Entrepreneurship Education and Perceived Economic Opportunities as Determinants of Students’ Entrepreneurial Decisions: The Mediating Role of Risk-Taking Behavior
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33394/jk.v12i2.20617Keywords:
Entrepreneurship Education, Perceived Economic Opportunities, Risk-Taking Behavior, Student's Entrepreneurial DecisionAbstract
This study aims to examine the influence of entrepreneurship education and perceived economic opportunities on students’ entrepreneurial decisions through risk-taking behavior as a mediating variable. This research integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Behavioral Finance Theory (BFT) to explain how knowledge, opportunity perception, and psychological attitudes toward risk shape entrepreneurial decision-making among students. A quantitative approach was employed using a structured questionnaire distributed to university students in Semarang City who had participated in entrepreneurship courses. A total of 104 valid responses were analyzed using SEM-PLS, with respondents selected through a purposive sampling technique based on specific research criteria. The results indicate that entrepreneurship education and perceived economic opportunities have positive and significant effects on students’ risk-taking behavior. Furthermore, risk-taking behavior significantly influences students’ entrepreneurial decisions. The analysis also confirms that risk-taking behavior partially mediates the relationship between entrepreneurship education, perceived economic opportunities, and students’ entrepreneurial decisions. These findings highlight that entrepreneurial decisions among students are influenced not only by entrepreneurial knowledge and opportunity recognition but also by psychological readiness to take risks in uncertain economic conditions.
References
Adha, M. A., Swaramarinda, D. R., Ariyanti, N. S., Musyaffi, A. M., Ansar, R., & Farliana, N. (2025). Elevating entrepreneurial satisfaction among young entrepreneurs through entrepreneurial education, economic literacy, adversity quotient, and creativity. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 11, 101606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101606
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
Alves, J., & Yang, W. (2022). Cognitive Mechanisms in Entrepreneurship Competence: Its Implication for Open Innovation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 8(2), 65. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc8020065
Gao, Y., Wang, X., Lu, J., Chen, B., & Morrin, K. (2024). Entrepreneurial fear of failure among college students: A scoping review of literature from 2010 to 2023. Heliyon, 10(10), e31072. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31072
GEM. (2023). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2023/2024 Global Report: 25 Years and Growing. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. https://inteligenciaestrategica.com.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/gem-global-report-2023-2024-1707774434.pdf
GEM. (2026). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2025/2026 Global Report: From Uncertainty To Opportunity. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. https://www.enterpriseresearch.ac.uk/entrepreneurship-fear-of-failure-on-the-rise-according-to-global-entrepreneurship-monitor-report
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., Sarstedt, M., Danks, N. P., & Ray, S. (2021). Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) Using R (3rd ed.). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80519-7
Han, S. D., Barnes, L. L., Leurgans, S., Yu, L., Lamar, M., Glover, C. M., Bennett, D. A., & Boyle, P. A. (2024). Financial Risk Aversion Among Older Black and White Adults. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 79(2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbad169
Hvide, H. K., & Panos, G. A. (2014). Risk tolerance and entrepreneurship. Journal of Financial Economics, 111(1), 200–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2013.06.001
Jayadi, F. (2025). Rasio Kewirausahaan di Indonesia Baru di Kisaran 3,35-3,47 Persen. EmitenNews.Com. https://www.emitennews.com/news/rasio-kewirausahaan-di-indonesia-baru-di-kisaran-335-347-persen
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 263–292. https://doi.org/10.2307/1914185
Liang, Y., Chen, R., Hong, H., Li, S., & Han, L. (2025). Shaping digital entrepreneurial intention in higher education: the role of entrepreneurship education, creativity, and digital literacy among Chinese university students. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 10(5), 100788. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2025.100788
Martínez-Cañas, R., Ruiz-Palomino, P., Jiménez-Moreno, J. J., & Linuesa-Langreo, J. (2023). Push versus Pull motivations in entrepreneurial intention: The mediating effect of perceived risk and opportunity recognition. European Research on Management and Business Economics, 29(2), 100214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iedeen.2023.100214
Mawardi, M. K., & Sujarwoto. (2021). Risk-Taking Behavior and Entrepreneurship Intention in Indonesia. Proceedings of the 3rd Annual International Conference on Public and Business Administration (AICoBPA 2020), 34–39. https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.210928.008
Merdeka. (2025). Rasio Kewirausahaan Indonesia Masih Kalah Dibanding Malaysia dan Singapura, Ini Bisa Jadi Solusinya. Merdeka.Com. https://www.merdeka.com/uang/rasio-kewirausahaan-indonesia-masih-kalah-dibanding-malaysia-dan-singapura-ini-bisa-jadi-solusinya-494370-mvk.htm
Mukhdoomi, A. M., & Shah, F. A. (2023). Risk Tolerance in Investment Decisions: Are Personality Traits the Real Triggers? NMIMS Management Review, 31(4), 256–264. https://doi.org/10.1177/09711023241230433
Ndofirepi, T. M. (2020). Relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial goal intentions: psychological traits as mediators. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 9(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-020-0115-x
Nguyen, Q. Do, & Nguyen, H. T. (2023). Entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention: The mediating role of entrepreneurial capacity. The International Journal of Management Education, 21(1), 100730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2022.100730
Ridwan, A. (2025). Jumlah Usaha Mikro dan Kecil di Kota Semarang Tumbuh Pesat Selama 2016-2023. Databoks. https://databoks.katadata.co.id/ekonomi-makro/statistik/68819f4330151/jumlah-usaha-mikro-dan-kecil-di-kota-semarang-tumbuh-pesat-selama-2016-2023
Suanpong, K., Yeing-aramkul, Y., Yoochayantee, K., & Tripopsakul, S. (2025). Cognitive and motivational drivers of entrepreneurial intention in an emerging economy: Implications for open innovation dynamics. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 11(2), 100568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2025.100568
Wardana, L. W., Narmaditya, B. S., Wibowo, A., Mahendra, A. M., Wibowo, N. A., Harwida, G., & Rohman, A. N. (2020). The impact of entrepreneurship education and students’ entrepreneurial mindset: the mediating role of attitude and self-efficacy. Heliyon, 6(9), e04922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04922
Zuluaga, J. C. S., Juárez-Varón, D., Mengual-Recuerda, A., & Corvello, V. (2025). Deeper knowledge of entrepreneurs in decision-making. Innovating through neuroentrepreneurship. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 10(4), 100739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2025.100739
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Citation Check
License
Copyright (c) 2026 The Author(s)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
License and Publishing Agreement
In submitting the manuscript to the journal, the authors certify that:
- They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
- The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
- That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
- That its publication has been approved by all the author(s) and by the responsible authorities tacitly or explicitly of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
- They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
- They agree to the following license and publishing agreement.
Copyright
Authors who publish with JK agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
Licensing for Data Publication
-
Open Data Commons Attribution License, http://www.opendatacommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/ (default)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.






