Purpose: Framed by social cognition theory, this study examines the impact of environmental factors (e.g. social norms) on students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ES) and entrepreneurial intention (EI). Design/methodology/approach: We obtained responses to a survey from 811 senior secondary students in Hong Kong. We then employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the proposed hypothesis. We removed non-significant parameters in testing the model and obtained the final SEM. Findings: Among these students, those who were male or spoke English at home showed stronger social norms of entrepreneurship and greater entrepreneurial SE, which was linked to greater EI. Among students perceiving stronger social norms of entrepreneurship, those who lived in private housing or spoke English at school showed greater entrepreneurial intention. Originality/value: The study provides a new social cognitive perspective for examining EI that emphasizes learning and development through the interaction of environmental and cognitive factors. It supplements previous research by demonstrating the significant influence of social norms and the conditional role of parental influence, adding complexity to our understanding of how these factors' interplay. Copyright ©2025 Emerald Publishing Limited.

The identification of the effects of university-based entrepreneurship education has attracted increasing interest in both academic and practical communities. On the basis of integrating passion- and competency-based perspectives, this study attempted to offer a sound understanding of how university-based entrepreneurship education influences the entrepreneurial intention of university students. Based on a dataset of 1050 university students from 50 universities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in China, a hierarchical linear modeling analysis was performed, and the results support our hypotheses. Our research provides the first empirical evidence illustrating how, in the organizational context, university-based entrepreneurship education facilitates the shaping of future entrepreneurs from dual perspectives. The implications of our findings were discussed. For these parts, we sought to incorporate reviewers' suggestions, which have been highlighted in revision version. • The impact of EE on the EC not only concerning with creating businesses but also enhancing recognition of business opportunities. • In light of this TPB theory, intentions toward implementing behaviors could predict planned behaviors (e.g., entrepreneurial behavior). • This study focused on students majored in the business management, and science and technology, which have relatively high startup potential. • Along this reasoning, EI seems to play dominant part in the set of variables that are employed to evaluate the effectiveness of EE programs. • Although the benefits of EE have been established, studies on the implications of EE remain divided. Copyright © 2023 Elsevier.