Espoused model of women entrepreneurship: antecedents to women entrepreneurial intention and moderating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop and propose an espoused model of women's entrepreneurship (EMWE) and test its predictive power on women's entrepreneurial intentions. Also, the authors examine the moderating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy, given its dynamic nature that can be influenced by training. Design/methodology/approach - Data was collected from 303 female students from undergraduate/postgraduate programs in reputed Indian higher education institutions using a self-administered questionnaire. Findings - The study confirmed that all four factors – perceived entrepreneurial potential, perceived relational support, perceived educational support and perceived structural support – were positively related to the women’s entrepreneurial intentions. Simultaneously, results confirmed the moderating effect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Research limitations/implications - The study presents that more women may be inclined towards adopting entrepreneurship as their career based on their potential and self-efficacy if adequate educational, relational and structural support was provided. Originality/value - Existing studies in entrepreneurship have focused primarily on men. This work fills this gap and not only proposes but empirically examines the EMWE in the Indian context. It also provides evidence of a significant impact of perceived entrepreneurial potential and perceived relational support on women’s entrepreneurial intentions and posits the role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy as an important moderator, unlike past studies.