Promoting entrepreneurial intentions from adolescence: the influence of entrepreneurial culture and education

From a young age, entrepreneurship intentions depend heavily on the culture of countries and the entrepreneurial contexts that will shape entrepreneurial archetypes about what defines an entrepreneur, and the influence of role models. All these aspects depend on the would-be entrepreneurs’ personal characteristics, and are influenced by the entrepreneurship education they receive when they are young. Most of the studies on youth entrepreneurship focus on university students. However, it is in adolescence that the personal characteristics of entrepreneurs are formed. This may be the reason why these studies mostly reach contradictory results about the importance of these programs. From our sample of 1750 Portuguese students, we confirm the importance of entrepreneurial culture and education to promote entrepreneurial self-efficacy and develop entrepreneurial intentions. Our results contribute to ascertaining the importance of entrepreneurial educational programs delivered in adolescence, adapted to the specific characteristics of the target populations (potential entrepreneurs) on the development of entrepreneurship intentions. Thus, it helps with the subsequent definition of educational policies to foster entrepreneurship development from adolescence.