Bridging Entrepreneurial Skills and Entrepreneurial Intention: A Systematic Literature Review and Content Analysis

Entrepreneurial Intention has been identified as one of the most important fields in entrepreneurship research because of its importance in the understanding of the attitude of people to venture creation. Entrepreneurial skills have been increasing in the research view since the various factors can impact entrepreneurial intention and previous study indicated entrepreneurial skills are positively related to entrepreneurial intention. The literature, however, is still not consistent in terms of the type of skills examined, research contexts, theoretical approaches, and how skills aid in the process of intention formation. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to systematically review the literatures on Relation between Entrepreneurial Skills and Entrepreneurial intention and to identify the themes and directions of the major research areas. The used methods were Systematic Literature Review (SLR), bibliometric analysis and qualitative content analysis. In Scopus, a total of 202 articles (134 sources) were analysed from the year 2008 to 2026. Scientific production analysis, the most likely sources of publications, the most important authors, the development of themes and keywords were analysed. Furthermore, 20 highly relevant studies were purposively selected for content analysis to gain more depth of understanding around the skills–intention relationship. Bibliometric analysis reveals that the research field is highly dynamic with the annual growth rate being 19.03%, and a clearly defined research focus on entrepreneurship education in higher education, entrepreneurship education programmes and behaviour research since approximately 2019. Based on the results of content analysis, it can be seen that out of 32 skills, the entrepreneurial relationships of the entrepreneur skill and entrepreneurial intention generally have a positive relationship, it can be done directly or indirectly through mediation or moderation. Entrepreneurial skills are entrepreneurial competencies such as creativity, innovation, opportunity recognition, problem solving, resiliency, proactivity etc. and are related to entrepreneurial intention. The findings also indicate that entrepreneurship education, experiential learning, self-efficacy, attitudes, perceived behavioural control, and institutional support are crucial factors that impact this relationship. Last but not least, the study points out the research gaps and future research directions.