The purpose of this study is to investigate the sustainable entrepreneurial attitudes (SEA) and intentions of young women. The study aims to first explore the impact of the external environment on the SEA and then the intention of female tourism and hotel management students at Jordanian universities; and second, to examine the moderating role of prior entrepreneurial training (PET) in the relationship between the external perceived environment and SEA.
A quantitative approach, using a questionnaire with a total sample of 302 participants of female tourism and hotel management students at Jordanian universities, was used to collect data. SmartPLS was used to test the research model and hypotheses.
The findings revealed that the entrepreneurial attitude of young female students in tourism and hospitality toward sustainable entrepreneurship significantly influences their sustainable entrepreneurial intention (SEI). The perceived external environment, including access to finance, government policies and university educational support, has a nonsignificant effect on young women’s SEA; however, their SEA is significantly influenced by society’s perception. Their PET partially moderates the relationships between the perceived external environment and young women’s SEA (PET).
This study creates new insights and contributes toward understanding the SEA and SEI of young women in an emerging economy context, Jordan. It proposes integration and extension, through adding external environment and PET, of the theory of planned behavior to explore young female students’ attitudes and intentions toward sustainable entrepreneurship in tourism and hospitality.
