Social Background, Self-esteem and Entrepreneurial Intention among Young Graduates of Higher Education in Côte d’Ivoire. Case of Université Félix Houphouet-Boigny, Cocody

Abstract

In a social context where unemployment is a societal problem with the emergence of a new phenomenon: graduate unemployment, entrepreneurship represents the palliative option for decision-makers, actors and other specialists in socio-professional integration. The present study, which is part of such a dynamic, aims to understand the problems related to female entrepreneurship. It therefore seeks to investigate the role of psychosociological determinants such as social background and self-esteem in the entrepreneurial intention of female graduates of Université Félix Houphouet-Boigny. A sample of three hundred and thirty-three (333) female students selected by the quota method participated in this study by means of a questionnaire.The results obtained (Student’s t-test) show on the one hand that the social environment of origin does not have a significant effect on the entrepreneurial intention of students at the Université Félix Houphouet-Boigny. On the other hand, self-esteem had a significant effect on students’ entrepreneurial intention. In other words, the results confirm that students with high self-esteem have a stronger entrepreneurial intention than those with low self-esteem. This study thus offers a way of thinking about the approach to female entrepreneurship in our current social context, which is faced with an employment crisis among young graduates.