IDENTIFYING THE KEY FACTORS AFFECTING SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract

The significance of social entrepreneurship (SE) in driving societal well-being has long been acknowledged. This study endeavors to explore the underlying determinants that shape students' propensity to establish new ventures post-graduation, with a particular emphasis on social entrepreneurship. Employing a systematic literature review, an initial corpus of 503 scholarly documents was examined, culminating in a refined selection of 47 publications on Social Entrepreneurial Intention (SEI) and its influencing factors, spanning the period from 2014 to 2022. The findings provide an integrative overview of prevailing themes and recurrent patterns within SEI research.

The study scrutinized SEI-related literature sourced from the Scopus database, subsequently applying content analysis methodologies to classify documents into distinct thematic categories. The results reveal an escalating academic interest in SEI, predominantly concentrated in developing economies. Among the most extensively explored determinants, personality traits and entrepreneurship education programs emerged as particularly instrumental in shaping students' long-term entrepreneurial aspirations. Additionally, auxiliary factors—including gender, prior professional exposure, academic background, and the broader socio-environmental context—were identified as significant influences on individuals' predisposition toward engaging in social entrepreneurship.