The Development of Entrepreneurial Drive During the University Business School Experience

This research investigates changes in entrepreneurial drive (ED) between each of the three-year levels of
students at an undergraduate UK university business school in order to test this measurement construct
within a European context. The research adopted a quantitative approach to determine whether the ED
measurement instrument could identify differences in the students’ ED dimensions and the overall ED
across the three different years of undergraduate study. The data was subjected to principle component
analysis to create factor scores for the ED components and the multivariate analysis of variance tests to
determine whether different year groups exhibited different levels of ED.
The research found that the total ED score increased at each successive year level. In addition, the
achievement motivation, proactive disposition, and self-efficacy factors (dimensions) all increased during
the university experience. As such, this research confirms the value of the ED measurement instrument in
assessing the development of entrepreneurial drive within a European higher education setting.