| Impact of Internship Quality on Entrepreneurial Intentions among Graduating Engineering Students of Research Universities in China |
Received:September 16, 2017 Revised:September 16, 2017 |
Key Words: Entrepreneurial intention; Graduating engineering students; Internship quality; Entrepreneurial desirability; Entrepreneurial feasibility |
| Author Name | Affiliation | | gaofeng yi* | The Business School, Yancheng Normal University |
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Abstract: |
| Most research on internship focuses on the impact of internship programs on university students’ career choices and employers’ recruitment. Nevertheless, little is known about how internship programs affect students’ entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). This paper seeks to explore the relationship between the internship quality, entrepreneurial desirability, entrepreneurial feasibility and EIs through a structural equation model. The sample is composed of 702 graduating engineering students from two research universities within China. The results reveal that students’ internship quality has the positive and significant impact on their EIs. More specifically, the internship quality significantly affects students’ EIs both directly and indirectly. Furthermore, entrepreneurial desirability and feasibility partially mediate the relationship between the internship quality and students’ EIs. There are some substantial differences among gender subgroups, those being family characteristics and entrepreneurial experiences which were examined by the multiple group comparison test. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for researchers and policymakers are discussed. |
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