Entrepreneurial University Input, Process, and Output Support for Student Entrepreneurship: Growing Innovation through University Programs

Student entrepreneurial development has become a challenge in developing countries like Pakistan. The purpose of the research is to analyze the impact of the entrepreneurial university input (EUI), entrepreneurial university core strategic plan (EUCSP), and entrepreneurial university output (EUO) on the student entrepreneurial career (SEC). The study further analyzes the sequential mediation of the student entrepreneurial intention (SEI) and student entrepreneurial behavior (SEB). In literature, there is a theoretical gap as previous studies paid little attention to the integration of the stimulus–organism–behavior–consequences (SOBC) paradigm to entrepreneurship literature, and an approach to contribute entrepreneurship theory is developed. A simple random sampling was used to collect 185 responses as a valid sample from students registered in business incubators. IBM SPSS 26 was used for descriptive statistics and Smart PLS 4 was employed to rigorously investigate relationships using structural equation modeling. The findings discovered that the EUI has a negative while EUCSP and EUO have a positive impact of SEI. Meanwhile, the study found that SEI has a positive impact on SEB and SEB has a positive impact on SEC. The sequential mediation of SEI and SEB on SEC is negative for EUI, but positive for EUCSP and EUO. The study highlights that the entrepreneurial university support strengthens the students’ career choice by influencing their intention and behavior. The research supports the SOBC paradigm in student entrepreneurship literature, while considering sequential mediation of SEI and SEB.