The Impact of Gender on the Link between Personality Traits and Entrepreneurial Intention: Implications for Sustainable Agriculture

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to test the moderating effect of gender on the relationship between the Big Five personality traits of agriculture and food science senior students and their entrepreneurial intention. For this purpose, the study employed an online survey, which was directed to senior students in the agriculture and food science program at four public universities in Saudi Arabia. Out of the 450 forms distributed, 410 provided usable responses for analysis. This process yielded an answer ratio of 91%. The findings of PLS-SEM showed that the Big Five personality traits have a significant positive influence on students' intent toward entrepreneurship, except for neuroticism, which was found to have a negative but insignificant influence. The results of moderating effect analysis showed no significant moderating influences of gender on the link between two traits, i.e., agreeableness and neuroticism and entrepreneurship intention. On the other side, gender was found to have a significant moderating role in the relationship between the four other traits, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experiences, and entrepreneurial intention. Male students have a more moderating influence in relation to extraversion and conscientiousness than females do on entrepreneurial intention, whereas female students have a more moderating influence regarding openness to experiences than males on entrepreneurship intention. The results confirm that to ensure a sustainable agriculture ecosystem, each gender should receive appropriate development programs to strengthen their personal traits to stimulate entrepreneurial intention.