경력단절여성의 프로티언 경력태도가 창업의지에 미치는 영향: 기업가정신의 조절효과를 중심으로

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine whether entrepreneurial orientation exerts a moderating effect on the relationship between protean career attitude and entrepreneurial intention among career-interrupted women. This study develops the research model based on constructivist career theory and social cognitive career theory, conceptualizing protean career attitude as a higher-order psychological structure guiding career choice and entrepreneurial intention as an action-oriented goal. Entrepreneurial orientation is specified as a moderating variable to examine the mechanism through which it strengthens or weakens the pathway between individuals’ career meaning-making and their behavioral intention toward entrepreneurship. For the empirical analysis, an online survey was administered to 200 career-interrupted women aged 19 to 54, and the hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression and moderation analyses based on the responses of 166 participants with no prior entrepreneurial experience. The main findings of this study are as follows. First, neither the self-directedness nor the value-oriented dimension of protean career attitude had a significant effect on entrepreneurial intention. Second, entrepreneurial orientation exhibited a conditional moderating effect on the relationship between self-directedness and entrepreneurial intention, whereas its interaction with value orientation was not significant and thus rejected. This study holds academic significance in that it recontextualizes the concept of protean career attitude-traditionally examined within organizational behavior and career development-through an entrepreneurship lens, and highlights that the formation of entrepreneurial intention can represent a strategic choice for career restoration and redesign rather than merely an outcome of opportunity recognition. Furthermore, the study empirically demonstrates that entrepreneurial intention among career-interrupted women is shaped not by a single determinant but through the interaction of multiple factors, suggesting that entrepreneurship support policies should integrate both individuals’ psychological readiness and their execution capabilities.