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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Chiara MarzocchiORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
While there is ample evidence on the role of education and employment in entrepreneurship more generally, we know less about how the accumulation of specific educational paths and work experience before or during university education contributes to entrepreneurship. Using unique data from two combined surveys linking information on the population of University of Toronto graduates, we provide an analysis on how the sequence of educational paths (STEM and non-STEM; non-STEM and STEM) and work experience before and during university studies influence entrepreneurial activities. The results suggest that diverse educational backgrounds are positively correlated with both entrepreneurial propensity and number of firms established. Full-time employment experience before the completion of the final degree, while not significant for entrepreneurship, is found to play an indirect role. Our findings have implications for understanding the importance of distinctive combinations of education paths and employment in shaping university students’ entrepreneurial activity after their graduation.
Author(s): Zhang Q, Marzocchi C, Breznitz S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Small Business Economics
Year: 2025
Volume: 65
Pages: 1047-1069
Print publication date: 01/08/2025
Online publication date: 14/03/2025
Acceptance date: 04/03/2025
Date deposited: 21/03/2025
ISSN (print): 0921-898X
ISSN (electronic): 1573-0913
Publisher: Springer New York LLC
URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-025-01033-2
DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01033-2
ePrints DOI: 10.57711/13e5-sv37
Data Access Statement: The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article
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