Abstract
Self-employment is the phenomenon that can single-handedly transform the economic and industrial situation of any country, especially Pakistan. The study of entrepreneurial intentions of Pakistani university students has always been considered to be complex and layered. A revised and extended questionnaire based on the Entrepreneurship Intention Questionnaire was used to collect data from students belonging to all regions of Pakistan pursuing their BS in 31 different departments, schools, centers and institutes at QAU Islamabad, Pakistan. The main results of this empirical study suggested that both internal and external factors play significant roles in shaping entrepreneurial intentions with internal factors assuming larger importance. Respondents aim to start their own ventures after gaining some experience. Professional attraction towards entrepreneurship and perceived behavior control have been found to be significant in impacting their entrepreneurial intentions. Pure sciences students have shown stronger attraction towards entrepreneurial intentions than social sciences stream indicating that familiarity with technology could be a strong factor influencing entrepreneurship.
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Intentions, Theory of Planned Behavior, Professional Attractions, Social Norms, Perceived Behavior Control.