📈 economics

Digital entrepreneurship education as a necessary condition for digital entrepreneurial intention among university students in an emerging digital economy

This study of 793 Vietnamese university students demonstrates that digital entrepreneurship education is a necessary condition for fostering digital entrepreneurial intention, primarily by enhancing perceived behavioral control, motivation, and passion, while also revealing discipline-specific pathways and the moderating role of entrepreneurial resilience.

Original authors: Dang Thien Tam, Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, Nguyen Thuy Anh, Nguyen Thi Hoai Oanh, Tran Truong Dang, Dang Thanh Dung, Nguyen Huu Vi Thu, Ha Thi Duy Linh

Published 2026-09-14

📖 5 min read🧠 Deep dive

CC BY 4.0

Original authors: Dang Thien Tam, Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, Nguyen Thuy Anh, Nguyen Thi Hoai Oanh, Tran Truong Dang, Dang Thanh Dung, Nguyen Huu Vi Thu, Ha Thi Duy Linh

Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ✨ This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer

In the modern world, the line between starting a business and using technology has all but vanished. For young people today, launching a new venture often means building a digital platform, selling online, or using data to solve problems. This shift has turned digital entrepreneurship into a realistic career path, especially in countries where the economy is rapidly moving online. But a crucial question remains: how do universities prepare students for this specific kind of work? It is not enough to simply teach business theory; students need to understand how to navigate the digital space. Researchers have long suspected that education plays a role, but the exact mechanism is complex. Does a class simply make a student want to start a company, or does it work by changing how the student thinks about their own abilities, their drive, and their emotional connection to the work? Furthermore, does this process look the same for a student studying engineering as it does for one studying economics?

A team of researchers at Duy Tan University in Da Nang, Vietnam, set out to untangle these questions by studying 793 university students. They focused on a concept called digital entrepreneurship education, which goes beyond traditional business classes by combining entrepreneurial skills with digital literacy and practical platform knowledge. The researchers wanted to see how this education influenced digital entrepreneurial intention, which is simply a person's conscious readiness to start a digital business in the future. To understand the process, they looked at three internal states that education might trigger: a student's belief in their own ability to succeed, their level of motivation to achieve a goal, and their deep emotional passion for the activity. They also examined whether working well in teams or having the ability to bounce back from setbacks changed how these factors worked together.

The study revealed that digital entrepreneurship education is indeed a powerful driver, but it works mostly by changing the student's mind rather than just pushing them directly toward a decision. The education provided a foundation that boosted the students' confidence in their skills, their motivation, and their passion. Among these internal changes, the belief that one has the necessary skills and resources to succeed emerged as the most important bridge between learning and the intention to start a business. While passion and motivation were also significant, the feeling of capability was the primary route through which education translated into a desire to launch a venture. The researchers found that the education itself was a non-negotiable starting point; without a baseline level of this education, the intention to start a digital business simply did not form, regardless of how motivated or passionate a student might be.

However, the path from education to intention was not identical for every student. The researchers discovered a distinct difference between students in business-related fields and those in technical fields. For students studying economics and management, the emotional route was clearer; their education seemed to fuel a stronger sense of passion and identity as entrepreneurs, which then drove their intention. In contrast, for students in engineering and technology, the path was more about feasibility; their education strengthened their belief that they could technically execute a business idea, and this sense of capability was what led to their intention. This suggests that a single, uniform approach to teaching entrepreneurship might not be the most effective strategy. Instead, tailoring the education to the specific mindset of the student group could yield better results.

The study also tested two other factors that might help or hinder this process: team cooperation and personal resilience. The researchers found that while working well with others is a common part of the learning environment, it did not act as a special switch that changed the relationship between education and intention. Teamwork was simply part of the background. On the other hand, personal resilience played a significant role, but only for one specific group. For students who felt a strong emotional passion for entrepreneurship, having the resilience to handle setbacks helped turn that passion into a firm intention to start a business. This protective effect was particularly strong for the business students, suggesting that for those driven by emotion, the ability to endure uncertainty is a key factor in making the leap from idea to action.

Ultimately, the research paints a picture of digital entrepreneurship education as a foundational investment. It is not merely a tool that adds a small boost to a student's interest; it is a necessary condition that must be present for the intention to start a digital business to emerge at all. Once this educational foundation is in place, it works through different psychological channels depending on the student's background. For some, it builds the confidence to act; for others, it ignites the passion to create. The findings suggest that universities in emerging digital economies should treat this education as a core requirement rather than an elective option. By recognizing that different students respond to different aspects of the learning experience, educators can better support the next generation of digital founders, ensuring they have both the skills and the mindset to succeed in a rapidly changing world.

Technical Summary: Digital Entrepreneurship Education as a Necessary Condition for Digital Entrepreneurial Intention

Problem Statement
While digital entrepreneurship is increasingly viewed as a viable career path in rapidly digitalizing emerging economies, the empirical link between Digital Entrepreneurship Education (DEE) and Digital Entrepreneurial Intention (DEI) remains modest and context-dependent. Existing literature exhibits three primary gaps:

Theoretical: Prior studies often examine cognitive, motivational, or affective mediators in isolation, leaving the parallel operation of these mechanisms unclear.
Boundary Conditions: The education-intention link is rarely modeled with boundary conditions, despite the likelihood that it varies across learning environments and personal resources (e.g., Team Cooperation and Entrepreneurial Resilience).
Methodological: The field relies almost exclusively on sufficiency-based estimators (e.g., regression, SEM) which identify factors that raise intention on average. These methods fail to detect whether a minimum level of an antecedent is a necessary condition for intention to form, a distinction with significant practical implications.

Methodology
The study employs a multi-analytic design using cross-sectional survey data from 793 university students at Duy Tan University in Da Nang, Vietnam. The sample includes students from Economics and Management (51.1%) and Engineering and Technology (48.9%).

Theoretical Framework: The model integrates the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework with six additional theories: Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), Entrepreneurial Event Model (EEM), Human Capital Theory (HCT), Entrepreneurial Passion Theory (EPT), and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory.
- Stimulus: DEE.
- Organism: Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC), Entrepreneurial Motivation (EM), and Entrepreneurial Passion (EP).
- Response: DEI.
- Boundary Conditions: Team Cooperation (TC) and Entrepreneurial Resilience (ER).
Analytical Techniques:
1. PLS-SEM: Used to estimate direct, indirect, and moderating relationships, assessing explanatory power ( $R^2$ ) and predictive relevance ( $Q^2$ ).
2. NCA (Necessary Condition Analysis): Used to determine if specific antecedents act as bottlenecks (necessary conditions) for achieving specific levels of DEI.
3. MICOM & PLS-MGA: Measurement Invariance Computation and Permutation-based Multigroup Analysis were used to compare the structural paths between the two disciplinary subgroups.
4. Bias Assessment: Common Method Variance (CMV) was addressed via procedural controls and the full collinearity approach (VIF).

Key Results

Structural Relationships: The model explained 79.4% of the variance in DEI. DEE was positively associated with DEI directly ( $\beta = 0.298$ $β = 0.298$ ) and more strongly through three mediators. The indirect effect accounted for 64.1% of the total association.
- PBC (Perceived Behavioral Control) carried the largest share of the association, followed by EM and EP.
- Mediation: All three states (PBC, EM, EP) significantly mediated the relationship between DEE and DEI.
Necessary Conditions (NCA):
- DEE was identified as the most binding necessary condition ( $d = 0.222$ ), required even at the lowest levels of intention.
- EM became a necessary condition only at high levels of intention (above 60% of the maximum).
- PBC and EP became necessary from the 30% level of intention.
Moderation:
- Entrepreneurial Resilience (ER): Significantly strengthened the indirect path from DEE through EP to DEI (moderated mediation). This effect was robust in the total sample and the Economics/Management subgroup.
- Team Cooperation (TC): Did not moderate the relationship between DEE and DEI in any group.
Multigroup Differences:
- The "affective route" (DEE $\to$ EP $\to$ DEI) was stronger among Economics and Management students.
- The "feasibility route" (DEE $\to$ PBC $\to$ DEI) was stronger among Engineering and Technology students.
- However, only two of eleven path differences were statistically significant, and neither survived Bonferroni correction, suggesting these disciplinary differences are exploratory.

Key Contributions

Theoretical Integration: The study successfully decomposes the "organism" in the S-O-R framework into parallel cognitive, motivational, and affective mechanisms, demonstrating that DEE operates through a complex, multi-pathway structure rather than a single direct effect.
Methodological Advancement: By combining sufficiency (PLS-SEM) and necessity (NCA) logics, the study distinguishes between factors that increase intention on average and those that are prerequisites for intention to exist. It identifies DEE as a foundational necessity, whereas motivation is only a necessity for high-level intention.
Boundary Condition Nuance: The findings highlight that while resilience acts as a critical resource for sustaining the passion-intention link, team cooperation (a pervasive norm in the context) does not function as a boundary condition for intention formation.
Disciplinary Specificity: The research suggests that the mechanisms driving digital entrepreneurial intention differ by academic background, with technical students relying more on feasibility appraisals and business students on affective attachment.

Significance and Claims
The authors claim that the study provides evidence that DEE is not merely an elective enhancer of intention but a foundational necessary condition for the emergence of digital entrepreneurial intention in an emerging digital economy.

Practical Implication: Educational interventions should treat DEE as essential infrastructure rather than optional. Because PBC is the dominant conduit, curricula should prioritize hands-on digital skills and exposure to real business models to build feasibility.
Pedagogical Tailoring: A uniform curriculum may be suboptimal. Programs should tailor approaches: fostering passion and identity for business students, and converting technical competence into venture readiness for engineering students.
Limitations: The authors explicitly state that due to the cross-sectional, single-source, and single-institution design, the findings represent theory-consistent associations rather than causal effects. They caution that the disciplinary differences are tentative and require longitudinal or experimental validation. The study does not claim to prove causality but rather to map the structural and necessary relationships within a specific context.

Technical Summary: Digital Entrepreneurship Education as a Necessary Condition for Digital Entrepreneurial Intention

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