Pathways to green entrepreneurial intent: a serial-parallel mediation SEM analysis of educational interventions, Teaching Methods, and personality traits

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> The complex interplay linking educational interventions with personality development in fostering green entrepreneurial intention (GEI) remains insufficiently explored within African higher education contexts. In addressing this gap we examine mediation effect of teaching methods (TM) and personality traits (PT) in the connection among entrepreneurship syllabus, university support systems, and students' GEI in Ghana's technical university ecosystem. Combining the theories of Planned Behaviour with Social Cognitive Career, we employed an explanatory cross-sectional design to investigate these relationships. Data collected from 1,329 students across four Ghanaian technical universities were analysed using PLS-SEM to test a novel serial-parallel mediation framework. Our findings revealed that entrepreneurship curriculum and university support mechanisms significantly enhance TM, which in turn foster key PT - particularly self-efficacy, perceived behavioural control, need for achievement, and personal attitude - that directly drive GEI. Notably, risk-taking propensity and subjective social norms showed no significant influence on GEI. The study identified a robust serial mediation pathway where TM, when combined with self-efficacy and perceived behavioural control (PBC), sequentially mediate the link between entrepreneurship education and the intention to engage in green entrepreneurship. Additionally, gender-based differences emerged in how personal attitude and self-efficacy influence entrepreneurial intentions.