Abstract:

The purpose of this research is to gain insights on the entrepreneurial intentions of UAE youths. A sample of 303 students (over 15 years of age) from UAE based schools and higher educational institutions were surveyed using a questionnaire to gauge their perspective on choosing entrepreneurship as a career. Three main categories of factors influencing their career choices were taken into account, namely their socioeconomic status, familial background and personality traits. The analysis that follows breaks down the explained entrepreneurial intention into ‘Perception of Entrepreneurship in Society’ and ‘Preference for Entrepreneurship as a Career Choice’ in order to develop a causal relationship between how the UAE youth perceives entrepreneurs around them and how that influences their aspirations to opt for the same as a career choice upon completion of their education. Linkages between demographic factors (like age, gender and nationality), socioeconomic status and family background have been taken into account in the first two sections where their influence on the said perception and preference is analysed. In the third section of this analysis, the correlation between the Big Five personality traits and entrepreneurial intent of the youth is assessed, in order to identify which of these five personality traits have the strongest influence on a young individual’s perception of entrepreneurial activities and the consequent decision to choose entrepreneurship as a preferred career path. The study will assist in reducing the youth unemployment through the development of sustainable entrepreneurial culture and ventures in the United Arab Emirates and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as a whole due to its homogenous socio-cultural and economic context.