurship: A study of prospects for national economy

Abstract

Saudi Vision 2030 defines entrepreneurship in the country’s context as part of the process for diversifying its economy; a vision for universities to foster entrepreneurial thinking among their graduates and move towards decreasing the Kingdom’s dependence on petro revenue and public sector jobs. Although there is some government interest in the subject, the determinants of entrepreneurial intentions (EI) amongst Saudi university students are not well researched. To fill this gap, the researcher investigated the role of five predictors in this quantitative study—self-efficacy, risk-taking propensity, risk cushioning, appropriateness of EI, and state support—in relation to EI. The convenience sample comprised 97 students from three state universities and two private universities across three cities viz., Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam. Data was gathered using a validated questionnaire and analyzed using multiple regression or structural equation modeling (SEM). Results indicate that, together with entrepreneurship education, self-efficacy is the strongest and most important predictor of EI (58% of variance). Risk-taking propensity does not stand out by itself but is slightly influenced by state support (β = .18, p < .05). Further, risk cushioning does not play a statistically significant role. Robustness of the hypothesized model was confirmed by the SEM results (CFI = .96, RMSEA = .058). The study has implications for curriculum planners, university leaders, and policymakers in their efforts to realize the goals outlined in Vision 2030.