Article
Educational Environment and Entrepreneurial Intention among Arts and Science Students in Kerala: An Empirical Structural Equation Modelling Analysis
Scholarly focus has progressively shifted towards Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) to elucidate how Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) cultivate commercial acumen and innovative thinking among students. This study aims to assess the influence of the Educational Ecosystem (EE)—characterized as the academic integration of coursework and the strategic alignment of institutional objectives to facilitate commercial inquiry—on the entrepreneurial ambitions of college students in Kerala, India. Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Entrepreneurship Education Theory (EET), this study utilizes an explanatory-confirmatory approach, collecting data from a structured questionnaire distributed to 540 participants from both government and non-government colleges. The study utilized a pre-designed set of questions. The data analysis was conducted using SPSS 26 and AMOS 24 software, employing Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The data obtained from CFA showed that the construct validity was strong (CFI = 0.977, TLI = 0.952, and RMSEA = 0.037), while the data obtained from the SEM showed that factors that influenced entrepreneurial intention include integrating the curriculum (β = 0.920, p <0.001), support infrastructure for entrepreneurs (β = 0.382, p <0.001), and leadership and visions (β =0.903, p <0.001). The overall Educational Environment construct achieved satisfactory convergent validity (AVE = 0.708), high composite reliability (CR = 0.877), and acceptable discriminant validity (0.841), indicating strong construct adequacy. In conclusion, the findings emphasize the critical role that supporting educational environments inculcate in cultivating innovation-driven entrepreneurial spirit in the youth within the emerging economy.