Fostering Social Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy and Intention through Work Meaningfulness Found in Experiential Social Entrepreneurship Education: The Moderating Role of Social Class

Experiential social entrepreneurship education offers participants opportunities for active engagement in social entrepreneurial activities. Highlighting the significance of psychosocial experiences within the program, this study examines work meaningfulness discovered in this process as the antecedent to forming social entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, drawing on social cognitive career theory that emphasizes the role of agency in career decisions, we propose social entrepreneurial self-efficacy as the underlying mechanism and social class as the moderating factor in the relationship between work meaningfulness and social entrepreneurial intention formation. The propositions were tested with a two-wave survey dataset collected among 145 university students taking part in an experiential social entrepreneurship program in South Korea. Our results indicate that work meaningfulness positively affects social entrepreneurial self-efficacy, which subsequently promotes social entrepreneurial intention. Moreover, when participants’ social class, measured by either household income or perceived rank, is lower, the positive effect of work meaningfulness on social entrepreneurial self-efficacy as well as intention is amplified. Theoretically, these findings shed light on the crucial role of work meaningfulness in strengthening potential entrepreneurs’ agency in the domain of social entrepreneurship, particularly for those from lower classes. Practically, we provide guidelines for designing an inclusive experiential social entrepreneurship program that allows participants to find meaningfulness by realizing their strengths and justifying their prosocial contribution.