Abstract:

Entrepreneurs are vital economic actors that produce economic gains by combining the factors of production, hence creating added value and employment opportunities. Therefore, entrepreneurship is a fundamental tool for economic growth and development. The critical nature of the concepts of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship to the economy and rising interest in this subject has resulted in a proliferation of studies on the factors affecting entrepreneurship. It is assumed that entrepreneurship is affected by demographic characteristics and family features as well as individuals’ personality traits. The purpose of this study is to determine the association between the entrepreneurial intentions of undergraduate students of the University of Istanbul Faculty of Economics and traits and demographic characteristics of students’ families. Within the scope of the study, 883 students were interviewed regarding the characteristics of their families and entrepreneurship intentions. The data were analyzed using the multiway frequency analysis method and indicated that gender, parents’ tendencies toward entrepreneurship, family income level, and the number of siblings prior to or following the student’s birth to be effective indicators of entrepreneurship tendencies. Accordingly, the findings imply that male students prefer starting their own business more than female students, and entrepreneurial tendencies are higher in students whose parents are entrepreneurs. In addition, students from high-income families indicated stronger entrepreneurship intentions and students who are the first or second children in a family signaled more entrepreneurial intentions.

Keywords: