i

ERNWACA Research 2011 Small Grants

Program

Report of the research

Psychosocial Analysis of Entrepreneurial Intention among Scholars of Cameroonian Capital Cities. A

Comparative Study

Members: NJENGOUE NGAMALEU HENRI RODRIGUE (Team leader)

DOUANLA DJIALA ADELINE MERLYNE

SIEWE FELIX DUCLOS

DJUINE NOUBOSSE DORIMAINE

SCIENTIFIC GODFATHER : NJIALE PIERRE MARIE, Ph.D

January 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ...............................................................................................................................iii

LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................................................iv

ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................................v

RESUME.................................................................................................................................................vi

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... - 1 -

CHAPTER I: PROBLEMATIC................................................................................................................ - 3 -

1.1. CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND............................................................................................... - 3 -

1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ........................................................................................... - 4 -

1.3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY....................................................................................................... - 7 -

1.4. RESEARCH INTEREST............................................................................................................ - 7 -

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE .............................................................................................. - 9 -

2.1. CONCEPT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP........................................................................................... - 9 -

2.2. ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION, TRAINING AND SELF EMPLOYMENT ............................... - 10 -

2.3. THE REALITIES OF JOB MARKET IN CAMEROON..................................................................... - 13 -

2.4. THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR ........................................................................................... - 16 -

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY.......................................................................................................... - 20 -

3.1. POPULATION .......................................................................................................................... - 20 -

3.2. SAMPLING TECHNIQUES......................................................................................................... - 20 -

3.3. THE EXPLANATORY SURVEY: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION..................................................... - 22 -

3.4. OPERATIONALISATION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION ................................................... - 23 -

3.5. THE URBAN ENVIRONMENTS OF THE STUDY: YAOUNDE AND DOUALA ............................... - 26 -

3.6. THE PRE-TEST: RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY ............................................................................. - 26 -

3.7. THE QUANTITATIVE DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................. - 27 -

CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................................................... - 28 -

4.1 ATTITUDE TOWARD ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN CAMEROON...................................................... - 28 -

4.2. ENTREPRENEURIAL SUBJECTIVE NORMS................................................................... - 30 -

4.3. PERCEIVED ENTREPRENEURIAL BEHAVIORAL CONTROL..................................... - 32 -

4.4. ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION RESULTS.................................................................. - 34 -

4.5. RESULTS DISCUSSION....................................................................................................... - 36 -

CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................. - 39 -

REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................. - 41 -

ANNEXE .......................................................................................................................................... - 46 -

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE.................................................................................................. - 47 -

QUESTIONNAIRE DE L’INTENTION ENTREPRENEURIALE ESTIDUANTINE ................... - 48 -

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This research has been carried out thanks to the Educational and Research Network of West

and Central Africa (ERNWACA), which provides us with methodological support and

subvention for its realization.

We thank the resource person of our work, Prof. Bababar Thiaw from Senegal, for the

guidance given to us from Bamako via internet.

Our gratitude goes also to Prof. Pierre Marie Njialé, the scientific godfather of the work, who

involves himself in the supervision of this work starting from the project writing till the final

report writing.

We cannot forget the congratulation and encouragement of Professors André Emtcheu and

Georges Epah Fonkeng who paid attention to our scientific research learning process for

many years now. May they find in this report an aspect of the result of their coaching.

We finally thank Mr Fomba Emmanuel Mbebed, Miss Bongka Julienne and Nguemgaing

Helen, who read and criticize the first draft, lecturers and class delegates who help us to pass

the questionnaire to scholars on campuses, and all the respondents who voluntarily participate

to the survey. We greatly recognize your memorable contributions. May your availability

remain entirely to serve the quest for knowledge.

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Sample representation of higher education institutions .........................................- 21 -

Table 2: Focus group discussions.........................................................................................- 23 -

Table 3: Operationalization of variables ..............................................................................- 25 -

Table 4: Comparison of attitudes toward entrepreneurship in Cameroon ...........................- 28 -

Table 5: Significance of the difference about attitude toward entrepreneurship .................- 29 -

Table 6: Comparison of entrepreneurial subjective norms .................................................- 30 -

Table 7: Significance of the difference about entrepreneurial subjective norms.................- 32 -

Table 8: Comparison of perceived entrepreneurial behavioral control................................- 33 -

Table 9: Significance of the difference about perceived entrepreneurial behavioral control - 34 -

Table 10: Comparison of entrepreneurial intention .............................................................- 35 -

Table 11: Significance of the difference about entrepreneurial intention............................- 35 -

Table 13: Familiarity with occasional small business..........................................................- 38 -

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ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to compare entrepreneurial intention of scholars of

Douala and Yaoundé higher education institutions by measuring three components which are

the attitude towards entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial subjective norms and perceived

entrepreneurial behavioral control. The theory of planed behavior of Ajzen (1991) is the

psychosocial model mostly used to analyze entrepreneurial intention. The data collection has

been done in two steps: focus group discussions and a survey using a questionnaire. Results

indicate that generally, entrepreneurial intention is just average among scholars of

Cameroonian capital cities. Anyway, Douala scholars realize better scores than those of

Yaoundé ( t = ,031; p < ,05). The status of economic capital seems to explain why Douala

respondents are slightly better in regards to entrepreneurial aspiration (t = - 3,876; p < 0,01).

And mastery experiences (t = - 3,588; p < 0,01). Nevertheless, some moderator variables like

the fascinating perception of public service, the low self-evaluation of entrepreneurial skill,

absence of a national entrepreneurial culture, financial dependency to the family have a

negative impact on their entrepreneurial intention. Cameroonian higher education institutions

are still far to be qualified entrepreneurial since they do not equip scholars to face challenges

and uncertainty of modern labour market.

Key words: Entrepreneurial intention, scholars, higher education institutions, Douala, Yaoundé,

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RESUME

L’objectif de cette étude est de comparer l’intention entrepreneuriale des étudiants des

établissements de l’enseignement supérieur des villes de Douala et Yaoundé à travers

l’évaluation des trois composantes que sont l’attitude vis-à-vis de l’entrepreneuriat, les

normes entrepreneuriales subjectives et la perception de control de l’action entrepreneuriale.

La théorie de l’action planifiée d’Ajzen (1991) est le modèle psychosocial exploitée ainsi que

c’est le cas dans plusieurs études portant sur l’analyse de l’intention entrepreneuriale. La

collecte des données s’est déroulée en deux phases : la première a consisté en des discussions

de groupe et la seconde à une enquête quantitative à l’aide d’un questionnaire. Il ressort des

résultats de l’étude que l’intention entrepreneuriale des étudiants des deux villes est

généralement moyenne. Toutefois, les sujets de Douala obtiennent des scores meilleurs que

ceux de Yaoundé (t = 0,031; p < ,05). Le statut de capital économique de la ville de Douala

semble expliquer les scores légèrement supérieurs des étudiants de cette capitale en ce qui

concerne les aspirations entrepreneuriales (t = - 3,876; p < 0,01) et les expériences actives et

de maîtrise entrepreneuriale (t = - 3,588; p < 0,01). On relèvera tout de même que des facteurs

tels que la fascination que suscitée par la fonction publique, la faible auto-évaluation des

aptitudes entrepreneuriales, l’absence de culture entrepreneuriale d’envergure nationale, la

dépendance financière de la famille sont autant de variables modératrices qui ont une

incidence négative sur l’intention entrepreneuriale des étudiants des deux citées urbaines.

Tout compte fait, le système de l’enseignement supérieur camerounais est encore loin d’être

véritablement entrepreneurial eu-égard à ce qu’il ne peut encore doter l’étudiant de

compétences lui permettant de faire face aux défis et à l’incertitude du marché de l’emploi

moderne, dont une composante majeure au plan local est informelle.

Mots- clés : intention entrepreneuriale, étudiants, institutions de l’enseignement supérieur,

Douala, Yaoundé

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INTRODUCTION

It is now obvious worldwide that, public and private formal sectors are become unable

to employ the total number of graduates who have completed their studies and thereby are

ready to offer their competences in the work market. The rising unemployment rate is a

challenge that universities, high schools, societies and governments are facing. However,

Harada (2005) think that the increased unemployment creates positive effect on potential

entrepreneurship which “has emerged as the engine of economic and social development

throughout the world” (Audretsch and Thurik, 2004, p.144). It is assumed that if the

number of entrepreneurs rises in a country, there are lots of employment/job

opportunities because a country whose economy sees new companies created benefits

considerable opportunities for new jobs.

Ibicioglu, Baysal and Ozkul (n.d.) perceived the modern university as an organization

integrated with all walks of life. When the authors claim that the responsibility of modern

university towards society is inspected, its activities are directed by the society, all the

institutions, equipment, knowledge and man power that it has, are assessed with an

entrepreneur mentality and makes additional financial source, and it has transformed into

“Entrepreneur University” which is managed with modern management techniques, we ask

ourselves if it is the case of sub-Saharan universities in general and Cameroonian higher

educational system in particular.

“Entrepreneurship is the mindset and process to create and develop economic

activity by blending risk-taking, creativity and/or innovation with sound management,

within a new or an existing organization.” (Green Paper, 2003; 6) Nowadays, it is

argued that One of the important factors in growing of entrepreneur individuals is

“Educational Institutions” according to the fact that the kind of entrepreneurial culture

students will integrate in their school life can negatively affect their entrepreneur features

and lead them to choose less risky jobs which are far from innovation and creativity,

or contrary, it can encourage entrepreneurship and direct them to innovation and creativity.

For this author, an educational system which stimulates the individual skills and creativity

helps to form positive attitude towards entrepreneurship. A direct link between educational

programs, the social and economic environment and self-employment propensity can be

analyzed by assessing entrepreneurial intention of scholars. For instance, the change in

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educational perception had a great contribution to entrepreneurship in USA. The

responsibility here is not just the matter of educational system. A household research in UK

shows that people who had information about entrepreneurship through friends, families

or education seriously think about setting up a business. In a series of studies. Landes

(2003) demonstrates the importance of national cultural factors, values, and social attitudes in

explaining the development of entrepreneurial activity, and in turn the economic performance

of nations.

Entrepreneurial intention is a psychosocial concept involving the interactions between

psychological traits and reinforcements produced by the social, cultural, historical,

economical and political environment. At time of globalization characterized by the fast

changes and the liberalization of the economy, we are interested in how much significant is

the entrepreneurial intention of Cameroonian scholars. The contrasted capital cities which are

Douala and Yaoundé inspired us the will of comparison to comprehend more the mutual

influences between urban environments, higher educational training and individual attitude.

We title our study “Psychosocial analysis of entrepreneurial intention among scholars

of Cameroonian capital cities. A comparative study”

The present report is constituted of four chapters. The first is the problematic of the

study which is subdivided by the contextual background of the study, the statement of the

problem, the objectives and the interest of the study. The second chapter which is the review

of literature focuses on the entrepreneurship phenomenon, the role of entrepreneurial

education in the creation of wealth, the complexities of job market in Cameroon and finally

the theoretical foundation of the research. The third chapter concerns methodology and

presents the population of the study, the sampling techniques, the qualitative and quantitative

surveys, the data collection instruments and it elaboration. The fourth chapter is reserved for

the results and the discussion.

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CHAPTER I: PROBLEMATIC

This general introduction is made up of the historical background of the study, the

contextual background and the theoretical background. After these preview aspects, the

statement of the problem follows and leads to the research questions, the objectives of the

study, the research interest. The general introduction ends-up with the delimitation of the

subject and the plan of the report.

1.1. CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND

The persistent patterns of wealth and poverty in the world has in recent years led to a

renewed interest in identifying variations in entrepreneurial performance caused by culture.

Countries vary in their entrepreneurial cultures. It is proved for example that the negative

influence of colonialism explained the slow growth of Latin America, Africa and Asia and has

direct relevance to the relationship between political institution, development and

entrepreneurship (Engerman and Sokoloff, 2005).

In several European Union Member States, the social security system biased towards

insuring the wage-employed in comparison with the self-employed can explain the fact that

unemployment ‘push’ effect toward self-employment seems rather weak (Jones and

Wadhwani, 2006). Some studies which compare traits and motives of self-employed with

those of wage-employed individuals suggest that self-employed are more focused on

individual responsibility and effort, and more attached to an ethic of ‘working hard’

(Beugelsdijk and Noorderhaven, 2005). Even if it is obvious that some individuals have a

high propensity to create their own business, the contribution of the educational system to the

development of entrepreneurial abilities and skills among the population is considerable (Van

der Kuip and Verheul, 2004).

Competitiveness in the labour market is created by graduates massively produced by

the increasing universities. Globalization has open up labour market outside national

boundaries, and graduates have to compete, not only to the few employment opportunities,

but also to global entrepreneurial standards (Kilasi, 2011). Since there is a need for

entrepreneurial response from higher education institutions throw entrepreneurship education.

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Entrepreneurship education is diversely achieved in higher education institutions in different

parts of the world. There are countries like United Kingdom, United States of America, and

some others which are somehow ahead in its public response. There is no general agreement

with regards to what constitutes entrepreneurship education.

In its broader terms, entrepreneurship education is focused on business and production

of entrepreneurs and self-employed people and contributes to the development of positive

attitudes and those skills, such as creativity and flexibility, which will enable graduates to

cope with uncertainties in the labour market (Volkmann, Wilson, Mariotti, Rabuzzi,

Vyakarnam, Sepulveda, 2009). The expected outcome of entrepreneurship education is

entrepreneurship capacities to practice entrepreneurial behaviour in response to socio-

economic challenges but there is less knowledge on how these courses and programs should

be taught and how interdisciplinary approaches could be built (European Commission, 2008).

African countries are also concerned with the increasing number of graduates which has gone

beyond the available job opportunities and the informal sector has been the leading employer.

Clearly, there is a need to design new strategies to prepare young people for the fast changing

and competitive world of work (Kilasi, 2011).

The pressures within the higher education sector has increased interest of researchers

about the connection between entrepreneurship and education in general and various

entrepreneurship education in specific (Fayolle et al, 2006). Higher education institutions

need to reflect and structure their curricula to meet the variations of the labour market.

Currently, the capacity of the national labour market to absorb new entrants is “far from

sufficient” (ILO, 2009, p.5). Even when they are found, there is little guarantee that they will

last for a long time. Consequently, entrepreneurship education have gain relevance today than

ever before and there is a need to train graduates to be able to cope with development

challenges through exploring opportunities around them.

1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Environment has an impact on entrepreneurship in a given society. It is well known that

new businesses in the EU grow significantly slower than those in the US. The Global

Entrepreneurship Monitor experts (GEM, who identifies entrepreneurship needs of countries

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across the world) reports that better education and training are important tools that can

strongly motivate entrepreneurial activity. There is a strong need for increasing the quality of

entrepreneurship education and training in different countries. EU final report Education for

Entrepreneurship (2004) states it clearly for EU countries.

The situation in Cameroon is somehow critical according to Fomba (2009 p.2) who says

that “Education offerings have instead been perceived as reinforcing white-collar mentality,

dormant entrepreneurial culture and endemic psychological dependence.” The author argues

by emphasizing on the fact that “while majority of graduates suffer from job-seeking

syndrome, non-graduates and apprentices skilled in the informal sector dominate

entrepreneurial ventures”.

After the economic crisis of the late 80s in Cameroon the University Reforms of 1993 was

designed to decentralize State universities, enhance professional training and ensure

sustainable development of the private sector. In that vein, the decree on the Orientation of

Higher Education (2001) focused on professional orientations and increased the role of

private sector in University Governance and workforce preparation. The introduction of the

Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate (BMD) program has been done in order to diversify

professional training according to labour market needs (MINESUP, 2007). Fomba (2009)

notices that despite the spirit of the 1993 Reforms and 2001 decree, graduate unemployment

still ranked highest.

The BMD is unable to address properly the informal sector which offers more employs in

sub-Saharan countries. It seems to still train scholars for civil service needs and does not

appear as a measure of sustainable education for the informal sector. This situation leads

Fomba (2009) to conclude that entrepreneurship education in Cameroon is truncated. Serpell

(2007) defends the idea of the damages of the orthodox western higher education which tends

to decontextualize the learning process by extracting learners from everyday life into a

detached mode of full-time reflection, with emphasis on structured exercises and analytical

review of authoritative disciplinary texts.

Only few institutions offer appropriate training on entrepreneurship as a measure of

sustainable education in the Faculties of management, like ESSEC at the University of

Douala. Fomba (2009) observed that the entrepreneurship education in Cameroon is offered

by families, the traditional sector, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and some government

departments and structures. This reality draws our attention on the role played by the

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environment on the promotion of the entrepreneurial culture among Cameroonian scholars.

The contrast between our two main towns, political and economical capital cities which are

Yaoundé and Douala could help to illustrate this. If the higher education institutions of the

two towns belong to the same general policies and organizational functioning, they are quiet

different referring to their economical potentialities. Douala is viewed as the city of business

in opposition to Yaoundé, perceived as the administrative and political center point of the

country. Researchers have long realized that societies vary in their ability to create and sustain

entrepreneurial activity. Cameroon is usually called a miniaturized Africa due to the

remarkable diversity it displays about climate, ethnicity, native languages and religions for

example. Cultures and mentalities vary from one region to another.

It is possible to investigate the interaction between the educational background of scholars

of Douala or Yaoundé and their environment when they are already involved in the

entrepreneurial activities. This methodological approach could help to analyze how both local

realities influence the launching of new ventures after the completion of the studies.

Unfortunately, this approach will not permit us to know more about entrepreneurial intention

of those who are not capable or do not embrace an entrepreneurship career. In 2005, a

Household survey brought statistics about job seeking dispositions and preferences which

indicated that only 18% of people aspired to the independent preference. According to Fomba

(2009) the Independent preference ranked lowest is just the indication of an unfavourable

entrepreneurial attitudes, low drive and difficulties entering the informal sector in Cameroon.

What about the reality in 2011? Does the negative attitude toward entrepreneurship previously

mentioned remain the same and what about it magnitude in the two capital cities of the

country.

The satisfactory model of analysis of the interaction between social and personal factors

underlining the entrepreneurial intention is served by the Social Psychology. The Theory of

Planned Behaviour (TPB) of (Ajzen, 1991) has become the most frequently used theoretical

framework in recent studies of entrepreneurial intention (Alexei and Kolvereid, 1999; Audet

2002; Autio et al. 2001; Krueger, Reilly and Carsrud, 2000; Van Gelderen et al., 2006). The

Theory of planned behaviour emphasis both on the social context and the person who carries

out the behaviour since the intention is perceived as a function of the attitude towards the

behavior, the subjective norm and the perceived control. Our research question is phrased as

followed: belonging to the same higher education system, do scholars of Yaoundé and Douala

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capital cities of Cameroon manifest the same entrepreneurial intention since they live in

contrasted economic, politic and social local environments?

1.3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to compare the entrepreneurial intention of scholars

of the high educational institutions of Cameroon political and capital cities, Yaoundé and

Douala respectively. The research is a comparative analysis based on the components of the

entrepreneurial intention as it can be operationnalized using the TPB of Ajzen (1991).

Consequently, specific objectives we state are the following:

1) Explore the attitude toward entrepreneurship among scholars of Yaoundé and

Douala higher education institutions;

2) Evaluate entrepreneurial subjective norms of Yaoundé and Douala scholars;

3) Measure entrepreneurial behavioural perceived control of scholars of Yaoundé and

Douala higher education institutions.

1.4. RESEARCH INTEREST

Recognizing the critical role that culture plays in determining entrepreneurial behaviour,

several well-known scholars have called for future research addressing the impact of national

culture on the rates and types of firm-level entrepreneurship. Education has an important role

to play in developing the skills that generate an entrepreneurial mindset and in preparing

future leaders for solving more complex, interlinked and fast-changing problems. For that

purpose, education must address the priorities of governments and the private sector. It must

be seen as the fundamental mechanism for attaining sustainable economic development and

societal progress. “More than ever, the world needs effective global leaders and stronger

educational systems that prepare the current and future generations of entrepreneurs,

workers, teachers, managers and individuals with the skills needed to succeed and help

others.” Schwab (2009, p. 6)11

1 Foreword of “Educating the Next Wave of Entrepreneurs. Unlocking entrepreneurial capabilities to meet the

global challenges of the 21st

Century. A Report of the Global Education Initiative”

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This work is a kind of evaluation of how much Cameroonian higher education promote

the entrepreneurial culture. The direct impact of the input of higher education in favor of

entrepreneurship can be measure in terms of scholars’ intention to create wealth throw

innovation, new ventures, self-employment and firm creations. The evaluation of student’s

attitude towards entrepreneurship in a context where wage-employment is still valorized, as

the recruitment of 25 000 youths in the public service has shown, can tell more about what is

still to be done for the establishment of the so called mindset which should be the

entrepreneurial culture.

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CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1. CONCEPT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

One widely accepted definition of the field by entrepreneurship suggests that it is “A

scholarly field that seeks to understand how opportunities to bring into existence “future”

goods and services are discovered, created, and exploited, by whom, and with what

consequences.” Venkataraman (1997, p. 6) Entrepreneurship is the dynamic process of

creating incremental wealth by individuals or groups through the use of resources. This

dynamism is an act of initiative, drive, commitment, diligence, perseverance, organized effort,

and achievement outlook, to undertake some specific functions of performing productive

activities and the capacity to bear and associate with the investment.

According to Thurik and Dejardin (2011) entrepreneurship is usually measured in

terms of firm creations or business ownership and self-employment rates. Entrepreneurship

nowadays is universally recognized as critical resource in the economic development process

of a country. The entrepreneurial activities create incremental wealth which is a precondition

to economic growth. Entrepreneurs recognize opportunities and then act to convert them into

tangible economic benefits (e.g. by creating new ventures). The existence of entrepreneurs

and its accelerated growth is a precondition to continuous and sustainable economic growth.

Entrepreneurs are the individual or groups who perform entrepreneurial activities. The

entrepreneurs played significant role in the economic development process during 19th & 20th

centuries in developing business successfully with continuity. It will continue to play

dominant role in economic growth particularly industrial during 21st century. The prime

functions of an entrepreneur in a formal work of market are Assessment of Market

opportunities, responding to competition, gaining command over scarce resources, identifying

sources of inputs, and marketing of products, dealing with public, bureaucracy, management

of human resources, technological innovation and improvements in production techniques.

In addition to key business development skills, three sets of factors are related to the

formation of entrepreneurial organizations. Psychological factors, such as, an individual's

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need to achieve, contribute to the entrepreneurial urge. The most widely used traits are the

need for achievement (Langan-Fox & Roth, 1995; McClelland, 1965), the risk taking

propensity (Brockhaus, 1980; Miner & Raju, 2004), the internal locus of control (Furnham,

1986; Kaufmann & Welsh, 1995) and the general self–efficacy (Chen, Green, & Crick, 1998;

Markman, Balkin, & Baron, 2002). Nevertheless, the methodological as well as the theoretical

aspects of this personality perspective has been criticized (Gartner, 1988; Robinson,

Stimpson, Huefner, & Hunt, 1991; Shane & Venkataraman, 2000; Shaver & Scott, 1991).

Sociological factors, such as social status, like a child's position in the family, family

experience can affect the child's likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur. Environmental

factors also play a key role in business formation. To start, survive and progress continuously

and develop organization that outlive its creator, an entrepreneur must develop basic

management skill. These skills are more important than an entrepreneur's background or

environment. This can be developed regardless of background or skill through education and

training. As the organization grows and gets bigger its organizational structure, market area,

management style are also changed. Entrepreneurs have to cope with the changing conditions

of the business.

2.2. ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION, TRAINING AND SELF EMPLOYMENT

The origins of entrepreneurship education at universities and colleges lies in the US,

with the first MBA course introduced in 1947 at Harvard Business School under the title

“Management of New Enterprises” (Katz 2003). From the 1980s onwards, entrepreneurship

education spread first to northern Europe, then around the mid-1990s to Central and Southern

Europe and to the rest of the world (Volkmann et al., 2009).

The entrepreneurial education traces its origin from the growing ideas that

entrepreneurial qualities of man can be improved or new skill can be developed through

special type of training and education among the potential persons in a society (Volkmann et

al., 2009). The entrepreneurship education course includes the contents that help the students

to be aware of economic opportunities, business environment, identification of project,

preparation of business plan, improving motivation for achievement, techniques of enterprise

management, self-development techniques, improving precision skill, building self-

confidence, opportunity sense sensitivity, analytical skills, etc.

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Entrepreneurship education is now a vulgarized course in business education and

technical curriculum in many American and European countries. The courses are being

offered either in business school or at community colleges, colleges of engineering education.

Entrepreneurship is important as a diffusion mechanism to transform scientific inventions into

new product and service innovations. The distinction between institutions of higher education

from other institutions in society is their role in creating knowledge and producing high-

potential graduates and researchers.

For entrepreneurship education in institutions of higher education can offer the chance

to develop knowledge-intensive high-growth enterprises from all academic disciplines, not

just technical ones. Higher education institutions should create an environment that fosters

entrepreneurial mind-sets, skills and behaviours across their organizations. Universities can

teach students how to start and grow enterprises in ways that benefit society (Volkmann et al.,

2009). A shift from classical models of teaching to experiential learning approaches is

necessary if entrepreneurship education at universities is regarded as theoretically based real

life experience. High-growth entrepreneurship can be a consequence of an adequate form of

education for developing high potential students and graduates that can become future opinion

leaders and perhaps role models.

Research has demonstrated that high-growth entrepreneurs in Europe are better

educated than other entrepreneurs and the general population. Most founders of technology-

based enterprises have a university degree. High-growth enterprises frequently generate new

jobs and new products, services and markets. They are generally built on and related to

innovation since entrepreneurial activity is often based on fundamental technologies like

genetic engineering or, earlier, microprocessor technology. In Germany for example,

enterprises started by individuals with university degrees tend to grow faster than enterprises

founded by non-academics (Egeln, 2000). The strength of entrepreneurship education is to

influence people’s attitudes towards entrepreneurship and the prospects and feasibility of

becoming a growth entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship education aims to develop students’ competences and

entrepreneurial intentions towards starting a business as a career option. Entrepreneurial

capacities and mindsets and the promotion of the social recognition for entrepreneurial

initiatives are the general goals of European universities and colleges (European Commission,

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2006, 2008). In the United States, an entrepreneurial culture is essential for encouraging and

supporting students and the faculty in launching high-growth ventures.

In the United States, Canada and Australia the economic significance of

entrepreneurial education is recognized in universities and colleges primarily finance

themselves privately and are therefore in a position to make investments in enterprises.

Otherwise, in countries where state universities and colleges predominate, entrepreneurial and

commercial university initiatives will also gain in importance when they are increasingly

forced to retrench their expenses, and under budget constraints have to look out for new ways

of financing.

North America is considered as a role model with regard to high-growth enterprises as

well as the leader in entrepreneurship education. The enormous economic contribution of

Microsoft, Amazon, Intel, Cisco or Google and many other innovative high-growth firms in

the United States are the proofs. “Compared with other countries, the United States has the

longest history in entrepreneurship education, and also one of the most entrepreneur-friendly

cultures and structural conditions in the world” (Volkmann et al., 2009, p. 53).

The personal entrepreneurial developments of students and staff is another element

arguing that universities are entrepreneurial because when they accept wider responsibility for

the personal development of members, particularly with respect to future social, career and

lifelong learning experiences (Gibb, 2008). In this sense it is an advantage for the university

to favor the development of student talents in the field of entrepreneurship. In this vein, the

university itself becomes a learning organization open to learn from all stakeholders at all

levels. By doing so, university initiates knowledge exchange and relations to external

stakeholders such as university-business links.

DiGregoria and Shane (2003) quoted by Volkmann et al. (2009, p. 58) reveal that “Other

factors such as an entrepreneurial culture within the university and its surroundings play an

important role. For example Stanford University, with research expenditure amounting to

US$ 391 million, supported by the government, produced 25 licensed start-ups in 1997,

whereas Duke University with sponsored research expenditure of US$ 361 million generated

none .”

- 13 -

What is the case in Cameroon? After having evocated what Fomba (2009) said concerning

entrepreneurial issues in Cameroon, we want to go further by mentioning several others

aspects of the situation.

2.3. THE REALITIES OF JOB MARKET IN CAMEROON

Over and above numerous short-term explanations specific to each country, there are

serious deficiencies in the areas of entrepreneurship and management in Africa. African

economies are almost all considered to be among the least well managed in the world.

Africans are reputed to be the least inspired, the least trained and the least equipped

entrepreneurs (Kabeya Tshikuku, 2001).

The result that is generally observed in this depressing climate is fivefold: i) reconversion

of indigenous enterprises into precarious businesses operating in the underground of the

informal sector; ii) cautious and non dynamic behaviour of nationals considering the

establishment of enterprises; iii) an impressive number of bankrupt or abandoned indigenous

enterprises; iv) a disturbing number of indigenous enterprises that never survive their

founders; v) and scarcity of institutions for the supervision, financing and promotion of

enterprises- small and medium – established and owned by natives.

Economists observe that entrepreneurship in Africa is reduced by wealth creation throw

the Small size enterprise by entrepreneurs who have not generally benefited training in

entrepreneurship and management. Accounting is irregular and basic so that significant

information are not transmitted to financial institutions. Financing milieu and banks are

difficult to access since entrepreneurial projects suffer the lack of business plan. Mahamat-

Idriss (2010) notices three types of paradoxes which sustain the specificity and the complexity

of the African entrepreneurial context. There are the well-developed informal sector, cultural

and ethnic’s practices and the familial fundraising of entrepreneurs who rarely demand credit

to formal banks.

In black African countries in general and in the Economic and Monetary Community of

Central Africa (CEMAC) in particular, the Small and even the Too Small Size Enterprises are

better created and grow easily than Medium Size Enterprises. The informal sector is the

domain of expansion of the Too Small Size Enterprises. Growing and investments strategies

of Too Small Seize Enterprises by the transformation into Small and Medium Size enterprises

or industries face huge challenges since they are not part of the financial market. The

- 14 -

immediate consequence is the lack of financial resources for their development and

sustainability.

According to Mahamat-Idriss (2010), African entrepreneurship and its multiple obstacles

is not already the framework of an abundant literature review; nevertheless, the few studies on

the matter try to explain the entrepreneurial process in African context by focusing on the key

factors such as behaviours, attitudes, subjective norms, ethnocultural norms and

entrepreneurs’ perceptions. Many works explored the cultural specificities as stimuli of

entrepreneurship in researches on ethnic entrepreneurship. In this vein, it is obvious to say

that the promotion of an entrepreneurial culture is not a matter of higher education. Further

analyses of researchers like Bauer and Yamey (1957) lead to the conclusion that sociocultural

and psychological barriers against entrepreneurial attitudes could explain the incapacity of

developing countries to generate and spin-offs technological and organizational innovation.

Concerning precisely the creation of a Small Size Entreprise in Cameroon, Tsapi (2007)

argues that something have been done by the Government to promote the private sector. Since

1980, the sociopolitical environment seems to be more favourable to the creation and

development of private enterprises, precisely the Too Small Size Enterprises with a certain

withdrawal of the State, but there are still needs of improvement of the stimulation of

individual initiatives by the Government.

Some structures have been created in Cameroon in order to facilitate entrepreneurship

like the National Investement Society of (SNI - Société Nationale d’Investissement), the

Ministry of Industrial and Commercial development, (MINDIC -Ministère du développement

Industriel et Commercial), The National Fund for Rural Development (FONADER - Fonds

National de Développement Rural), the Support Center to Small and Medium Size Enterprises

( CAPME - Centre d’Appui aux Petites et Moyennes Entreprises) and the National Fund for

Employment (FNE -Fonds National de l’Emploi). The mission of FNE is to propose politics

of supervision of young enterprises creators by welcoming and listening to the potential

entrepreneurs, giving them training, education, technical assistance for creation, edition and

spread of notices and several guidelines. The new Government organization has ministries

that can help to foster entrepreneurial culture such as Ministries of Small and Medium Size

Industries and Social Economies, Employment and Vocational Training, Scientific Research

and Innovation, Arts and Culture, Higher Education, Secondary Education, Basic Education,

and Youth Affairs and Civic Education.

- 15 -

In spite of all the above listed measures, Tsapi (2007) notices that lot of efforts are still

to be done to promote the creation of Too Small, Small and Medium Size Enterprises since

the crucial question of access to financing remains, the administrative procedures of the

creation of an enterprise are always complex, access to the market and inputs is enough

difficult, and taxes’ regime is heavy. When young starter entrepreneurs overcome those

obstacles, they now face difficulties dealing with the start-up phase. The author reveals that

many of new enterprises fail within the five years following their creation like mentioned also

by the WLO (1992) reporting that relatively to countries and sectors, 35 to 70% of new

enterprises close within the three years following their creation. Suitable market studies, the

access to the bank funds, a significant financial and logistic support of the Government,

remain serious obstacles for the entrepreneurship in Cameroon.

The main source of funding of Too Small Business is the personal fund or saving of

social and cultural associations. Tsapi (2007) notices a remarkable development of

microfinance institutions with the aim of satisfying the need to fund all those facing

difficulties to get access to classical bank. Microfinance institutions serve micro-credits to the

little entrepreneurs without significant guaranties and with a smooth period of back payment.

The paradoxical thing is that the rate of interests is too high. Another weakness of young

entrepreneurs of informal sector is their lack of management skills for a good functioning of

the business, no matter the area: decision making concerning financing, marketing strategies,

the management of human resources, the production, the logistic, acquisitions, etc. Decision

taking is usually influenced by social factors, as family pressure, even when the entrepreneur

seems to be the only master at a strategic and operational level.

The functioning of the higher educational system in Cameroon faces a different social

and economic reality compared to what is fund in western countries. One of the crucial

challenges among others is to address the informal sector in order to promote an

entrepreneurial culture among scholars. There is nothing done in this perspective even with

the anchorage of LMD system. Kamdem (2002, p. 146) argues that the profile of a graduate or

post graduate degree holder turn into informal sector after failing to insert himself into the

formal work market is the managing entrepreneur (L’entrepreneur débrouillard) who is

somebody who start business with nothing significant and step by step grows, by doing pretty

jobs and using his intellectual background. If this seems to be the destiny of higher education

degree holders, what can be the entrepreneurial intention of those still completing their studies

and among whom an important percentage will not have the opportunity to have a job in the

- 16 -

formal organization? This question lead to the interest on the theoretical framework on

intention, viewed as a psychosocial phenomenon.

2.4. THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR

In broad terms, the theory of planned behaviour is found to be well supported by

empirical evidence. Intentions to perform behaviours of different kinds can be predicted with

high accuracy from attitudes towards the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived

behavioural control; and these intentions, together with perceptions of behavioural control,

account for considerable variance in actual behaviour. Intentions are anticipated outcomes

that usually guide and play a role as a catalyst for planned actions (Fayolle et al 2006).

Among intention models is Shapero’s model (1982) of an entrepreneurial event for which

the intention to take up an entrepreneurial career is a result of the two perceptions:

‘’desirability’’ and ‘’feasibility‟. Perceptions of desirability refer to the individual’s attraction

to undertaking certain behaviour (such as entrepreneurial behaviour).

The theory of planned behaviour is also part of intentional models which has been

employed in explaining the gradual beginning of entrepreneurial behaviour (Fayolle et al,

2006). This theory has been designed to predict and explain human behaviour in specific

contexts. The main idea is that intentions may capture motivational factors that influence

behaviour, and that the “stronger the intention to engage in behaviour the more likely should

be its performance‟ (Ajzen, 1991:181). According to this theory, attitude towards behaviour,

subjective norms and perceived behavioural control are the antecedents of intentions that

influence behavior (Ajzen, 1991). The theory of planned behaviour is an extension of the

theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) made necessary

by the original model’s limitations in dealing with behaviours over which people have

incomplete volitional control.

As in the original theory of reasoned action, a central factor in the theory of planned

behaviour is the individual’s intention to perform a given behaviour. Intentions are assumed

to capture the motivational factors that influence a behaviour; they are indications of how

hard people are willing to try, of how much of an effort they are planning to exert, in order to

perform the behaviour. As a general rule, the stronger the intention to engage in a behaviour,

the more likely should be its performance (Ajzen, 1991, p. 181). The idea that behavioral

achievement depends jointly on motivation (intention) and ability (behavioural control) is by

- 17 -

no means new. It constitutes the basis for theorizing on such diverse issues as animal learning

(Hull, 1943), level of aspiration (Lewin, Dembo, Festinger, & Sears, 1944), performance on

psychomotor and cognitive tasks (e.g., Pleishman, 1958; Locke, 1965; Vroom, 1964), and

person perception and attribution (e.g., Heider, 1944; Anderson, 1974). It has similarly been

suggested that some conception of behavioral control be included in our more general models

of human behaviour, conceptions in the form of “facilitating Factors” (Triandis, 1977), “the

context of opportunity” (Sarver, 1983), “resources” (Liska, 1984), or “action control” (KuhI,

1985). The assumption is usually made that motivation and ability interact in their effects on

behavioural achievement. Thus, intentions would be expected to influence performance to the

extent that the person has behavioural control, and performance should increase with

behavioral control to the extent that the person is motivated to try. Interestingly, despite its

intuitive plausibility, the interaction hypothesis has received only limited empirical support

(see Locke, Mento, & Katcher, 1978).

Perceived behavioural control plays an important part in the theory of planned

behaviour. In fact, the theory of planned behavior differs from the theory of reasoned action in

its addition of perceived behavioural control. Perceived behavioural control refers to people’s

perception of the ease or difficulty of performing the behaviour of interest. Perceived

behavioural control usually varies across situations and actions. The present view of perceived

behavioural control, however, is most compatible with Bandura’s (1977, 1982) concept of

perceived self-efficacy which “is concerned with judgments of how well one can execute

courses of action required to deal with prospective situations” (Bandura, 1982, p. 122).

Many investigations (e.g., Bandura, Adams, & Beyer, 1977; Bandura, Adams, Hardy,

& Howells, 1980) have shown that people’s behaviour is strongly influenced by their

confidence in their ability to perform it (i.e., by perceived behavioral control). Self-efficacy

beliefs can influence choice of activities, preparation for an activity, effort expended during

performance, as well as thought patterns and emotional reactions (see Bandura, 1982, 1991).

The theory of planned behaviour places the construction of self-efficacy belief or perceived

behavioural control within a more general framework of the relations among beliefs, attitudes,

intentions, and behaviour. According to the theory of planned behaviour, perceived behavioral

control, together with behavioral intention, can be used directly to predict behavioural

achievement.

- 18 -

A measure of perceived behavioural control can substitute for a measure of actual

control depends, of course, on the accuracy of the perceptions. Perceived behavioural control

may not be particularly realistic when a person has relatively little information about the

behaviour, when requirements or available resources have changed, or when new and

unfamiliar elements have entered into the situation. Under those conditions, a measure of

perceived behavioral control may add little to accuracy of behavioral prediction. However, to

the extent that perceived control is realistic, it can be used to predict the probability of a

successful behavioural attempt (Ajzen, 1985). According to the theory of planned behavior,

performance of a behaviour is a joint function of intentions and perceived behavioural control.

For accurate prediction, several conditions have to be met. First, the measures of intention and

of perceived behavioural control must correspond to (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977) or be

compatible with (Ajzen, 1988) the behavior that is to be predicted. That is, intentions and

perceptions of control must be assessed in relation to the particular behaviour of interest, and

the specified context must be the same as that in which the behaviour is to occur.

The theory of planned behaviour postulates three conceptually independent

determinants of intention. The first is the attitude towards the behaviour and refers to the

degree to which a person has a favourable or unfavourable evaluation or appraisal of the

behaviour in question. The second predictor is a social factor termed subjective norm; it refers

to the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behaviour. The third

antecedent of intention is the degree of perceived behavioural control which, as we saw

earlier, refers to the perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior and it is assumed

to reflect past experience as well as anticipated impediments and obstacles. As a general rule,

the more favorable the attitude and subjective norm with respect to a behaviour, and the

greater the perceived behavioral control, the stronger should be an individual’s intention to

perform the behavior under consideration.

The relative importance of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural

control in the prediction of intention is expected to vary across behaviours and situations.

Thus, in some applications it may be found that only attitudes have a significant impact on

intentions. Attitudes and perceived behavioural control are sufficient to account for intentions,

and it is still in others that all three predictors make independent contributions. In the

following chapter, we will go through methodology in order to explain how we proceed to

measure Cameroonians entrepreneurial intention.

- 19 -

- 20 -

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, we present in details the population of the study, the sampling techniques

used to select participant of the survey, the way we operationalize our main variables in order

to measure its, the fields of the surveys, Douala and Yaoundé, the two biggest town of

Cameroon, the explanatory survey in terms of focus group discussion, the construction of the

questionnaire, the reliability and validity testing, the collection of quantitative data and finally

the techniques used to analyze data.

3.1. POPULATION

The target population concerned by the study is made-up of scholars still completing their

study in higher education system institutions of both Yaoundé and Douala capital cities. The

higher education system in Cameroon is constituted of eight states universities, privates

universities and professional training school, privates higher institutions. There are some

professional schools which give to their students direct access to public service as civil

servant. We excluded from our population students of previously mentioned school because

they already have a guarantee professional occupation a legitimate planned career.

Meanwhile, students of other professional school offering only training are concerned with

the study since they have to look by themselves for job opportunities after their graduation,

even an entrepreneurial career. It does not appear to us significant to evaluate their

entrepreneurial intention since the short term perspective of work is not for them an

entrepreneurial issue. We also excludes from our target population scholars of level I since

they are new comers to the high educational system and are not yet totally part of the

academic environment at the moment of the survey, it is just the beginning of the academic

year. Naturally, as indicated under the limitation title of our introduction, only scholars of

Cameroon’s capital cities are concerned with the study due to the contrast those cities offer.

3.2. SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

The sampling technique used for this research is called quota or proportionate sampling

which is often applied in a research “when it is not possible to list all members of the

- 21 -

population of interest. When quota sampling is involved, those who gather data are given

exact characteristics and quotas of persons to be interviewed.[…]This technique of sampling

is used in large-scale surveys. When quota sampling is used, data is obtained from easily

accessible individuals.” (Amin, 2005, p. 243)

According to what Amin (2005) said, we used quota sampling just to make sure that every

categories of higher education institutions system were represented in our sample. At times to

collect data in a given institution and in a chosen discipline, convenience sampling rather than

quota sampling logic was now applied because “convenience samples include in the sample,

whoever happens to be available at a given moment for a researcher conducting the study.

[….]Those who answer may be more motivated or more interested in the particular study.

Subjects are chosen until the desired sample is obtained.” (p. 242)

Finally, our sample is constituted of 1231 subjects shared into two groups according to the

town where they are pursuing their study. 601 are scholars of Yaoundé higher education

institutions while 630 are scholars of Douala higher education institutions. Among the 1211

respondents who indicate their gender, 50.5% (exactly 622 subjects) are males while 47.8

(589 subjects) are females. The average age is 23.24 years old, with a standard deviation of

3,383. The youngest scholar is 17 while the oldest is 48 years. The level of study varies from

the first year to doctorate level but the best represented in the two samples are level 2 (46.0%)

and level 3 (32.7%). Respondents are divided into three mains categories according to the

type of higher education institution they belong to either at Yaoundé or Douala cities. The

following table depicts the representations in the sample of public and private universities,

higher education institutes and finally professional school.

Table 1: Sample representation of higher education institutions

Capital city * Type of institution Crosstabulation

116 80 95 310 601

19,3% 13,3% 15,8% 51,6% 100,0%

190 47 58 335 630

30,2% 7,5% 9,2% 53,2% 100,0%

306 127 153 645 1231

24,9% 10,3% 12,4% 52,4% 100,0%

Count

% within Capital city

Count

% within Capital city

Count

% within Capital city

Yaoundé

Douala

Capitalcity

Total

Highereducationinstitutes

Privatesuniversities

Professionalschools

Publicuniversities

Type of institution

Total

- 22 -

The most represented subjects of our population in the sample are scholars of public

universities (Universities of Yaoundé I, Universities of Yaoundé II and Universities of

Douala) with their several faculties and departments. They are 645 persons (52,4%). To

register to a public university, a student with a higher secondary degree certificate

(Baccalauréat or DCE Advanced level) need just to paid 50.000 francs CFA of scholarship

fee. The conditions to purchase studies in a public university can be fulfilled by many youths.

Since there are more higher education institutions than private universities and professional

training schools, the representations in the sample are respectively 24,9%, 10,3% and 12,4%.

It is actually easier to meet a public university scholar on the field than a respondent of other

institutions.

3.3. THE EXPLANATORY SURVEY: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

The sampling techniques mentioned above serve for quantitative data collection of the

research. Before this step, a qualitative investigation was carried out by organizing seven focus

group discussions according to the logic of purposive or judgmental sampling. Amin (2005, p.

242) notices that

“in this type of sampling the researcher use his/her own judgment or common sense regarding the participant from whom information will be collected. The researcher usually selects a sample based on his or her experience of knowledge of the group to be sample and has in mind that these respondents have the information he/she requires. […] In this case the judgment of the researcher in selecting the respondents is more useful than the representativeness of the sample. […] Judgmental sampling is an attempt to include a range of people or a variety of different situations in the study sample. This type of sample is more appropriate for qualitative research than quantitative research.”

According to the configuration of higher educational system in Cameroon, we wanted to

explore attitude of scholars towards entrepreneurship since they belong to different types of

institutions. By taking into consideration that the organizational culture and the interaction of

an institution with the environment, we worried about the similarities and contrasts of the

entrepreneurial culture views as a mindset among scholars of public universities, privates

universities, and professional training schools, the three mains categories of higher education

system in Cameroon.

- 23 -

Table 2: Focus group discussions

Place Category Number of subjects

Focus group public universities 8

Focus group private universities 10

Focus group institutes 6

Yaoundé

Focus group higher schools 6

Focus group public universities 11

Focus group institutes 10

Focus group higher schools 7

Douala

Total= 58

3.4. OPERATIONALISATION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTI ON

As seen at the theoretical background of our research, the best way to assess

entrepreneurial intention is to evaluate it in terms of planned behaviour as social psychologists

like Ajzen and Fishbein (1991) proposed it in their TPB. In this vein, attitude toward the

behaviour, subjective norms and perception of behavioural control are the main variables to

measure. By referring ourselves to INPERE (International Network for Psychology of

Entrepreneurship Research and Education) work, we noticed that an Entrepreneurial Intention

Questionnaire (EIQ) has been elaborated in order to assess entrepreneurial intention among

students. The characters measured by the various scales are Attraction, Social Norms, Self-

efficacy and Intention. The up to date version is the 3.0 one, a well-tested instrument with a

significant reliability. The EIQ 2.5, the wild used version has been passed successfully at

Andalusia, Portugal, Taiwan, Maastricht (Netherlands) and Bolivia (Liñán and Moriano,

2007). Rules and procedure to follow while translating EQI 3.0 to other languages than

Spanish and English are well established.

We intended initially to go through translation of EIQ as tool for data collection of our

research. Quickly, we found the content of EIP 3.0 irrelevant to the social and cultural context

of our research. Since the role played by governments, the proportion of the informal

economy, the unemployment rate, the perception of public services, the interaction between

ethnicity and entrepreneurship, the level of the entrepreneurial culture promotion, and policies

and institutions fostering entrepreneurship are not the same in African and Western countries,

rather well developed. It appears obvious that items content in EIQ 3.0 were to be revised

- 24 -

before using the questionnaire in Cameroonian context. This constitutes the main reason for

the chosen option consisting in starting our data collection by an exploratory research, a

qualitative enquiry. The aim of focus group discussion was to gather fruitful information on

the attitude of Cameroonian scholars towards entrepreneurship, which exploited using content

analysis, could help to come out with significant modalities and indicators serving as elements

for an adapted questionnaire.

By inspiring ourselves from thematic content analysis and EIQ version 3.0, we elaborated

an adapted entrepreneurial intention questionnaire with an endeavor to address as well as

possible contextual factors. The questionnaire is structured in four main parts: attitude toward

entrepreneurship in Cameroon, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control (we can also

be considered to some extent as a kind of self-efficacy beliefs) and finally personal

information on the respondent. The following table depicts in details how we went through

measurement of our variables.

- 25 -

Table 3: Operationalization of variables

Independent

variable

IV

Modalities

Dependant

variable

DV Modalities DV indicators DV

items

Moderator

variables

Items

Perceived

valorization of

entrepreneurship

in Cameroon

1 to 6

Attitude toward

entrepreneurship

in Cameroon Entrepreneurial

aspiration

15 to

18

Perception of

of Wage-

employ

Advantages

6 and

8 to

14

Self-evaluation

of

entrepreneurial

knowledge

19 to

23

Yaoundé

Estimation of

success

percentage of

degree holders

entrepreneur

24 to

29

Entrepreneurial

subjective

norms

Opinions on

successful

degree holders

entrepreneurs

30 to

35

Compensatory

needs to wage-

employment

53 to

56

Mastery

experiences

36 to

43

plus

66

General

knowledge on

entrepreneurial-

based support

institutions and

trainings

57 to

61

Anticipation of

career

opportunities in

Cameroon

62 to

64

Financial

dependence

toward family

65

and

66

Cameroon’s

capital

cities

Douala

Entrepreneurial

intention

Perceived

entrepreneurial

behavioral

control

Vicarious

learning

44 to

52

Personal

information

67 to

74

NB: Items 2, 4, 6, 8, 18, 51 and 52 are reversed; at time to compute, they are recoded to

make sense while being added to others.

- 26 -

3.5. THE URBAN ENVIRONMENTS OF THE STUDY: YAOUNDE A ND DOUALA

Cameroon is a bilingual country and many of the schools teach in French as a first language

and English as a second language. French speaking people are the majorities since they live in

seven over ten regions. English speaking citizens have North West and South West as native

regions. French is the dominant language in the educational system in spite of the increased

interest of French speaking for bilingual education. Yaoundé is the home of institutions, the

political capital of Cameroon and the second largest city in the country after the port city

Douala. It lies in the center of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,500 ft) above

sea level. Yaoundé is the site of several universities: the University of Yaoundé I, the

University of Yaoundé II (on a campus outside of town), the Protestant University of Central

Africa (UPAC) and the Catholic University for Central Africa (UCAC). Several of the

nation's professional schools are also located in Yaounde (Ecole Normal Superieur for

teachers, Ecole Militaire InterArmes du Cameroun) as well as various schools for engineers,

nurses and diplomats).

Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral region. The

Cameroon's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport, are

in Douala. It is the commercial capital of the country and the richest city in the whole

CEMAC region of 11 countries. The city is located on the banks of the Wouri River, the two

sides linked by Bonaberi Bridge. Its population in 2008 was recorded at close to 3,000,000.

The climate is tropical. Douala is the 27th most expensive city in the world and the most

expensive in Africa, overtaking Lagos, Nigeria at 32nd. It is ranked 27th for 2009, up from

34th in 2008. In 2007 it was ranked 24th in the world and 1st in Africa. Douala has a State

university (University of Douala) and several private higher institutions.

3.6. THE PRE-TEST: RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY

The first draft of the questionnaire contented a total number of 95 items. It has been pre-tested on 30 subjects fulfilling the criteria of the population individuals (scholars of Faculty of Art, Letter, and Social Sciences of University of Yaoundé I). The duration of administration was between 30 to 45 minutes. The selection of the final items has been done using correlations analysis. Two techniques were applied: the score technique and the matrix of correlations between items. The first technique consists in the calculation of cumulative mark of each individual for every variables measured by a number of items. Only items with a

- 27 -

higher correlation (upper or equal to .70) with the total score were maintained. The second technique is complementary to the first. It just consists in the production of the matrix of correlations between items measuring the same variable. Items weakly link to others were simply deleted. Finally we came out with a total number of 74 items, including those measuring moderator variables. Some items were rephrased after requiring subjects’ opinion about the comprehension of items. The final version of our questionnaire was filled in about 20 minutes by the respondents.

3.7. THE QUANTITATIVE DATA COLLECTION

The quantitative data collection lasted for a period of one month (November to December

2011) in the two Cameroon’s capital cities Yaoundé and Douala. Once the institutions were

chosen, the main thing to do was just to meet scholars on different campus. Usually, for those

interested in the participation of the survey, the questionnaire was fulfilled with some

motivation. A total of 1500 printed questionnaires were used but just a number of 1231 really

exploitable were given back.

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CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

We took into consideration stated objectives of the study we presented at the first chapter

to display the results of the research. Since the type of approach chosen is the comparison, the

emphasis will be laid on how equal or different are Douala and Yaoundé according to specific

variables. The three main variables (attitude towards entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial

subjective norms and perceived entrepreneurial behavioural control) and their modalities

(Perception of entrepreneurship prestige in Cameroon, Entrepreneurial aspirations, Opinions

on successful degree holders entrepreneurs, Self-evaluation of entrepreneurial knowledge,

entrepreneurial mastery experiences and entrepreneurial vicarious learning) are result of

computation of items that measures them.

4.1 ATTITUDE TOWARD ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN CAMEROON

Score of “Perception of entrepreneurship prestige in Cameroon” is obtained by computing

the sixth first items of the questionnaire. “Entrepreneurial aspirations” is the computation of

items 15 to 19. Attitude towards entrepreneurship is the cumulative mark of the two

modalities. The table below presents the compared scores of Yaoundé and Douala scholars.

Table 4: Comparison of attitudes toward entrepreneurship in Cameroon

Group Statistics

571 13,70 2,654 ,111

565 13,70 2,617 ,110

577 12,31 2,311 ,096

596 12,80 2,061 ,084

553 25,99 3,402 ,145

540 26,46 3,190 ,137

Capital cityYaoundé

Douala

Yaoundé

Douala

Yaoundé

Douala

Perception ofentrepreneurshipprestige in Cameroon

Entrepreneurialaspirations

Attitude towardentrepreneurship inCameroon

N Mean Std. DeviationStd. Error

Mean

As depicted in the comparative table above, Yaoundé and Douala’s scholars of the samples

have the same perception of entrepreneurship in Cameroon ( . Generally, they

disagree with the statement that presents entrepreneurship in Cameroon more valorized than

other careers (58, 6%). Concerning taxation policy, 66,1% think that it does not foster new

- 29 -

ventures among citizens. In the same vein, 72,8% estimate that administrative formalities. Just

20,1% agree with the fact that powerful businessmen are the most respectful personalities in

the country. For 79% of respondents, corruption is actually perceived in Cameroon as an

obstacle of wealth creation through entrepreneurship. In spite of the resemblance towards

perception of entrepreneurial prestige in Cameroon, entrepreneurial aspirations are not the

same among the two categories of scholars. Results indicate that Douala’s respondents show a

better level of entrepreneurial aspiration than those of Yaoundé (12,80 against 12,31). Before

verifying if the difference is statistically significant and do some comparisons, it is important

to reveal that 75,8% of respondents of both Yaoundé and Douala town seem to agree with the

fact that there is more advantages than disadvantages to become an entrepreneur. Exactly

88,1% of Douala respondents agree in that vein, against 72,9% of Yaoundé respondents. Since

the probability to earn money in the informal sector is not negligible in a non developed

country like Cameroon, an item invites subjects to react toward such an issue. 62,9% of all the

respondents belief that they will not feel ashamed if they can gain enough money in the

informal economy to live a comfortable live. Once more Douala has a better proportion than

Yaoundé in this matter (64,3% against 61,5%). Finally, after combining perception of the

prestige of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial aspirations, Douala’s scholars of the

sample realize better score than those of Yaoundé according to the average ( 26,46 against

25,99).

Table 5: Significance of the difference between attitude towards entrepreneurship

Independent Samples Test

,034 ,853 -,059 1134 ,953 -,009 ,156 -,316 ,298

-,059 1133,985 ,953 -,009 ,156 -,316 ,298

10,496 ,001 -3,876 1171 ,000 -,495 ,128 -,746 -,245

-3,869 1146,598 ,000 -,495 ,128 -,746 -,244

1,150 ,284 -2,401 1091 ,017 -,479 ,200 -,871 -,088

-2,403 1089,201 ,016 -,479 ,199 -,871 -,088

Equal variancesassumed

Equal variancesnot assumed

Equal variancesassumed

Equal variancesnot assumed

Equal variancesassumed

Equal variancesnot assumed

Perception ofentrepreneurshipprestige in Cameroon

Entrepreneurialaspirations

Attitude towardentrepreneurship inCameroon

F Sig.

Levene's Test forEquality of Variances

t df Sig. (2-tailed)Mean

DifferenceStd. ErrorDifference Lower Upper

95% ConfidenceInterval of the

Difference

t-test for Equality of Means

- 30 -

The table above is the result of independent sample test using Student t and generate by

SPSS version 14. We have enough elements to appreciate the significance of the differences

depicted in the table before this one. The two groups realize the same mean (13,70) in

perception of the prestige of entrepreneurship in Cameroon. There is no difference in their

agreement on the way entrepreneurship is valorized in Cameroon (t = - 0,59; p < 0,05).

Nevertheless, the entrepreneurial aspirations are not the same since Doula’s respondents

realize better score than Yaoundé’s subjects ( ). The difference

is significant at the level of the populations which are considered homogeneous due to the

equality of variance; therefore it can be assumed that scholars of Douala have higher

entrepreneurial aspirations than those of Yaoundé (t = - 3,876; p < 0,01). Finally, there is a

slight difference even concerning attitude towards entrepreneurship in Cameroon (t = - 2,403;

p < 0,05). The difference of mean related to attitude toward entrepreneurship is significant (

26,46 for Douala against 25,99 for Yaoundé).

4.2. ENTREPRENEURIAL SUBJECTIVE NORMS

Scores on entrepreneurial subjective norms is the cumulative scores of Self-evaluation of

entrepreneurship (Items 19 to 23) and Opinion of respondents on successful degree holders

entrepreneurs (Items 30 to 35). The comparison of scores can be read in the following table

Table 6: Comparison of entrepreneurial subjective norms

Group Statistics

593 11,62 3,823 ,157

613 11,28 3,739 ,151

583 16,98 3,180 ,132

598 17,32 3,094 ,127

578 28,70 5,179 ,215

582 28,63 5,084 ,211

Capital cityYaoundé

Douala

Yaoundé

Douala

Yaoundé

Douala

Self-evaluation ofentrepreneurialknowledge

Opinions onsuccessful degreeholders entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurialsubjective norms

N Mean Std. DeviationStd. Error

Mean

Scores of entrepreneurial knowledge self-evaluation (11,62 for Yaoundé against 11,28 for

Douala) and the ones of opinions on graduates involved in an entrepreneurial career (16,98 for

Yaoundé and 17,32 for Douala) are too tied, and give finally a slight advance to Yaoundé

- 31 -

scholars (28,70 against 28,63 for those of Douala). Anyway, it is clear that most respondents

rate poorly their entrepreneurial knowledge regarding to what is prior to lunch business in

modern economy. 71,0% declare that they know nothing about elaboration of a fundable

entrepreneurial project. 47,1% reveal that they are not able to carry out a suitable market for

an interesting entrepreneurial project. 64,2% (785 respondents over 1222 valid responses) rate

poorly their knowledge on project management while 51,8% declare that they are ignorant of

the administrative procedures in order to create an enterprise in Cameroon. A smaller

percentage (47,6%) than the previous declare the same thing concerning the procedure to

follow while creating an association.

All these scandalous statistics highlight the problem of addressing properly the

entrepreneurial needs of scholars in Cameroon higher education institutions. It can be noticed

also that Douala’s scholars seem to have a better opinion of successful entrepreneurs who are

degree holders, even if the general perception is not too much enthusiastic. A minority

(34,5%) denies the fact that they were students already dreaming of business when they were

still completing their studies. 79,4% perceived them also as people introduced in business

milieus by benefiting of good relationship. In contrast to the previous remarks, there are

62,1% who worthily think that successful entrepreneurs who are graduates were formerly

scholars without money to paid their school fee. A non negligible minority (36%) is

persuaded that those successful entrepreneurs are people well introduced in secret

associations.

Another revelation in term of statistical information is the percentage of 79,6 of our

respondents who agree with the statement that successful entrepreneurs who are degree

holders are also civil servants doing at the same time business. This belief forces to look at

what remains of the social perception of employment in public services. Is it an obstacle to the

building of an entrepreneurial culture among scholars in Cameroon? Finally, it is important to

notice that 71,7% of respondents consider successful businessmen who were scholars like

them as those financially supported by their families since they can easily obtain launching

fund or inherit family enterprise. In terms of entrepreneurial subjective norms, our two

compared groups realize approximately the same score (28,70 for Yaoundé against 28, 63 for

Douala).

- 32 -

Table 7: Significance of the difference in entrepreneurial subjective norms

Independent Samples Test

,197 ,658 1,584 1204 ,113 ,345 ,218 -,082 ,772

1,583 1200,315 ,114 ,345 ,218 -,082 ,772

,026 ,873 -1,852 1179 ,064 -,338 ,183 -,696 ,020

-1,852 1175,701 ,064 -,338 ,183 -,697 ,020

,356 ,551 ,233 1158 ,816 ,070 ,301 -,521 ,661

,233 1157,248 ,816 ,070 ,301 -,521 ,661

Equal variancesassumed

Equal variancesnot assumed

Equal variancesassumed

Equal variancesnot assumed

Equal variancesassumed

Equal variancesnot assumed

Self-evaluation ofentrepreneurialknowledge

Opinions onsuccessful degreeholders entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurialsubjective norms

F Sig.

Levene's Test forEquality of Variances

t df Sig. (2-tailed)Mean

DifferenceStd. ErrorDifference Lower Upper

95% ConfidenceInterval of the

Difference

t-test for Equality of Means

All the three tests of the table above lead to the rejection of the equality of variance

assumption. The status of scholar in either politic or economic capital is not a criteria of

differentiation of the entrepreneurial subjective norms of the two groups (t = 0,233; p= 0,816).

Neither the slight difference in favour of Yaoundé’s respondents about self-evaluation of

entrepreneurial knowledge (t = 1, 583; p = 0,113) nor the better opinion scholars of Douala

have on successful graduated entrepreneurs (t = -1,852; p = -0,064) are statistically significant.

4.3. PERCEIVED ENTREPRENEURIAL BEHAVIORAL CONTROL

As entrepreneurial subjective norms, perceived entrepreneurial behavioural control has

two modalities which are the entrepreneurial mastery experiences (Items 36 to 43 plus 66) and

Entrepreneurial vicarious learning (Items 34 to 52). Statistics depicted in the following table

show that Douala scholars have obtained better scores than those of Yaoundé (27, 17 against

26,25).

- 33 -

Table 8: Comparison of perceived entrepreneurial behavioral control

Group Statistics

572 26,25 4,596 ,192

570 27,17 4,051 ,170

568 21,00 4,679 ,196

581 21,45 4,798 ,199

550 47,2055 7,76543 ,33112

538 48,5855 7,43520 ,32055

Capital cityYaoundé

Douala

Yaoundé

Douala

Yaoundé

Douala

Entrepreneurial masteryexperiences

Entrepreneurial vicariouslearning

Perceived entrepreneurialbehavioral control

N Mean Std. DeviationStd. Error

Mean

Mastery experiences are the most important source of information of the self-efficacy belief

elaborated by Bandura (1986) and is generally compared to perceived behavioural control of

the TPB of Ajzen (1991). Mastery experiences is the sum of past experiences related to a

specific domain and to which an individual can refer to at times to anticipate performances

required to achieve a similar activity or a similar task. Our questionnaire measure under the

mastery experiences section the entrepreneurial skills developed during daily situations. Some

statistics are high and show informal entrepreneurial acquisitions. 86% declare that they are

able to work within a team in order to achieve a common objective. The same percentage

confirms also that they can analyze a favourable situation for business. 74,4% agree with the

fact that they know how to improvise when the initial plan fail. Just 56,4% find needed money

in informal saving associations in case of emergency. In reverse, 71,1% of respondents think

that they are capable of creating business relationship in order to multiply their chances.

83,3% claim that they have the knowhow to bring others to work together under their

supervision just by motivating them. Finally the real entrepreneurial weakness among the

above listed is the capacity to raise fund when there is a need.

The other component of entrepreneurial perceived behavioural control is the

entrepreneurial vicarious learning with is also one of the main sources of information for self-

efficacy belief building. Vicarious learning refers to observational or symbolic learning

consisting in the acquisition of some knowledge or skills just by observing an efficacy model

acting. The average mark of Douala’s respondents is greater than Yaoundé one (21, 45 against

21, 00). Just 47,3% of respondents are familiar to entrepreneurs, but it is an incontestable

thing only for 17%. A low percentage of 39,7% know the successful history of many

entrepreneurs starting from the beginning of their venture till the present. 37,8% only are

- 34 -

regularly call to work with or for entrepreneurs. In the same vein, just 37,4% benefit

confidence of entrepreneurs. Similarly, only 28,9% have entrepreneurs as business partners.

Family influence on an eventual choice of an entrepreneurial career is considerable if we take

into consideration the fact that 63,9% of respondents claim that the most influential members

of their family expect them to work in the public service. This can reflect to a certain extend

the negative impact of social valorization of public service on the promotion of a necessary

entrepreneurial culture in Cameroon.

Table 9: Significance of the difference in perceived entrepreneurial behavioral control

Independent Samples Test

8,464 ,004 -3,588 1140 ,000 -,920 ,256 -1,423 -,417

-3,589 1123,276 ,000 -,920 ,256 -1,423 -,417

1,581 ,209 -,364 1147 ,716 -,127 ,347 -,808 ,555

-,364 1143,111 ,716 -,127 ,348 -,808 ,555

1,609 ,205 -2,104 1086 ,036 -1,106 ,526 -2,138 -,075

-2,105 1084,906 ,036 -1,106 ,526 -2,138 -,075

Equal variancesassumed

Equal variancesnot assumed

Equal variancesassumed

Equal variancesnot assumed

Equal variancesassumed

Equal variancesnot assumed

Entrepreneurial masteryexperiences

Entrepreneurial vicariouslearning

Perceived entrepreneurialbehavioral control

F Sig.

Levene's Test forEquality of Variances

t df Sig. (2-tailed)Mean

DifferenceStd. ErrorDifference Lower Upper

95% ConfidenceInterval of the

Difference

t-test for Equality of Means

Student t test for independent groups indicates a significant better perception of

entrepreneurial behavioural control of Douala scholars (t = -2,104; p < 0,05). The relevant

difference is due to the dominance of Douala’s scholars who have more valuable

entrepreneurial mastery experiences than their homologues of Yaoundé (t = - 3,588; p < 0,01).

As far as it is concerned with entrepreneurial vicarious learning, the fractional difference in

favour of Douala respondents is not attested as significant by the student t test (t= - 0,364; p =

0,716).

4.4. ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION RESULTS

- 35 -

Entrepreneurial intention scores is the sum of the three main variables measured as its

modalities: attitude toward entrepreneurship in Cameroon, entrepreneurial subjective norms

and perceived entrepreneurial behavioural control. The table below shows the general means.

Table 10: Comparison of entrepreneurial intention

Group Statistics

503 101,77 12,674 ,565

445 103,54 12,459 ,591

Capital cityYaoundé

Douala

Entrepreneurial intentionN Mean Std. Deviation

Std. ErrorMean

948 questionnaires are considered as valid by SPSS independent t test and with a mean of 103,54,

Douala’s scholars obtain a better average than those of Yaoundé who realize 101,77. The final thing

to do is just to verify how much significant is that observed difference.

Table 11: Significance of the difference in entrepreneurial intention

Independent Samples Test

,009 ,923 -2,158 946 ,031 -1,766 ,818 -3,372 -,160

-2,160 935,557 ,031 -1,766 ,817 -3,370 -,162

Equal variancesassumed

Equal variancesnot assumed

Entrepreneurial intentionF Sig.

Levene's Test forEquality of Variances

t df Sig. (2-tailed)Mean

DifferenceStd. ErrorDifference Lower Upper

95% ConfidenceInterval of the

Difference

t-test for Equality of Means

The main objective of our research is achieved at this level. It concerns the comparison of the

entrepreneurial intention of scholars of Douala and Yaoundé, the two capital cities of

Cameroon. The null hypothesis assuming the equality of variances is rejected (F = ,009; p =

,923). With the pooled variance option, the comparison can be done and the superiority of

entrepreneurial intention of Douala’s scholars is confirmed to be effective (t = ,031; p < ,05).

If someone is not fascinated by the comparison, then it will be easy to notice that the average

scores of entrepreneurial intention either for Douala or Yaoundé’s respondents are weak. With

a total number of 49 items measuring the entrepreneurial intention of scholars, if someone

choses four at each item, he will come out with the maximum score of 196. The worst score

corresponding to respondent choosing one each time is 49, but a theoretical mean for an

individual checking 2,5 forty nine number of time obtain 122,5, which is far higher than

- 36 -

103,54 the best group mean of our study. In conclusion, without any doubt, we can say that

entrepreneurial intention is very weak among Cameroonian scholars, no matter if they are

completing their studies either at Yaoundé or Douala. The next coming discussion of results

will try to emphasize on the slight difference notice between the two populations and

proposed an explanation of the general low entrepreneurial intention scores.

4.5. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

Basing ourselves on the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) the first

determinants of entrepreneurial intention we measured was the attitude towards the

entrepreneurship in Cameroon. It can be consider as the degree to which a person has a

favourable or unfavourable evaluation or appraisal of the behaviour in question. The influence

of the urban environment can explain why at Douala, scholars aspire to an entrepreneurial

career more than those of Yaoundé. The density of enterprise and business in Douala can be

an entrepreneurial stimulus. But one should not forget that attitude toward entrepreneurial

behaviour is not too favourable. Among the moderator variables also measured by the

questionnaire, the still subliminal perception of the civil servant status seems to have a

reductive effect on the favourable attitude towards entrepreneurship. For instance, majority of

respondents consider among perceived advantages of public employment a likely job security

(77,3%), the guarantee of retirement (78,2%), the regularity of the salary (81,2%), the

freedom allowing to get involved in other private activities (68,6%), access possibilities to

important functions (65,2%), advantages due to appointments (86,9%), and the profit link to

the management of budgets (63,4%). The pathological perception of public propriety, the

influence and power attributed to high civil servants, the uncertainty of the economy and work

market are some of factors that weaken the anchorage of a cultural and entrepreneurial

mindset among Cameroonian scholars. The situation is reinforced by the lack of a generalized

educational program and training in entrepreneurship at the higher education system. In spite

of the fact that entrepreneurial aspirations are higher at Douala than at Yaoundé, they remain

low and affected by the previous listed perceptions. The following table illustrates the

perceptual evaluation of career chances by the respondents regardless to the capital city to

which belong their high school institution.

- 37 -

Table 12: Perceptual evaluation of career chances

51,6% of Scholars estimate at more than 50% their chances to work in the public

service. 71,8% have the same estimation concerning private formal sector and 60% for the

entrepreneurial career. In spite of all the perceived advantages of the public service, it remains

true that scholars are actually aware of the fact that their chances to get access to an

employment as civil servant are reduced.

The second predictor of entrepreneurial intention is a social factor termed

entrepreneurial subjective norms in our research. It refers to the perceived social pressure to

perform or not to perform the entrepreneurial behaviour. There is no difference between the

two groups of the study. For both of them, scores of entrepreneurial subjective norms are

slightly greater than the theoretical mean of 27,5 obtained by an individual checking 2,5 at

each of the 11 items measuring the component of the entrepreneurial intention. It means that

the self-evaluation according to the training received in the higher education system does not

constitute a significant entrepreneurial motivational factor. We have seen that the respondents

generally agree with the weaknesses of their entrepreneurial knowledge and skill. The social

pressure exerted by the family is in favour of a public wage-employment since 84% of

respondents claim that influential members of their families like them to embrace a civil

servant career, probably for all the perceived advantages previously listed. It is well proved by

cross-cultural studies that in collectivistic cultural systems, the influential members of the

families are sometime those who provide material and financial support to the rest of the

family or are consulted for personal decision making. 86,3% of subjects declare their financial

dependence on their family at least at 50%; exactly 43,8% attest that they depend on their

family at least at 75%. In this condition, it is difficult to take the decision to free oneself and

[0 ; 25%] ]25%;50%] ]50%; 75%] ]75%;100%] total

Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

Public service 246 20 342 28,1 411 33,8 216 17,8 1215 100

Private formal sector 73 6,0 270 22,2 501 41,2 372 30,6 1216 100

Entrepreneurial career 164 13,5 320 26,3 420 34,6 311 25,6 1215 100

- 38 -

start an entrepreneurial career without the consent of those who support your study and expect

a career in public administration or in big organizations of private formal sector.

The third antecedent of entrepreneurial intention is the degree of perceived

entrepreneurial behavioural control which refers to the perceived ease or difficulty of

performing the behaviour. It is assumed to reflect past entrepreneurial experiences as well as

anticipated impediments and obstacles. Even if Douala’s respondents realized a slight better

score than Yaoundé ones, we are not far from the hypothetical mean of 47,5 for a subject

checking 2,5 on the 49 concerned items. As a general rule, the TPB prediction states that the

more favourable the attitude and subjective norm with respect to a behaviour, and the greater

the perceived behavioural control, the stronger should be an individual’s intention to perform

the behaviour under consideration. We do not face spectacular perceived entrepreneurial

behavioural control among the scholars of the study just because attitude towards

entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial subjective norms are not also significantly important.

We can nevertheless notice that Douala mastery experiences are more intense than those of

Yaoundé subjects. Logically this can be attributed to business opportunities either in informal

or formal sector more frequent in the capital city than in the capital one. Douala environment

offers more chances to earn money through daily transactions. In spite of the financial

dependence to family, an item measures how much our respondents are involved in

occasional small business.

Table 13: Familiarity with occasional small business

Rarely Often Regularly Permanently

Yaoundé Count 242 185 114 54 595

% within Capital

city 40,7% 31,1% 19,2% 9,1% 100,0%

Douala Count 203 192 152 56 603

% within Capital

city 33,7% 31,8% 25,2% 9,3% 100,0%

Count 445 377 266 110 1198

% within Capital

city 37,1% 31,5% 22,2% 9,2% 100,0%

As a matter of comparison, the advantage is relatively in favour of Douala respondents. The

percentage of rare occasions is high at Yaoundé (40,7%) than at Douala (33,7%). Scores are

not too different concerning “Often” (31,1% against 31,8%). Once again, on “regularly”,

Douala is better with a percentage of 25,2% against 19,2% for Yaoundé. Those checking

- 39 -

“permanently” are too nearer in terms of proportion (9,1% against 9,3%). If the familial

dependency percentage is considerable it means that the above mentioned occasions of

making money do not concern huge amount of gain. Once more, entrepreneurial experiences

seem to deal with informal negotiations, trades, and others related small activities.

CONCLUSION

Among the challenges faced by African universities, one can cite the promotion of an

entrepreneurial culture with a related program and training. The modern market of work has

proved his limit to employ all the graduates educational system put at his disposal every year.

One way to solve the problem is the development of entrepreneurial careers. Entrepreneurship

has been proved to be an option to create wealth and achieve it in a satisfying manner the

need of self-actualization after the completion of the studies. Even for national economies, the

promotion of entrepreneurship is a factor of sustainable growth. Worldwide higher education

systems try to accommodate their training to the fast changes operating in the market of work.

Creating wealth is one of the main objectives of well-known universities in United States of

America, United Kingdom, Japan, China, and so on. Sub-Saharan universities and high school

do not already address the entrepreneurship matter with the same conscious an efficacy. The

case which has interested us is the one of Cameroon. An attempt is done these last years to

sensitize citizen on entrepreneurship either on various campuses or in the public live, but it

still remains a new concept. Another challenge is the unavoidable domain of economy which

is simply the informal sector. One of the simplest way to predict possible choices of

entrepreneurial career by scholars is by measuring their entrepreneurial intention. The

literature has shown the significant impact of the environment on entrepreneurial initiatives.

The contrast of the two capital cities of Cameroon offers a good opportunity of comparison.

The main objective is to compare by measuring it the entrepreneurial intention of

Yaoundé and Douala’s Scholars. Referring ourselves to the theory of planned behaviour of

Ajzen (….) three components of the entrepreneurial intention are taking into consideration:

attitude towards entrepreneurship in Cameroon, entrepreneurial subjective norms and

perceived entrepreneurial behavioural control. Numerous studies have measured

entrepreneurial intention and one of the standard instrument used in that purpose is the

- 40 -

Entrepreneurial Intention Questionnaire (EIQ). It has been used with a relative satisfaction in

western countries. We found in spite of all the content of the EIQ, version 3.0, partially

irrelevant to sub-Saharan social and economical context.

An explanatory study has been carried out by organizing seven focus group

discussions with scholars of different higher education institutions of Yaoundé and Douala. A

total number of 58 scholars participated to the four focus group discussions organized at

Yaoundé and the three which took place at Douala. The content analysis of the qualitative

data collected helps us to come out with suitable indicators on which we based ourselves to

elaborate the questionnaire used for quantitative data collection. A sample of 1231 scholars

participated in the survey. The first group, the one constituted of scholars from Yaoundé has

601 subjects, while the second is composed of 630 scholars of Douala.

The main results present a general weak entrepreneurial intention among the

respondents but scholars of Douala have the higher entrepreneurial intention. The perception

of the prestige of entrepreneurship in Cameroon is the same for both groups. Douala scholars

have a slight better entrepreneurial aspiration than those of Yaoundé. There is no significant

difference about entrepreneurial subjective norms no matter the capital city where the scholar

is completing his study. In the two groups, the self-evaluation of entrepreneurial knowledge

and skills is poor. Concerning the third component, Douala’s scholars once more have a better

perceived entrepreneurial behavioral control. They have benefited more entrepreneurial

mastery experiences due to their milieu whose vocation is by definition mainly economic.

Some moderator variables may help to have a deeper understanding of the

entrepreneurial intention phenomenon. Attitude towards entrepreneurship is influenced by the

fascination by public service and the status of civil servant. Employment in public sector is

perceived as a secured job and retirement, a regular and guarantee salary, access possibilities

to important responsibilities and so on. Data collected are rich and can open perspectives to

more analysis for example by exploring gender issue and the type of higher education

institution.

- 41 -

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ANNEXE

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GUIDE FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

1) La première enquête sur l’emploi en 2005 révèle que 90% des

travailleurs camerounais sont occupés dans le secteur informel, diplômés

ou non, comment évaluez-vous chances d’insertion socioprofessionnelle

au Cameroun, notamment en ce qui concerne la fonction publique, le

secteur privé et l’auto-emploi ?

2) Pensez-vous au concours d’entrée dans les grandes écoles ?

3) Vous semble-t-il réaliste de parler de l’entrepreneuriat des diplômés au

Cameroun ?

4) Quels risques coure le jeune diplômé camerounais qui renonce à la

fonction public et à tout autre emploi salarié pour créer sa propre

entreprise ?

5) Quels avantages peut avoir un jeune diplômé camerounais qui renonce à

la fonction public et à tout autre emploi salarié pour créer sa propre

entreprise ?

6) Quelles précautions le jeune diplômé peut-il prendre pour s’assurer de

ne pas regretter d’avoir essayé de se lancer dans les affaires ou de créer

sa propre entreprise ?

7) Quelles sont les facilités que présentent Yaoundé (Douala) en matière

d’auto-emploi des jeunes ?

8) Quelles sont les difficultés que présentent Yaoundé (Douala) en matière

d’auto-emploi des jeunes ?

9) Que peuvent faire les pouvoirs publics pour motiver les diplômés de

l’enseignement supérieur à créer leurs propres entreprises après les

études ?

10) Quels avantages votre formation offre en matière d’opportunités

entrepreneuriales ?

11) Quels inconvénients votre formation comporte en matière

d’opportunités entrepreneuriale ?

12) De quoi avez-vous besoin concrètement pour renoncer aux

meilleures offres d’emploi salarié pour créer votre propre entreprise ?

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QUESTIONNAIRE DE L’INTENTION ENTREPRENEURIALE ESTIDUANTINE

Ce questionnaire est passé afin de collecter les données sur l’intention entrepreneuriale des étudiants des villes de Douala et Yaoundé. La recherche est menée dans le cadre des activités du Réseau Ouest et Centre Africain de Recherche en Education (ROCARE). A propos des questions posées, il n’y a pas de réponse juste ou fausse. Votre opinion est l’utile information recherchée. Lisez attentivement les consignes et cochez ou encerclez, selon votre convenance, la réponse qui correspond le mieux à votre point de vue. Vos réponses sont anonymes et ne seront exploitées que dans le seul cadre de cette étude scientifique.

NB : le questionnaire s’adresse aux étudiants des universités d’Etat, des instituts de

l’enseignement supérieur, des grandes écoles ne donnant pas directement accès à la fonction publique, des universités privées. Les fonctionnaires et salariés du secteur privé formel qui sont en formation dans ces établissements ne sont pas concernés par l’enquête parce qu’ils ont déjà entamés une carrière professionnelle.

I- Pour chacune des sept affirmations suivantes, choisissez le chiffre qui correspond le mieux à votre point de vue sachant que : 1= Pas du tout vrai; 2= A peine vrai; 3= Moyennement vrai; 4= Totalement

vrai

1) Au Cameroun, on valorise plus l’entrepreneuriat que d'autres professions et carrières. 1 2 3 4

2) Les politiques en faveur de l’emploi au Cameroun compromettent la création des entreprises.

1 2 3 4

3) La fiscalité camerounaise incite les porteurs de projet à créer les entreprises. 1 2 3 4

4) Les formalités administratives freinent le processus de création des entreprises. 1 2 3 4

5) Les hommes d’affaires puissants sont les personnalités les plus respectées du Cameroun. 1 2 3 4

6) La corruption est de nature à décourager les initiatives entrepreneuriales au Cameroun. 1 2 3 4

7) L’accès à des postes de responsabilité au sein de la fonction publique offre plus de facilité à

faire les affaires.

1 2 3 4

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II- Les sept valeurs suivantes sont souvent citées au Cameroun comme les avantages de la fonction publique. Pour chacune d’elle, choisissez le chiffre qui correspond le mieux à votre point de vue sachant que : 1= Pas du tout vrai; 2= A peine vrai; 3= Moyennement vrai; 4= Totalement vrai

8) La sécurisation de la retraite 1 2 3 4

9) La liberté 1 2 3 4

10) La régularité du salaire 1 2 3 4

11) Les avantages de service en cas de nomination 1 2 3 4

12) La sécurité de l’emploi 1 2 3 4

13) Les chances réelles d’accès à des responsabilités importantes 1 2 3 4

14) La possibilité de gérer des budgets 1 2 3 4

III- Pour chacune des quatre affirmations suivantes, choisissez le chiffre qui correspond le mieux à vos aspirations entrepreneuriales, sachant que : 1= Pas du tout vrai; 2= A peine vrai; 3= Moyennement vrai; 4= Totalement vrai

15) Je suis déterminé(e) à créer une entreprise dans l'avenir. 1 2 3 4

16) Être entrepreneur comporte pour moi plus d'avantages que d'inconvénients. 1 2 3 4

17) Je trouve plus d’intérêts à travailler à mon propre compte que sous les ordres d’un patron.

1 2 3 4

18) J’éprouverais une grosse honte à gagner ma vie dans le secteur informel, même convenablement.

1 2 3 4

IV- Pour chacune des cinq affirmations suivantes, choisissez le chiffre qui correspond le mieux à vos convictions, sachant que :

1= Pas du tout vrai; 2= A peine vrai; 3= Moyennement vrai; 4= Totalement vrai

19) Je sais élaborer un projet entrepreneurial banquable. 1 2 3 4

20) Je suis capable de faire une étude de marché fiable pour un projet d’entreprise intéressant.

1 2 3 4

21) J’ai d’excellentes connaissances en management des projets. 1 2 3 4

22) Je connais les formalités administratives à suivre pour la création d’une entreprise au Cameroun.

1 2 3 4

23) Je connais la démarche à suivre pour créer une association, un GIC etc. 1 2 3 4

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V- En supposant cette fois que 1= Faibles; 2= Moyennes; 3= Élevées; 4=Très élevées, évaluez les chances de réussite en affaires d’un diplômé postsecondaire camerounais qui décide de :

24) Se lancer uniquement dans les affaires immédiatement après les études.

1 2 3 4 25) Décrocher d’abord un matricule à la fonction publique.

1 2 3 4 26) Travailler d’abord dans le secteur privé pour gagner en expérience.

1 2 3 4 27) Aller d’abord dans le secteur informel chercher le capital.

1 2 3 4 28) S’associer avec des camarades compétents et de confiance.

1 2 3 4 29) Elaborer un bon projet et chercher le financement auprès des banques, ONG,

programmes d’appui etc. 1 2 3 4

VI- Les six affirmations suivantes concernent les diplômés camerounais qui réussissent dans les affaires après les études supérieures. Pour chacune d’elles, choisissez le chiffre qui correspond le mieux à votre opinion, sachant que : 1= Pas du tout vrai; 2= A peine vrai; 3= Moyennement vrai; 4= Totalement vrai

30) Des gens qui ne rêvaient que de business, même étant étudiants. 1 2 3 4

31) Des gens qui ont été introduits dans les milieux d’affaires grâces aux bonnes relations. 1 2 3 4

32) Des gens qui n’ont pas pu financer leurs études. 1 2 3 4

33) Des gens introduits dans des réseaux sectaires 1 2 3 4

34) Des fonctionnaires ou des employés du secteur privé formel qui font en même temps des affaires.

1 2 3 4

35) Des gens qui trouvent facilement le capital d’investissement auprès des membres de la famille (des héritiers etc.).

1 2 3 4

VII- Compte tenu de vos expériences dans le domaine des affaires, choisissez le chiffre qui vous décrit le mieux sachant que : 1= Pas du tout vrai; 2= A peine vrai; 3= Moyennement vrai; 4= Totalement vrai.

36) Je sais travailler en équipe en vue d’un objectif commun. 1 2 3 4

37) Je sais analyser les situations favorables aux affaires. 1 2 3 4

38) Je me donne des méthodes de travail efficaces. 1 2 3 4

39) Je planifie les tâches et prévois le matériel nécessaire. 1 2 3 4

40) J’improvise lorsque le plan initial semble ne plus marcher. 1 2 3 4

41) Les tontines me permettent de trouver de l’argent en cas d’urgence. 1 2 3 4

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42) Je sais créer des relations d’affaires pour multiplier mes chances. 1 2 3 4

43) Je suis capable de motiver les autres à travailler avec moi. 1 2 3 4

44) Je côtoie régulièrement les entrepreneurs. 1 2 3 4

45) Je connais assez bien le parcours de beaucoup d’entrepreneurs, du début jusqu’à leur réussite actuelle.

1 2 3 4

46) A travers l’observation des entrepreneurs proches, j’ai une bonne connaissance du milieu des affaires.

1 2 3 4

47) Ayant vu des débrouillards à l’œuvre, je sais exactement comment débuter une affaire en prenant des précautions nécessaires.

1 2 3 4

48) Je suis régulièrement sollicité par les entrepreneurs pour des coups de main divers.

1 2 3 4

49) Je jouis de la confiance de plusieurs hommes d’affaires. 1 2 3 4

50) Beaucoup d’entrepreneurs sont mes partenaires d’affaires. 1 2 3 4

51) Les personnes avec qui je traite déplorent mon sens des affaires. 1 2 3 4

52) Les personnes influentes de ma famille ont à cœur que je travaille à la fonction publique.

1 2 3 4

VIII- Indiquer ce dont vous avez concrètement besoin pour renoncer à tout emploi salarié dans la fonction publique et dans le secteur privé formel afin de créer votre propre entreprise. 1= Pas du tout vrai; 2= A peine vrai; 3= Moyennement vrai; 4= Totalement vrai

53) Des années d’expérience professionnelle (stage, emploi) auprès d’un employeur de renom

1 2 3 4

54) Une (des) formation (s) davantage pointue (s) et professionnelle (s) 1 2 3 4

55) Du financement en guise de capital de lacement 1 2 3 4

56) Etre suivi par des conseillers et/ou des structures d’accompagnement de jeunes entrepreneurs

1 2 3 4

IX- Les cinq affirmations suivantes portent sur les structures, organismes de soutien et autres sources d'aide pour les entrepreneurs. Indiquez pour chacune d’elles le chiffre correspondant le mieux à votre point de vue sachant que : 1= Pas du tout vrai; 2= A peine vrai; 3= Moyennement vrai; 4= Totalement vrai.

57) Je connais les associations privées (par exemple le Gicam, l’E-CAM, etc).

1 2 3 4

58) Je connais les programmes d’appui aux porteurs de projets entrepreneuriaux (PAJER-U ; PIAASI ; FNE etc.).

1

2

3

4

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59) Je suis au courant de la formation à l’entrepreneuriat à l’ESSEC.

1 2 3 4

60) Je maîtrise les mécanismes de prêts dans les tontines.

1 2 3 4

61) Je connais les missions de l’incubateur d’entreprises (TechniPole) sis à l’Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique de Yaoundé.

1 2 3 4

X- Pour chacun des quatre items suivants, choisissez le chiffre qui correspond le mieux à votre estimation sachant que : 1=De 0 à 25% ; 2 = De plus de 25 à 50% ; 3=De plus de 50 à 75% ; 4=De plus de 75 à 100%

62) J’estime mes chances d’insertion à la fonction publique après mes études à: 1

2

3

4

63) J’estime mes chances d’insertion dans le secteur privé formel (PME, PMI, ONG, Multinationales etc.) à:

1 2 3 4

64) J’estime mes chances d’insertion socioprofessionnelle en matière d’entrepreneuriat (auto-emploi, les affaires, création d’entreprise, secteur informel, etc.) à:

1

2

3

4

65) A quel pourcentage estimez-vous avoir dépendu financièrement de votre famille durant les douze derniers mois?

1

2

3

4

66) A quelle fréquence menez-vous des activités de débrouillardise génératrices de revenues

(répétition, call box, petit commerce, etc)? 1) Rarement /__/ 2) Souvent /__/ 3)

Régulièrement /__/ 4) En permanence /__ /

XI- INFORMATIONS PERSONNELLES

67) Ville de résidence : 1) Yaoundé /__/ 2) Douala /__/

68) Âge: __________ans

69) Genre: 1) Masculin /__/ 2) Féminin /__/

70) Université/Institut/Ecole : __________________________________________________

71) Filière : _________________________________________________________________

72)

Niveau d’étude:______________________________________________________________

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73) Combien d’années avez-vous passé à Yaoundé/Douala (selon la ville de résidence

actuelle) en tant qu’étudiant(e) ?_______ans

74) Région d’origine :

1) Adamaoua /__/ 2) Centre/__/ 3) Est/__/ 4) Extrême-nord/__/ 5) Littoral/__/

6) Nord/__/ 7) Nord-Ouest/__/ 8) Ouest/__/ 9) Sud/__/ 10) Sud-ouest /__/