Does parental gender influence the entrepreneurial intention in heirs?

Abstract

Parental gender may impulse the entrepreneurial intention of their heirs. To know if parental gender influences entrepreneurial intention, we based our study on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (subjective norm, attitudes towards entrepreneurship, and self-efficacy) in first-year university students. We analyzed 952 prospective entrepreneurs by using a pre and post instrument in an entrepreneurship challenge to measure our hypothesized model. The results show that (a) the effect of the parental gender on heirs is small; (b) there is a slight difference between entrepreneurial fathers and entrepreneurial mothers, and (c) the impact of the entrepreneurial activities is higher on children with no entrepreneurial parents. The major implication of these results is that entrepreneurial education has different effects on students, as these effects are contingent on their parents’ occupation.

RÉSUMÉ

Le genre des parents peut stimuler l’intention entrepreneuriale de leurs héritiers. Afin de vérifier si le genre des parents influence l’intention entrepreneuriale, nous avons basé notre étude sur la théorie du comportement planifié (norme subjective, attitudes envers l’entrepreneuriat et auto-efficacité) d’Ajzen parmi les étudiants de première année universitaire. Nous avons analysé 952 entrepreneurs potentiels en utilisant un pré et post instrument dans un objectif entrepreneurial d’évaluation de notre modèle hypothétique. Les résultats montrent que (a) l’effet du genre des parents sur les héritiers est faible ; (b) il existe une faible différence entre les pères entrepreneurs et les mères entrepreneurs, et (c) l’impact des activités entrepreneuriales est plus important sur les enfants dont les parents ne sont pas entrepreneurs. L’implication majeure de ces résultats est que l’éducation à l’entreprenariat a des effets différents sur les étudiants, puisque ces effets sont dépendants de la profession de leurs parents.

Keywords:

• Parental gender
• intention
• entrepreneurship
• theory of planned behavior
• attitude
• self-efficacy
• Mexico

Mots-clés:

• entrepreneuriat
• théorie du comportement planifié
• intention

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by EGADE Business School, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico, and the National Research System-Mexican Council for Science and Technology.

Notes on contributors

José Manuel Saiz-Alvarez

José Manuel Saiz-Alvarez is a full-time research professor at EGADE Business School at Tecnologico de Monterrey (Mexico) and the Mexican Academy of Sciences. His research interest focuses on entrepreneurship, family business, European Union, and the labor market.

Lucía A. Rodríguez-Aceves

Lucía A. Rodríguez-Aceves is a full-time professor in the Business Administration Department at Tecnologico de Monterrey (Mexico). Her research interests are female entrepreneurship and gender-related issues.

Geraldina Silveyra León

Geraldina Silveyra León is a full-time professor in the Business Administration Department at Tecnologico de Monterrey (Mexico). Her research interests lie at the intersection of entrepreneurship, education, and gender.