Key Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intention of Non-Undergraduate School Leavers in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Entrepreneurs are more important for Sri Lanka as a developing country. The main objective of the study was to identify the key determinants of the entrepreneurial intention of non-undergraduate school leavers in Sri Lanka. There has been a lack of concern about the future of school leavers who will not enter the higher education system. Therefore, this study will facilitate identifying the key determinants of non-undergraduate school leavers in Sri Lanka. This was carried out as a cross-sectional field study among a sample of 132 non-undergraduate school leavers in Sri Lanka. Further, the researcher interviewed 27 respondents out of those 132. Convenience sampling was applied to select the sample. Data were collected via a standard questionnaire that met accepted standards of validity and reliability. Descriptive statistics, simple ranking, thematic analysis were used to analyze data. It is found that the economic condition of the country, preference to the field from childhood, being independent, and job dissatisfaction stimulates the entrepreneurial intention while the intention of going forward in career life reduces the entrepreneurial intention. Analysis of factors which were found through previous literature reveals that familyrelated factors are more influential on entrepreneurial intention than person-related factors. As most of the respondents don’t implement their entrepreneurial ideas even they have the intention, the researcher recommends establishing a mechanism with the aid of the key research findings to capture the entrepreneurial intention of school leavers before leaving the school. Further, data gathered through the mechanism can be linked with business units, financial institutions, and government. Therefore, non-undergraduate school leavers can gain external support to become an entrepreneur. As some individuals are interested in being an entrepreneur while engaging in a job, most importantly, it is recommended to prepare and implement relevant policies to promote parallel entrepreneurship in the country.