The Impact of University Incubator Services on Students’ Entrepreneurial Competencies: The Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Public Administration, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Business Management, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

This study seeks to explain the influence of educational and support services provided by university incubators on students’ entrepreneurial competencies, with particular emphasis on the mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The significance of this inquiry stems from the growing recognition that university incubators function not merely as providers of infrastructural support, but also as developmental environments capable of shaping the cognitive, motivational, and behavioral capacities required for entrepreneurial engagement. From a methodological standpoint, the study is applied in purpose and quantitative in approach, employing a descriptive-survey design and structural equation modeling. The statistical population comprised students enrolled in universities in Alborz Province who possessed technological ideas and were affiliated with university incubators. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan sampling table, 325 participants were selected from a population of 1,800 through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using three standard questionnaires measuring incubator services, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial competencies, and were analyzed through SmartPLS 4 using the PLS-SEM approach.

The findings revealed that university incubator services exert a positive and significant effect on students’ entrepreneurial competencies (β = 0.38). The results further showed that incubator services positively and significantly influence entrepreneurial self-efficacy (β = 0.56), while entrepreneurial self-efficacy itself positively and significantly affects entrepreneurial competencies (β = 0.44). In addition, the indirect effect of incubator services on entrepreneurial competencies through entrepreneurial self-efficacy was estimated at 0.246, confirming the partial mediating role of this variable. The coefficient of determination for entrepreneurial competencies (R² = 0.58) also indicates that the proposed model possesses satisfactory explanatory power.

Overall, the findings suggest that the effectiveness of university incubators extends beyond the direct provision of services and operates through the reinforcement of students’ beliefs in their entrepreneurial capabilities. Accordingly, the study highlights the importance of reorienting incubator programs toward empowerment-based, experience-centered, and self-efficacy-enhancing interventions.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Education and Management of Entrepreneurship

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 08 August 2026

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History

  • Receive Date: 15 July 2026
  • Revise Date: 03 August 2026
  • Accept Date: 08 August 2026

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