Learning goal orientation, social capital, and entrepreneurial intentions: A multigroup analysis within entrepreneurship programs

Drawing upon the social cognitive theory, this study investigates the relationships between learning goal orientation, social capital, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial intentions. Survey data were collected among 289 Dutch students who enrolled in an entrepreneurship program. Students completed a questionnaire before and after the program. The results demonstrated that learning goal orientation and student-student relationships positively related to students’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy, which, in turn, fostered their entrepreneurial intentions. However, the impact of teacher-student relationships on entrepreneurial self-efficacy was not significant over and above the impact of student-student relationships. Multigroup analysis showed that students with prior entrepreneurial experience indicated higher learning goal orientation and entrepreneurial intentions, as compared with their counterparts without prior experience. The impact of learning goal orientation on entrepreneurial self-efficacy was significant for students with prior experience, while this relationship remains non-significant for those without prior experience. These findings contribute to continually improving teaching effectiveness of entrepreneurship programs.