Gender Moderation in the Effect of Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Intention through Entrepreneurial Attitude

Abstract

This study examines the effect of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention among university students in Surabaya, Indonesia, by testing entrepreneurial attitude as a mediating mechanism and gender as a moderating variable. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed using primary data collected through an online questionnaire from 152 university students who had completed or were currently taking entrepreneurship- or business-related courses. Respondents were selected through purposive sampling, and the data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 3.0. The model included entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial attitude, entrepreneurial intention, and gender. The results show that entrepreneurship education had positive and significant effects on entrepreneurial intention (β = 0.233; t = 2.466; p = 0.014) and entrepreneurial attitude (β = 0.688; t = 10.158; p < 0.001). Entrepreneurial attitude also positively affected entrepreneurial intention (β = 0.654; t = 6.952; p < 0.001) and significantly mediated the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention (β = 0.450; t = 6.503; p < 0.001). In contrast, gender did not moderate the effect of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention (β = 0.029; t = 0.747; p = 0.455). The model explained 47.3% of the variance in entrepreneurial attitude and 70.2% of the variance in entrepreneurial intention. Theoretically, these findings reinforce the Theory of Planned Behavior by demonstrating that entrepreneurial attitude is a central psychological pathway through which educational experiences foster entrepreneurial intention. Practically, universities should prioritize experiential and attitude-building learning rather than designing entrepreneurship programs primarily around gender differences. Overall, entrepreneurship education strengthens students’ entrepreneurial intention mainly by cultivating favorable attitudes toward entrepreneurship, highlighting the importance of attitude-oriented educational interventions in higher education.