The findings are relevant as e-commerce, social media marketing, digital services, and artificial intelligence continue to transform business activities. Generation Z students are generally familiar with digital technologies, but knowing how to use applications and online platforms does not automatically mean they are confident enough to establish their own businesses. Students also need business knowledge, practical experience, mentoring, and an environment that supports the transformation of ideas into valuable products or services.
University Support Plays a Key Role
The study examines four main elements involved in developing confidence in digital entrepreneurship. The first is the university entrepreneurial ecosystem, which includes entrepreneurship education, technological facilities, business incubation programs, mentors, professional networks, and connections with industry.
The second is perceived institutional support, which refers to how far students believe their universities provide assistance, facilities, learning opportunities, and encouragement relevant to digital entrepreneurship.
The third element is digital entrepreneurial competence. This refers to the ability to use technology to identify market opportunities, conduct digital marketing, manage businesses, develop ideas, and create value for customers.
The fourth is digital entrepreneurial self-efficacy, or students’ confidence in their ability to perform the tasks required to establish and manage technology-based businesses.
By examining these four elements together, the researchers sought to explain how university resources can be translated into practical capabilities and stronger confidence among students interested in digital entrepreneurship.
Study Involved 482 Students Across Indonesia
The research team collected data from 482 Generation Z university students in Indonesia. Respondents came from six major island regions: Java, Sulawesi, Bali, Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Papua. Participants were selected through purposive sampling, using criteria that included active university enrollment and exposure to entrepreneurship education, digital business, or digital technology learning.
Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). In simple terms, this statistical method helps researchers examine relationships among several factors and assess whether institutional support and digital competence serve as links between university entrepreneurship ecosystems and students’ confidence.
The study used cross-sectional data collected during a single observation period. Consequently, its findings demonstrate statistical relationships among the variables rather than proving that changes in one factor necessarily cause changes in another over time.
Institutional Support and Digital Competence Have Different Effects
The analysis found that a stronger university entrepreneurial ecosystem was positively and significantly associated with students’ perceptions of institutional support, digital entrepreneurial competence, and confidence in digital entrepreneurship.
Perceived institutional support was also positively and significantly associated with digital entrepreneurial competence and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Meanwhile, digital entrepreneurial competence was positively and significantly associated with students’ confidence in carrying out digital business activities.
One notable finding concerns the relationship between institutional support and competence. The reported effect-size measure, known as f-square, reached 0.927 for this relationship, indicating a large effect within the statistical model. By comparison, the direct effect size of institutional support on entrepreneurial self-efficacy was only 0.013, classified as negligible.
This difference suggests that providing support alone may not be sufficient to build students’ confidence. University programs and resources need to be accompanied by opportunities to practice skills, test business ideas, use digital technologies, and address real-world business challenges.
The research model explained 68.2% of the variation in digital entrepreneurial competence among respondents. It also explained 44.6% of the variation in digital entrepreneurial self-efficacy. These figures indicate the model’s explanatory power for the observed data; they do not represent the percentage of students who will successfully establish businesses.
How University Ecosystems Translate into Entrepreneurial Confidence
The mediation analysis provides further insight into the relationships among the variables. Perceived institutional support mediated the relationship between university entrepreneurial ecosystems and digital entrepreneurial competence. Digital entrepreneurial competence also mediated the relationship between institutional support and entrepreneurial self-efficacy.
The researchers additionally found statistical support for a sequential mediation pathway in which university entrepreneurial ecosystems were associated with perceived institutional support, which was then associated with digital entrepreneurial competence and, ultimately, entrepreneurial self-efficacy.
This sequence helps explain why university facilities, programs, and networks should be designed as an integrated system. Available resources are more likely to be relevant when students know how to access them, receive appropriate guidance, and gain practical experience in developing their business capabilities.
The findings are consistent with the two theoretical perspectives used in the study. The Resource-Based View emphasizes the importance of institutional resources, while Social Cognitive Theory helps explain how learning environments, skill development, experience, and personal beliefs interact.
However, the results do not mean that confidence alone guarantees business success. Actual business performance can also depend on market conditions, capital availability, customer networks, competition, and other factors that were not fully examined in the model.
Implications for Universities and Aspiring Entrepreneurs
For universities, the findings highlight the importance of connecting entrepreneurship education with practical digital business experience. Institutions can expand training in digital marketing, online store management, customer needs analysis, technology use, and business model development.
Business incubation and mentoring programs can also be designed to help students move beyond theoretical learning. Students need opportunities to test products, develop marketing strategies, evaluate customer feedback, and improve business models based on practical experience.
Lecturers and entrepreneurship program managers can make information about available facilities, mentors, funding opportunities, and business networks more accessible. This can help students understand which forms of institutional support are available and how to use them effectively.
For students, the central message is that familiarity with social media and digital applications should be developed into broader business capabilities. Recognizing opportunities, understanding customers, managing transactions, and evaluating marketing strategies are all important components of digital entrepreneurial readiness.
The study also has limitations. Its cross-sectional design cannot establish causal relationships over time, while its reliance on self-reported questionnaire data may introduce response bias. In addition, the focus on Generation Z university students in Indonesia may limit the generalizability of the findings to other populations and educational settings.
Future research could use longitudinal designs, objective measures of entrepreneurial activity, and comparisons across universities or countries to better understand how institutional support and digital competence contribute to entrepreneurial development.
About the Authors
The journal article was written by four researchers affiliated with three higher education institutions:
- Ni Luh Sinta Yani — Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia; corresponding author.
- Nurfahima — Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia.
- Ngurah Bagus Widhia Kusuma Putra — Universitas Hasanuddin, Indonesia.
- I Gede Wira Aditya Tanaya — University of Sussex, United Kingdom.
The supplied manuscript does not specify the authors’ academic degrees or individual areas of expertise. These details have therefore not been added to avoid introducing unverified information.
Research Source
Article title: Unlocking Generation Z’s Digital Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy: A Sequential Mediation Model of Digital Entrepreneurial Support and Competence in University Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
Authors: Ni Luh Sinta Yani, Nurfahima, Ngurah Bagus Widhia Kusuma Putra, and I Gede Wira Aditya Tanaya.
Journal: International Journal of Management and Business Intelligence (IJMBI), according to the information supplied.
Publication year: 2026, based on the copyright information in the supplied manuscript.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59890/ijmbi.v4i5.77
Journal website: https://journalijmbi.my.id/index.php/ijmbi
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