Abstract
Entrepreneurship is suggested as a
key-mechanism for endogenous growth and social cohesion in modern,
knowledge-driven societies and economies. Whether the youth will develop
entrepreneurial competencies and initiatives has been considered crucial for
economic growth and development and a key-subject of education and career
counseling. Despite an increasing body of theoretical and empirical literature
which mainly emphasize the formation of entrepreneurial intention and the
strengthening of entrepreneurial self-efficacy -usually as a result of some
intervention-, the findings show deficiencies or relative ambiguity, in terms
of explaining the complex factors (e.g. entrepreneurial mindset, dysfunctional
beliefs) associated with entrepreneurial intention and behavior. The present
conceptual paper presents a synthetic literature review aiming at a deeper
understanding of entrepreneurial intention and behavior. Based on the emergence of new, more
explanatory, models to predict entrepreneurial behavior we emphasize how
relevant research could approach this topic through the lens of the Socio-Cognitive
Career Theory - driven by self-efficacy, outcome expectations and goal-directed
activity - given that to date few studies have used this theoretical framework.
We also suggest that the traditional entrepreneurial self-efficacy concept is
investigated along with a new framework (ASKO) to measure beliefs regarding
success of new ventures. ASKO typology traces a variety of different
entrepreneurial mindsets within the person-environment dichotomy. Moreover, the
potential contribution of dysfunctional career beliefs and locus of control in
the formation of entrepreneurial behavior is examined. Career decision process
and entrepreneurial career choices are highly complex and entail elements of
various theoretical perspectives. The present literature review sheds light to
our understanding of entrepreneurial career choices and suggests holistic
in-depth research that will provide rich explanatory information on a wide
range of behaviors. Finally, the present review provides opportunities to get
insights regarding the nature and potential influence of support interventions
in the context of entrepreneurship education and career counseling.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, career beliefs, entrepreneurial
self-efficacy, ASKO typology, career counseling, entrepreneurship education.