Development of a Scale to Measure the Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation of Agriculture Students

Abstract

Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation (EAO) is a multi-dimensional construct that plays a vital role in shaping the entrepreneurial behaviour and career choices of agriculture students. As entrepreneurship emerges as a viable alternative to traditional employment in the agricultural sector, assessing students’ attitudes becomes crucial for effective policy planning and educational interventions. However, attitude being a latent psychological trait, cannot be measured directly through a single indicator. This necessitates the development of a standardized and valid scale to assess entrepreneurial attitude orientation among agriculture students. In the present study, a reliable instrument was developed using the Equal-Appearing Interval Scale method. An initial pool of 80 attitude statements related to entrepreneurship was generated through literature review and student interviews. These items were refined based on Edward’s criteria and subjected to evaluation by a panel of experts from Agricultural Universities, ICAR institutions, and entrepreneurship training centres. Based on judges’ ratings, a final scale comprising 10 attitude statements was selected, ensuring content validity, a wide and uniform distribution along the psychological continuum, high scale values, low Q-values, and a balanced representation of favourable and unfavourable items. The resulting Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation Scale (EAOS) is a standardized tool with potential applications in academic assessments, entrepreneurship training programmes, and policy-level decision-making in agricultural education.