Students’ entrepreneurial intentions: The role of prior learning experiences and emotional, social and cognitive competencies

Despite literature acknowledges that Emotional, Social and Cognitive (ESC) competencies favor entrepreneurial success, research has scantly investigated if they influence entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, studies use work and extracurricular activities as proxies for competency possession without investigating their impact on competency development. To address this void, we analyze the direct and mediating effects of ESC competencies on self-employment intentions. Results from a sample of university students demonstrate that higher levels of ESC competencies predict entrepreneurial intent, and only international and cultural experiences indirectly favor self-employment intentions. This study offers insight to the debate on competency development in entrepreneurial education.