Entrepreneurial Intentions and Motivation of Young Native Females in the UAE

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between perceived behavioural control, subjective norms, entrepreneurial intentions, motivations and cognitive planning of young female Emirati undergraduates by putting forward two theoretical models that integrate the theory of planned behaviour and the expectancy theory of motivation. The two theoretical models are researched using a quantitative method utilizing a questionnaire. The participants are 337 undergraduate female Emirati students from Dubai and the northern emirates. The difference between the two theoretical models is that whilst in the first model perceived behavioural control and subjective norms drive the entrepreneurial intentions and motivation is what links the intentions to the cognitive planning and actual actions, in the alternative model cognitive planning is researched as the result of perceived behavioural control and subjective norms, and is considered to precede entrepreneurial intentions. The main finding is that the fit between the theory of planned behaviour and the expectancy theory of motivation is best supported in the model where perceived behavioural control and subjective norms are significantly linked to cognitive planning which in turn is significantly linked to entrepreneurial intentions mediated by valence and outcome expectations.