Author(s): Honest Muchabaiwa and Jabulile Msimango-Galawe
Entrepreneurship is undoubtedly pivotal in the economic development of South Africa and is also a great contributor to the much-needed job creation. Research has shown that females, in general, have lower entrepreneurial intention compared to their male counterparts, worldwide. This however is rapidly changing with females making significant strides in venturing into entrepreneurship. This has, however, not been the case with black females in South Africa. There is a very low participation rate in entrepreneurship by South female, black South Africans despite the government allocating funding towards entrepreneurial training, grants, and advice-giving support structures. This low participation necessitated the need to study the determinates of entrepreneurial intention among black female youth. This quantitative study assessed the impact of prior entrepreneurial exposure, on the entrepreneurial intention of female, black South African youth. The possible moderating impact of entrepreneurial selfefficacy on the relationship between prior entrepreneurial exposure and intention was also assessed. Data was collected among 278 female, black South African youth, using a questionnaire that was scripted on Qualtrics. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship among the variables. The results revealed that prior entrepreneurial exposure had a direct significant positive impact on entrepreneurial intention. Although entrepreneurial self-efficacy moderated the relationship between prior entrepreneurial exposure and entrepreneurial intention, the moderation was not significant. The key message from this study was that entrepreneurial intention is dependent on whether one had a positive prior entrepreneurial exposure or not. It was concluded that the impact of prior entrepreneurial exposure is not dependent on one’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy