Effect of College Students’ Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy on Entrepreneurial Intention: Career Adaptability as a Mediating Variable

: The aim of this study is to explore the relationship among college students’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy, career adaptability, and entrepreneurial intention. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior （ TPB ） , this study adopted the entrepreneurial self-efficacy scale, career adaptability scale and entrepreneurial intention scale to investigate 1039 college students from a university in ShanDong province, China. The results indicated the following: (a) entrepreneurial self-efficacy of college student significantly and positively affected entrepreneurial intention; (b) entrepreneurial self-efficacy of college student significantly and positively affected career adaptability; (c) career adaptability significantly and positively affected entrepreneurial intention; and (d) career adaptability partially mediated the effect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intention. The results of this study can serve as a reference for universities wishing to implement career education and provide entrepreneurship guidance. Effect of college students’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intention: Career adaptability as a mediating variable.


Introduction
The twenty-first century is known as the "entrepreneurial age" and is the most active period of entrepreneurship since the industrial revolution (Kuratko, 2003). Entrepreneurship can promote national innovation and economic growth; accelerate economic restructuring; narrow the wealth gap between regions; solve problems related to employment, ethnicity, and poverty; and promote the sustainable development of enterprises (Bosma, Acs, Autio, Coduras, & Levie, 2009;Hindle & Rushworth, 2000;Logan, Alba, & Stults, 2003). Shane and Venkataraman (2000) indicated that the level of entrepreneurship in a country is crucial, because entrepreneurship can improve economic effectiveness, achieve market innovation, increase the number of employment opportunities, and maintain the employment level. Schumpeter (1936) proposed that innovation and entrepreneurial activities are the foundation and core of a society's economic development, having the role of transforming science and technology into productive forces. They have gradually become the essential driving force of the long-term development of the economy in countries worldwide. Therefore, numerous countries have paid great attention to entrepreneurship in recent years, and academic research related to entrepreneurship is also increasing (Hisrich, Langan-Fox, & Grant, 2007).
Entrepreneurial intention guides individuals to focus their attention, experience, and actions on a particular entrepreneurial goal (Bird, 1988). Some studies have proposed that only individuals with strong entrepreneurial intention are likely to engage in entrepreneurial activities; when entrepreneurial intention is lacking, initiation of entrepreneurial behavior is impossible (Krueger, Reilly, & Carsrud, 2000;Thompson, 2009). Studies have discovered that entrepreneurial intention is the optimal predictor of entrepreneurial behavior (Gartner, 1985;Krueger & Brazeal, 1994). Therefore, having entrepreneurial intention is the first step of entrepreneurial behavior required when starting a business. To promote entrepreneurship among college students, their entrepreneurial intention must first be increased; thus, conducting studies on entrepreneurial intention is crucial. This study defined the entrepreneurial intention of college students as the conscious psychological state of a college student who has the intention to start a business and who has already made an entrepreneurial schedule for starting that business (Thompson, 2009).
Among the numerous antecedents of entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurial self-efficacy is the essential antecedent and has favorable predictive power regarding entrepreneurial intention (Freling & Forbes, 2005;Wilson, Kickul & Marlino, 2007). Chen, Greene, and Crick (1998) stated that entrepreneurial self-efficacy is the degree of an individual's belief and the subjective judgment of an individual's belief in their ability to take on the role of an entrepreneur and successfully complete an entrepreneurial task. Fan and Wang (2005) demonstrated that those with greater selfconfidence have higher confidence in their starting a successful business and that an individual with strong entrepreneurial self-efficacy has relatively strong entrepreneurial intention. Boyd et al. (1994) indicated that entrepreneurial self-efficacy is an effective predictor of college students' entrepreneurial intention and likelihood of participating in entrepreneurial activities. This study defined college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy as college students' belief that they can complete the tasks or activities associated with entrepreneurship (Boyd et al., 1994). Tolentino, Sedoglavich, Garcia, and Restubog (2014) proposed that career adaptability is a self-regulating ability that increases the likelihood of starting a business. Hirschi (2009) demonstrated a positive relationship between selfefficacy and career adaptability. Research has verified that career adaptability has a mediating effect (Gao, Lin, Cui, & Wen, 2018;Li, Hou, & Feng, 2013). On the basis of the theory of career adaptability and the findings of previous studies, we inferred that career adaptability has a mediating effect on the relationship between college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention. This study defined college students' career adaptability as the degree of preparation and coping ability of college students for facing predictable career tasks, career roles, and career changes or unpredictable career problems (Savickas, 1997). Krueger et al. (2000) reported that few studies have been conducted on college students' entrepreneurial intention, and most of the studies have concentrated on personality traits; the scope of research to date is thus not comprehensive. The present study explored the effect of college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intention and further analyze whether college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy influences their entrepreneurial intention through career adaptability.

Literature Review
Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) Ajzen (1991) proposed the TPB, arguing that the formation of Behavioral Intention is mainly influenced by three independent determinants, namely Attitude toward Behavior, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavior Control. The TPB has been applied to entrepreneurial research, and its applicability has been verified and supported by empirical studies (Kolvereid & Isaksen, 2006).
First in this study, the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of college students was defined as a student's belief that they can complete tasks or activities related to entrepreneurship, whereas Perceived Behavior Control was defined as the degree to which students perceived themselves able to perform certain behaviors (Ajzen, 1991). Therefore, this study regarded college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a type of perceived behavior control. Second, career adaptability was defined as comprising attitude, belief, and ability related to career concern, career control, career curiosity, and career confidence (Savickas, 2005). Among them, attitude is the degree of concern for career (Savickas, 2002); Attitude is also the core construction of the concept of career adaptability (Super, 1979(Super, , 1981. Attitude toward Behavior was defined as an individual's assessment of their behavior and their degree of preference for performing specific behaviors (Ajzen, 1991). Therefore, this study considered career adaptability to be one type of Attitude toward Behavior. Third, this study regarded entrepreneurial intention as a form of Behavioral Intention. Therefore, in this study, the influence of Perceived Behavior Control and Attitude toward Behavior on Behavioral Intention were taken as the theoretical basis to exploring the relationship among college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy, career adaptability, and entrepreneurial intention.

Variable relationship
Entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention Krueger (1993) proposed that entrepreneurial self-efficacy is an essential antecedent of entrepreneurial willingness. Chen et al. (1998) showed that entrepreneurial self-efficacy can predict the entrepreneurial intention and behavior of potential entrepreneurs. De Noble, Jung, & Ehrlich (1999) argued that in a given environment, individuals with high entrepreneurial self-efficacy feel that the world is filled with opportunities, whereas those with low entrepreneurial self-efficacy consider the world from the perspective of cost and risk. Krueger and Brazeal (1994) proposed that in the face of difficulties, risks, and uncertainties, people with strong entrepreneurial self-efficacy are better at grasping opportunities for success, can more accurately predict the future, and have more energy to invest in entrepreneurial tasks. Zhao, Seibert, & Hills (2005) indicated that entrepreneurial self-efficacy positively affects entrepreneurial intention. On the basis of these studies, college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy was inferred to have a positive effect on entrepreneurial intention. Therefore, this study proposed the following hypothesis: H1: College students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy significantly and positively affects entrepreneurial intention.

International Journal of Educational Methodology  307
Entrepreneurial self-efficacy and career adaptability Blustein (1989) discovered that career self-efficacy is more effective than goal-directedness in predicting an individual's career exploration behavior. Luzzo (1993) reported that career self-efficacy can predict career decisionmaking attitude. Niles and Sowa (1992) demonstrated that career self-efficacy significantly affects career commitment. Career exploration, career decisions, and career commitments are essential components of career adaptability (Savikas, 2005). Yang, S. H., Tien, H. L., Wu, H. L., & Chu, H.(2015) showed that career self-efficacy can positively influence career adaptability. The higher the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of a college student, the higher their career curiosity, career exploration, career confidence, and career control. College students with high self-efficacy actively seek relevant information to acquire more entrepreneurial knowledge (Rauch & Frese, 2007), which leads to greater career adaptability. In summary, this study inferred that college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy could influence their career adaptability. Therefore, this study proposed the following hypothesis: H2: College students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy significantly and positively affects career adaptability.

Career adaptability and entrepreneurial intention
The career adaptability of entrepreneurs is critical at the beginning of entrepreneurship (Thatcher & Patel, 2012). De Guzman and Choi (2013) proposed that career adaptability and an individual's employability are significantly and positively correlated. Career adaptability can predict an individual's subjective career success (Zacher, 2014). Tolentino et al. (2014) verified that career adaptability can directly affect entrepreneurial intention. Liang & Yi (2017) proposed that active career focus is the key factor enabling college students to explore and internalize their entrepreneurial role to enhance their entrepreneurial intention. Career focus is one of the dimensions of career adaptability (Savickas, 2005). Therefore, career adaptability is a vital psychological resource that affects the formation and development of college students' entrepreneurial intention. In summary, this study inferred that career adaptability positively affected entrepreneurial intention. The following hypothesis was proposed: H3: College students' career adaptability significantly and positively affects entrepreneurial intention. Tolentino et al. (2014) reported that when individuals have sufficient self-efficacy to start a business, career adaptability is most likely to be implemented through the process of starting a business. People with favorable career adaptability are more confident in making business plans and setting business goals, thereby generating the potential willingness to become an entrepreneur. Career Construction Theory holds that career adaptability is closely related to professional behavior, and entrepreneurship can be regarded as a type of professional behavior (Savickas, 2005(Savickas, , 2013. Gao et al. (2018) showed that career adaptability is a partial mediator between future work self salience and proactive career behavior Li et al. (2013) verified that career adaptability partially mediated the influence of proactive personality on decision-making difficulty. In summary, this study inferred that college students' entrepreneurial selfefficacy might affect their entrepreneurial intention through career adaptability. Therefore, the following hypothesis was proposed:

Relationship among career adaptability, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention
H4: Career adaptability mediates the effect of college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy on their entrepreneurial intention.

Research Framework
This study employed college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy as the independent variable, entrepreneurial intention as the dependent variable, and career adaptability as the mediating variable. On the basis of the research hypotheses, the research structure displayed in Figure 1 was proposed.

Sample
This study was conducted from January to May 2019. College students from a university in Shandong Province in China were recruited as the research sample. The convenience sampling method was employed to select 1,039 college students as participants. A total of 1,036 questionnaires were returned, a return rate of 99.02%. Finally, 1,002 valid questionnaires were selected, yielding a valid response rate of 96.44%.
The main reason for selecting these participants was that Shandong Province is one of the Chinese provinces with rich economic and educational resources. Its gross domestic product has been among the three highest for many years, and the province has the third highest number of universities in China (145). The college students were originally from 28 provinces and autonomous regions across the country. Therefore, the students were from various areas. The university has a wide range of students from 28 provinces and autonomous regions. This university plays an exemplary and leading role in entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities across the country. So the sample is representative.

Research Instruments
Entrepreneurial intention scale: This study used the individual entrepreneurial intention scale developed by Thompson (2009). The scale was translated and revised into Chinese version, which was confirmed by relevant experts and professors in the field of education as the final Chinese version. The scale had one dimension and six items, which were rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 5 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree). The higher the score, the stronger the entrepreneurial intention. After factor analysis was performed, the items with two dimensions and factor loading below .5 were deleted. The final entrepreneurial intention scale contained four items. The factor loadings were between .632 and .761. The cumulative variance explained was 53.031%, and the Cronbach's α was .700, indicating favorable reliability and validity.
Entrepreneurial self-efficacy scale: This study used the scale proposed by Wilson et al. (2007), which had one dimension and six items. The scale was translated and revised into Chinese version, which was confirmed by relevant experts and professors in the field of education as the final Chinese version. The items required the respondents to answer the questions based on their actual situation and compare their situation with that of their peers. The items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 5 (substantially superior to peers) to 1 (substantially inferior to peers). The higher the score, the stronger the self-efficacy. The scale factor loadings were between .601 and .839, the cumulative variance explained was 60.215%. The Cronbach's α was .864, indicating favorable reliability and validity.
Career adaptability scale: This study used the career adaptability scale modified from Savicks and Porfeli (2012). The scale was translated and revised into Chinese version, which was confirmed by relevant experts and professors in the field of education as the final Chinese version. The items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 5 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree). The higher the score, the stronger the career adaptability was. The scale comprised 24 items covering four dimensions: career focus, career control, career curiosity, and career self-confidence. The factor loadings were between .629 and .784, and the cumulative variance explained was 68.693%. The overall Cronbach's α of the scale was .960, showing favorable reliability and validity.

Analysis of college students' demographic variables
Regarding gender, 424 of the participants were male (42.3%) and 578 were female (57.7%). Regarding the entrepreneurial experience of the students' family members, 366 participants had a family member with entrepreneurial experience (36.5%); the remainder did not. Thus, the majority of students did not have a family member with entrepreneurial experience. Regarding friends and classmates, 704 of the participants had a friend or classmate with entrepreneurial experience (70.3%), whereas the remainder did not. Thus, the majority of the college students had a friend or classmate with entrepreneurial experience.

Variance analysis
As detailed in Table 1, a significant gender-based difference was discovered in entrepreneurial intention (t = 5.982, p < .001). The male college students' entrepreneurial intention was higher than that of the female students. The effect of family members with entrepreneurial experience on entrepreneurial intention was found to be significant (t = 3.873, p < .001). Specifically, the entrepreneurial intention of the college students who had a family member with entrepreneurial experience was significantly higher than that of the college students who had no family members with entrepreneurial experience. The effect of friends' and classmates' entrepreneurial experiences on entrepreneurial intention was also significant (t = 8.615, p < .001). The entrepreneurial intention of college students who had a friend or classmate with entrepreneurial experience was significantly higher than that of college students who had no friends or classmates with entrepreneurial experience.

Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis
The average score for the entrepreneurial self-efficacy scale was 3.327, which was higher than the median value of the scale (3 points), indicating that the participants' entrepreneurial self-efficacy was at medium-to-high levels. The average score for the career adaptability scale was 3.789, again higher than the median value of the scale (3 points) and indicating that the participants' career adaptability was at medium-to-high levels. The average score for the entrepreneurial intention scale was 3.407, once more higher than the median value (3 points). The participants' entrepreneurial intention was thus at medium-to-high levels.
As revealed in Table 2, a significantly positive correlation was found between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and career adaptability (r = .493, p < .001). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention were significantly positively correlated (r = .400, p < .001).Career adaptability and entrepreneurial intention were significantly positively correlated (r = .404, p < .05). The correlation coefficients were between .400 and .493, which indicate medium-to-low levels; thus, no collinearity existed.

Mediating effect of career adaptability on college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention
According to the Table 3, Use dummy variable for gender, family member with entrepreneurial experience, and friend or classmate with entrepreneurial experience in stepwise hierarchical regression analysis, the data were shown as follows.
In Model 1, The standardized regression coefficient of gender(Male) on entrepreneurial intention was β = .083 (p < .01), and the standardized regression coefficient of friend or classmate with entrepreneurial experience(Yes) on entrepreneurial intention was β = .193 (p < .001). F = 64.546 (p < .001). The standardized regression coefficient of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intention was β = .346 (p < .001), and the variance explained was 20.6%, showing that the college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy significantly positively influenced their entrepreneurial intention. The research hypothesis 1 was thus supported.
In Model 2, The standardized regression coefficient of gender(Male) on entrepreneurial intention was β = .080 (p < .01), and the standardized regression coefficient of friend or classmate with entrepreneurial experience(Yes) on entrepreneurial intention was β = .098 (p < .001). F = 87.686 (p < .001), the standardized regression coefficient of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on college students' career adaptability was β = .456 (p < .001), and the variance explained was 26.0%. These findings revealed that the college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy significantly positively influenced their career adaptability. Therefore, research hypothesis 2 was supported.
In Model 3, The standardized regression coefficient of gender(Male) on entrepreneurial intention was β = .064 (p < .01), and the standardized regression coefficient of friend or classmate with entrepreneurial experience(Yes) on entrepreneurial intention was β = .169 (p < .001). F = 66.075 (p < .001) and the standardized regression coefficient of career adaptability on entrepreneurial intention was β = .242 (p < .001), showing that career adaptability significantly positively affected entrepreneurial intention. Therefore, research hypothesis 3 was supported. In Model 3, after adding the career adaptability variable, the standardized regression coefficient of college students' entrepreneurial selfefficacy on entrepreneurial intention was decreased from .346 (p < .001; Model 1) to .236 (p < .001). The variance explained was 24.9%, revealing that career adaptability partially mediated the effect of college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy on their entrepreneurial intention. Therefore, research hypothesis 4 was supported.

Variance analysis of the effect of background variables on entrepreneurial intention
According to the results of this study, a significant difference was discovered base on gender regarding entrepreneurial intention. The male college students' entrepreneurial intention was stronger than that of the female students, which is consistent with the results of numerous empirical studies (Gupta, Turban, & Bhawe, 2008;Wilson, Marlino, & Kickul, 2004;Zhao et al., 2005). The reason may be that a negative stereotype leads to a decrease in women's entrepreneurial intention (Turban & Bhawe, 2008). In society, men are generally perceived to be better suited to business and to have more reformist or adventurous occupations; men thus feel greater social expectation and pressure to start a business (Leroy, Maes, Meuleman, Sels, & Debrulle, 2009), whereas women are encouraged to focus on family matters and parenting (Lee, Wong, Foo, & Leung, 2011) rather than starting a business, thereby reducing women's entrepreneurial intention. The college students in this study may have been affected by these gender stereotypes, leading to significantly weaker entrepreneurial intention among the female college students.
According to the results of this study, a significant difference in entrepreneurial intention was also observed between those who did and did not have family members with entrepreneurial experience. Those students who had a family member with entrepreneurial experience had significantly greater entrepreneurial intention. This is consistent with the results of Carr and Sequeira (2007). Studies have verified that family entrepreneurial experience (e.g., having a family member who acts as an entrepreneurial role model) induces strong entrepreneurial intention (Matthews & Moser, 1996;Zhao et al., 2005). Family members' entrepreneurial experience and entrepreneurial background exert various effects on college students and form alternative experiences, thereby enhancing college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy and leading to the formation of entrepreneurial intention. These effects make college students more likely to make future career choices toward entrepreneurship.
According to the results of this study, the effect on entrepreneurial intention of a friend or classmate with entrepreneurial experience was also significant. Entrepreneurial intention was significantly stronger among the college students who had a friend or classmate with entrepreneurial experience. This is consistent with the results of Krueger et al. (2000). Friends and classmates are significant others for college students. Their entrepreneurial behavior affects college students' cognition of entrepreneurship including social identity, role models, and social norms. These factors affect college students' entrepreneurial desire and the perceived feasibility of entrepreneurship (Grundsten, 2004), thereby influencing their entrepreneurial intention.

Relationship among College students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy, career adaptability, and entrepreneurial intention
College students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy significantly and positively affected their entrepreneurial intention. It was consistent with the findings of Krueger et al. (2000), Freling & Forbes (2005), and Wilson et al. (2007). Many scholars have reached a consensus on the significant positive correlation between college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention (Clegg,1990). The research collected by the author also finds that the effect of college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intention is positive and significant. College students with high entrepreneurial self-efficacy are confident when facing entrepreneurship, pay more attention to entrepreneurial information, take the initiative to acquire entrepreneurial knowledge, actively explore the path of entrepreneurship, participate in entrepreneurial practice, and enhance their competence, thereby enhancing their entrepreneurial intention. The college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy significantly and positively affected their career adaptability. It was consistent with the results of Yang et al.(2015). College students with high entrepreneurial self-efficacy are confident, believe that they have sufficient ability to deal with entrepreneurial activities and uncertainty, can adopt the correct attitude toward career attention and career exploration, have greater career control, and are willing to take responsibility for their career development, thereby producing high career adaptability.
Career adaptability significantly and positively affected entrepreneurial intention. It was consistent with the findings of Tolentino et al. (2014) and Liang et al. (2017). Due to the lack of literature in this field in the past, no inconsistent results have been found in the relevant empirical studies so far. College students with high career adaptability can manage and adjust their entrepreneurial willingness and skills and solve complex entrepreneurial tasks. They are better at identifying business opportunities, allocating resources, taking advantage of uncertainty, constantly adapting to a new environment, acquiring new skills, and having strong enthusiasm and initiative when pursuing entrepreneurial goals, resulting in higher entrepreneurial intention.
Career adaptability partially mediated the effect of college students' entrepreneurial self-effectiveness on their entrepreneurial intention. This finding was similar to those of Gao et al. (2018) and Li et al. (2013), who reported that career adaptability plays an essential mediating role. This study further identified that when college students had high entrepreneurial self-efficacy, they thought that they could successfully play the role of an entrepreneur and complete entrepreneurial tasks, which would induce a positive psychological state that would enable them to actively adapt to the changes caused by the entrepreneurial process and various uncertainties, thereby resulting in strong career adaptability. Career adaptability improves college students' perceived ability and psychological readiness to start a business, so that they are confident and form strong entrepreneurial intention.

Suggestions
This study discovered that college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy significantly and positively affected their entrepreneurial intention, whereas their entrepreneurial self-efficacy significantly and positively affected their career adaptability. This study makes the following suggestions for universities. First, an example of entrepreneurship should be established. By learning from entrepreneurial role models, college students can enhance their alternative experience and belief that they can successfully start a business, thereby improving their entrepreneurial intention. Second, entrepreneurship courses should be continually improved. Universities can increase the number of courses they offer that are related to skills and practical experience training. For example, by learning courses such as making business plan, industrial and commercial tax registration, business operation and management, etc., to increase college students' entrepreneurial knowledge of policies and regulations, financial management, enterprise management and so on, thereby enhance their entrepreneurial intention. Third, entrepreneurial practice activities should be frequently organized, such as entrepreneurial competitions and simulations, to guide students to obtain real and successful entrepreneurial experience. These activities enable students to develop their abilities to solve problems, manage projects, make decisions, lead others, and express themselves, so that college students can perceive the joy of entrepreneurship and the significance of self-realization, thereby enhancing their entrepreneurial intention.
This study demonstrated that career adaptability mediates the influence of college students' entrepreneurial selfefficacy on their entrepreneurial intention. Therefore, more suggestions are made for universities. First, career planning education should be strengthened and career education should be incorporated into the curriculum. Career education can enhance college students' career curiosity and attention, guide them to actively explore their potential careers, and gradually enhance their entrepreneurial intention. Second, universities should provide college students with career guidance and consulting services. They should guide and help college students to adapt to career development and change, provide career counseling and coaching, provide career-related tests and test result analysis, assist college students to develop their career coping skills, and help students increase their career confidence and improve their career control beliefs, thereby enhancing their entrepreneurial intention.