Entrepreneurial Intentions of Students in Ukraine: The Gender Aspects

In the context of ongoing hostilities in Ukraine, it becomes important to understand the prospects of entrepreneurship as a sphere of economic recovery of the country. Student entrepreneurship can become a key factor in the formation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, in particular in the context of Ukraine’s integration into the EU. Studying and taking into account the gender aspects of entrepreneurial intentions of Ukrainian students, supporting entrepreneurial education and the development of women’s entrepreneurship among young people in the curricula will contribute to the sustainable development of the economy and society in general. The aim of the article is to highlight the results of a study of the gender profile of entrepreneurial intentions of Ukrainian students, initiated and conducted by the authors within the framework of the project «Entrepreneurial Opportunities, Competencies and Intentions among University Students in the Cross-Cultural Dimension» in April – June 2023. The conclusions presented in the article are based on the results of an online survey of 247 students of Ukrainian universities, conducted on the Qualtrics platform according to the authors’ own methodology, which involves a survey of respondents on 27 questions, divided into four blocks: 1) general data about the respondent; 2) awareness of the entrepreneurial environment; 3) dimensions of entrepreneurial competence; 4) entrepreneurial intentions. The obtained data were analyzed using the instrumentarium of descriptive statistics. It is found that the entrepreneurial intentions of students in Ukraine have gender differences. In particular, in the implementation of their entrepreneurial initiatives, women are mostly focused on the long term and postpone starting a business for the future, while men mostly try to realize themselves as soon as possible, while studying at the university. When analyzing the preferences of students in choosing a sphere for starting their own business, «gender-neutral» and «gender-sensitive» business areas are allocated, which makes it possible to further develop recommendations for improving entrepreneurship education and institutional support for youth (including women’s) entrepreneurship policy in Ukraine. It is assumed that the «post-industrial» type of thinking prevails among students, in particular in the context of choosing promising business areas for their own business, this is manifested through the increased interest of survey participants in the service sector of the economy. The need to intensify women’s entrepreneurship and leadership among female students during their studies at the university, as well as to improve entrepreneurial education programs, in particular in business areas that are important during the wartime and post-wartime periods, is substantiated.