Applying the social cognitive model of career self-management to the entrepreneurial career decision: The role of exploratory and coping adaptive behaviours

Abstract

In this study, the social cognitive model of career self-management (Lent & Brown, 2013) was applied to study the degree of decidedness of university students for an entrepreneurial career, including adaptive behaviours of individuals in their career management. The participants were 376 final-year students of business-oriented degree courses at the University of Granada (Spain). Based on longitudinal survey data, the model was tested with structural equation models. Empirical analysis corroborated the hypothesised relationships between the core cognitiveperson variables of social cognitive career theory (self-efficacy, outcome expectations and intention) and the mediating role of adaptive exploratory and coping behaviours in the relation between goals and the level of decidedness for an entrepreneurial career. These findings fill a perceived research gap by showing empirical evidence of the applicability of the career selfmanagement model to the entrepreneurial field. Implications both for future research and for policies and practices of career counselling and entrepreneurship education are discussed.