INDIVIDUAL ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION: COMPARISON OF BUSINESS AND STEM STUDENTS

Abstract

The present study has been designed with the aim to determine whether there are differences in individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) between students, doing their major in business studies and the ones whose areas of study are science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The theoretical research methods comprise the review of secondary sources to build a sound theoretical framework for the research activities. The empirical research method is a survey in Latvia and Poland applying non-parametric inferential statistical methods as well as linear regression analysis to investigate which factors and components contribute to EO orientation development among different groups of students, and, thus, verify the research hypotheses. The yielded research results demonstrate that there are significant differences between business and STEM students when they analyze their IEO. It turned out that STEM students obtain significantly lower scores for risk-taking and innovation but higher for proactiveness. Additionally, it was detected that the chosen field of study affects students’ perception of educational support, thus, influencing their innovation, proactiveness, and risk propensity characteristics.