Entrepreneurship and family support in nursing students from Brazil and Chile

Abstract

Objective: To associate the general entrepreneurial tendency and perceived family support among nursing students from Brazil and Chile. Methods: A cross-sectional study with data from students from five higher education institutions, collected from March to September 2018. A form, a General Enterprising Tendency (GET) test and a Perceived Family Support Inventory (Inventário de Percepção de Suporte Familiar - IPSF) were used for sociodemographic assessment. Simple logistic regression models and multinomial regression models were adjusted. Results: Of the 889 participating students, 82% were women, 60% were between 20 and 25 years old and 55% were from a private educational institution. Low or very low GET was predominant in both countries (Brazil=83.5%; Chile=78.4%), in addition to low levels of perception of family support. No direct associations were found between GET and IPSF. In Chile, there was a positive association between the chance that the drive category that makes up the GET is medium and high with the family autonomy factor being high [OR=1.16 (1.07-1.26); p<0.01]. Conclusion: Perceived family autonomy can moderate, albeit discreetly, important characteristics such as drive, not being enough to raise the entrepreneurial tendency of these students to satisfactory levels. The most appropriate social support to promote students’ entrepreneurial behavior seems to be academic incentive in the educational institution. Thus, it is necessary to adapt pedagogically to the female audience and to the cultural characteristics of each country. Further research must be carried out.