Innovative Mindset and Sustainability Entrepreneurial Intention: The Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Mindset Among University Students

Abstract

Sustainability-oriented entrepreneurship is becoming more widely acknowledged as a mean of addressing social and environmental issues while promoting economic development, though little research has looked at the cognitive processes by which innovation-related thinking translates into sustainability entrepreneurial intention. The relationships between innovative mindset, entrepreneurial mindset, and sustainability entrepreneurial intention among university students are examined in this study. A mediation model is proposed in which innovative mindset positively influences entrepreneurial mindset (H1), entrepreneurial mindset positively influences sustainability entrepreneurial intention (H2), and entrepreneurial mindset mediates the relationship between innovative mindset and sustainability entrepreneurial intention (H3). In total, 163 university students in the United Arab Emirates provided the data, which was then analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). All of the proposed hypotheses are supported by the results. These findings offer preliminary and partial support for a theoretically defined cognitive pathway connecting sustainability entrepreneurial intention, innovative mindset, and entrepreneurial mindset. In particular, the findings indicate a positive correlation between innovation-oriented cognitive abilities and entrepreneurial cognition, which is linked to sustainability-oriented intentions. The low explained variance in sustainability entrepreneurial intention, however, suggests that the model only partially explains the variables influencing SEI. As a result, this study advances a more complex, mechanism-based understanding of one potential cognitive pathway in sustainability entrepreneurship and emphasizes the need for more thorough models that include contextual, motivational, and sustainability-related predictors. Additionally, it provides cautious practical implications for entrepreneurship education, especially when it comes to combining learning that is focused on sustainability with the development of an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset.

Keywords sustainability entrepreneurial intention, innovative mindset, entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurship education, sustainability entrepreneurship