The research, titled “Shaping Future Entrepreneurs: The Influence of Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Interest and Mental Readiness for Global Challenges,” found positive relationships between entrepreneurship education and two outcomes: entrepreneurial interest and mental readiness. Both relationships were statistically significant, suggesting that students who viewed their entrepreneurship education more favorably also tended to report greater interest in entrepreneurship and stronger perceived preparedness for business challenges.
Why Entrepreneurship Education Matters in a Changing Business Environment
Starting and managing a business requires more than a promising idea. Prospective entrepreneurs must navigate financial risks, rapid technological developments, shifting consumer preferences, and intense market competition. These pressures can make the transition from classroom learning to actual business activity difficult, particularly for students who have limited experience managing uncertainty.
Universities therefore face a broader challenge than simply encouraging students to consider entrepreneurship as a career. They also need to help students understand business risks, respond constructively to setbacks, and adapt to changing market conditions.
Previous research has linked entrepreneurship education with entrepreneurial intentions, attitudes, and confidence. Resanika’s study adds to this discussion by examining entrepreneurial interest alongside mental readiness as two related but distinct outcomes of entrepreneurship education.
This distinction matters because enthusiasm for starting a business does not necessarily mean someone feels prepared to handle financial losses, technological disruption, or an unsuccessful venture. Considering both dimensions provides a broader perspective on how students perceive their preparation for entrepreneurial life.
How the Research Was Conducted
Resanika used a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design involving 155 university students. Participants completed an online questionnaire between September and October 2026. Their responses were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, or PLS-SEM, a statistical method used to examine relationships between measured concepts.
The questionnaire covered three main areas. Entrepreneurship education was assessed through curriculum relevance, teaching quality, project-based learning, and institutional support. Entrepreneurial interest included students’ interest in establishing businesses, exploring opportunities, considering entrepreneurial careers, and anticipating business outcomes. Mental readiness covered perceived financial risk tolerance, resilience when facing setbacks, digital adaptability, and preparedness for uncertain global markets.
The sample consisted of 115 women, or 74.2% of respondents, and 40 men, or 25.8%. Most respondents—152 students, representing 98.1%—were enrolled in management-related academic programs. In addition, 146 respondents, or 94.2%, reported having previously taken or currently taking an entrepreneurship course.
These characteristics are important when interpreting the findings. The results offer insight into the surveyed students, but the concentration of respondents in management-related programs means they should not automatically be generalized to all university students in Indonesia.
Two Key Findings: Entrepreneurial Interest and Mental Readiness
The analysis identified positive and statistically significant relationships between entrepreneurship education and both measured outcomes.
1. Entrepreneurship education is positively associated with entrepreneurial interest.
The estimated relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial interest was 0.708, with a p-value below 0.001. The model’s R² value was 0.502, indicating that entrepreneurship education accounted for 50.2% of the variation in entrepreneurial interest within the specified model.
In practical terms, students who reported more favorable entrepreneurship education experiences also tended to express stronger interest in business ownership, entrepreneurial careers, and exploring commercial opportunities.
This finding reinforces the importance of educational experiences in making entrepreneurship more understandable and attractive to students. However, interest is not the same as a firm decision to establish a business, and the study did not measure whether respondents subsequently launched ventures.
2. Entrepreneurship education is also positively associated with mental readiness.
The relationship between entrepreneurship education and mental readiness was 0.766, with a p-value below 0.001. The model’s R² value was 0.587, meaning entrepreneurship education accounted for 58.7% of the variation in students’ reported mental readiness.
This outcome covered students’ perceived preparedness to tolerate financial risks, recover from setbacks, adapt to digital developments, and respond to uncertain market conditions.
The relationship was numerically stronger than the one involving entrepreneurial interest. However, the study did not establish whether this difference was statistically significant. The results should therefore be understood as evidence of positive associations rather than proof that entrepreneurship education directly causes improvements in students’ psychological preparedness.
Both hypotheses were supported by the statistical analysis. The findings suggest that entrepreneurship education is relevant to students’ aspirations as well as their perceptions of their ability to confront entrepreneurial challenges.
What the Findings Mean for Universities and Future Entrepreneurs
The results point to opportunities for universities to strengthen entrepreneurship education through learning experiences that connect business concepts with realistic challenges.
Rather than relying exclusively on lectures and business-plan assignments, institutions could incorporate business simulations, project-based activities, mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs, and exercises involving financial decisions. These approaches can expose students to the kinds of decisions and uncertainties they may encounter when developing a business.
Educators could also integrate activities that encourage students to reflect on failure, evaluate risk, solve unfamiliar problems, and adapt to digital technologies. Such learning experiences may help students develop more realistic expectations about entrepreneurship while encouraging them to explore business opportunities.
The findings also offer a useful perspective for curriculum developers and education policymakers. Evaluating entrepreneurship education solely by students’ interest in starting businesses may overlook whether students feel prepared for the difficulties associated with entrepreneurial activity. Assessments that consider both interest and perceived readiness could provide a more comprehensive picture of students’ learning experiences.
Resanika’s findings should nevertheless be interpreted with several limitations in mind. The research relied on a cross-sectional survey and self-reported responses, so it cannot establish causal effects or demonstrate how students would perform in actual business situations. The sample was also concentrated in management-related programs. In addition, some statistical results indicated that mental readiness and the other measured concepts may overlap, making further measurement validation important.
Future studies could follow students over time, include participants from more academic disciplines and universities, and examine whether perceived readiness corresponds with actual entrepreneurial behavior. Researchers could also investigate the contributions of mentoring, digital competence, entrepreneurial experience, and psychological resources.
A Broader View of Preparing Future Entrepreneurs
The central message from this research is that entrepreneurship education is associated with more than students’ interest in pursuing business opportunities. It is also associated with how prepared they believe they are to face uncertainty and changing business conditions.
For Universitas Widya Dharma Pontianak researcher L. Gusti Resanika, the findings support a broader perspective on entrepreneurial learning—one that considers entrepreneurial interest and mental readiness together. This perspective encourages universities to help students develop both the motivation to explore opportunities and the perceived capacity to confront the challenges that entrepreneurship can bring.
The evidence does not prove that classroom education alone produces successful entrepreneurs. It does, however, provide a basis for considering practical learning, resilience, and adaptability as important elements of entrepreneurship education.
Author Profile
L. Gusti Resanika is affiliated with Universitas Widya Dharma Pontianak, Indonesia. The supplied article does not specify the author’s academic degree or a formal field-of-expertise statement. The research focuses on entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial interest, and students’ perceived mental readiness for global business challenges.
Source Information
Article title: Shaping Future Entrepreneurs: The Influence of Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Interest and Mental Readiness for Global ChallengesAuthor: L. Gusti Resanika
Institution: Universitas Widya Dharma Pontianak, Indonesia
Data collection period: September–October 2026
Journal name: Formosa Journal of Business and Economic Statistics (FJBES
Publication year: 2026, as indicated in the article’s copyright statement; the final publication status is not independently verified
DOI:https://doi.org/10.55927/fjbes.v2i5.687
URL: https://mtiformosapublisher.org/index.php/fjbes
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