Abstract
Aim/purpose – This paper examines the entrepreneurial intention of native and international students, focusing on the willingness to start a business and attitudes to risk. There is limited research comparing these groups in this regard. In Poland, a new immigration country and a new destination for international students, knowledge on this subject is lacking.
Design/methodology/approach – The survey was carried out at four universities in the Opole region among 295 students. The questionnaire was distributed in a traditional paper version using personal contact. We employed purposive sampling to obtain two comparable groups – international and native students. To analyze the risk-taking behavior, we used the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Scale.
Findings – International students in the study group were more inclined to establish businesses than their Polish counterparts. This study also highlights that not all types of risk-taking contribute equally to entrepreneurial activity. While recreational and financial risk-taking are key predictors, the lack of a significant relationship with ethical and health-related risks suggests that entrepreneurship is more closely associated with practical, opportunity-driven risk domains rather than moral or personal safety considerations.
Research implications/limitations – By comparing native and international students, the research presents a dual perspective: natives’ familiarity with the economic system leads to higher financial risk-taking, while foreigners’ adaptation to uncertainty fosters a willingness to take health and safety risks. A limitation of our study is that it uses a cross-sectional dataset, which captures entrepreneurial intention and risk attitudes at a single point in time.
Originality/value/contribution – The study contributes to current debates on personal attitudes toward economic activities in the native and international context. By comparing native and international students, the research offers a dual perspective and extends the theory of planned behavior by integrating cultural and migration-related factors into the model.