FROM MENTORSHIP TO MINDSET: THE ROLE OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP IN SHAPING ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS

Abstract

The primary focus of this research is the impact of servant leadership on the entrepreneurial intentions of undergraduate’s students in Pakistan, especially the impact on the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of the students in this relationship. Using the social cognitive theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior, the study examines the impact of mentorship and leadership on students' entrepreneurial self-belief and the willingness to engage in entrepreneurial activities. The study adopts a quantitative and cross-sectional research approach. The primary data was derived from a structured questionnaire administered to 400 business and management students in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The reliabilities of the measurement scales were then derived from the computed Cronbach’s alpha, and the proposed relationships were then assessed using regression and mediation analysis using the Preacher and Hayes bootstrapping method. The findings indicate that servant leadership has a positive predictive relationship with entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions. Furthermore, self-efficacy was found to be a partial mediator in the relationship between leadership and entrepreneurial intention. These results highlight the role of faculty mentorship in fostering entrepreneurial mindsets and give actionable advice on how to construct mentorship-based entrepreneurial support programs at the university level. This research augments the existing literature on psychology by explaining the psychological processes which underpin the motivational stimuli which leaders create to motivate entrepreneurial endeavor, and acts as a policy framework for the higher educational institutions for promoting the entrepreneurial culture among students.