Exploring entrepreneurial intentions and perceived barriers of university students in a developing country, Pakistan Yasir Rasool #1 , Erum Shaikh *2 , Ghazala Shaukat #3 Hashem Ali Almashaqbeh #4 Ali Raza #5 1 National University of Modern Languages, Faisalabad, Pakistan 2 Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sanghar Campus, Sindh, Pakistan 3 University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan. 4 Okan University, Istanbul, Turkey 5 Near East University, North Cyprus, Istanbul, Turkey Abstract— The purpose of this paper is to explore the intentions and expectations of postgraduate university students and perceived obstacles about entrepreneurship. In this regard, the methodology used in this study is qualitative approach, in which in-depth interviews were carried out. Using a sample size of 23, purposive sampling was employed. Findings and the results of the study show that the expectations of stress avoidance, business knowledge, financial knowledge barriers, fear of failure, risk avoidance and stress avoidance were viewed as major barriers. The originality and limits of the study show that the research in the future can be extended to obstacles that are lack of social networking and family history. The study provides implications for academics include the design of unique entrepreneurship material for students to reduce psychological obstacles in curriculum, training and awareness sessions. Keywords— Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial intentions, Perceived Entrepreneurial barriers, , developing countries, Pakistan I. INTRODUCTION This document is a template. For questions on paper guidelines, please contact us via e-mail. It is observed that university students face more barriers but contains intentions for the entrepreneurship (Minniti and Nardone, 2007; Strobl et al., 2012; Veciana et al., 2005; Wilson et al., 2007; Yordanova and Tarrazon, 2010; Parastuty & Bögenhold, 2019; Tunio 1 , 2020). By the way, scholars have called for the exploration of the barriers and influence of the barriers on the entrepreneurial intentions of the young people before coming to any certain conclusions (Kobeissi, 2010; Kourilsky and Walstad, 1998;). Some studies have discovered the difference between intentions and perceptions regarding entrepreneurship and related to the location, culture, and environment (Shinnar et al., 2012; Verheul et al., 2006). Verheul et al. (2006) have mentioned that the entrepreneurship contains the influence of the culture and social conditions. Relatively, Shinnar et al. (2012) highlights that an understanding of culture and contextual factors shape the entrepreneurial intentions (De Bruin et al., 2007; Wilson et al., 2009). Different scholars (Shinnar et al., 2012; Shneor et al., 2013; Mueller, 2004) have indicated that the entrepreneurial intentions encompass diverse aspects and conditions. Additionally, some gaps are identified in the earlier studies showing the interactive effects of different factors and entrepreneurial intentions (Shinnar et al., 2012; Shaikh 1 , et al., 2021; Govindarajo, et al., 2021; Tunio 2 , et al., 2020). Shneor et al. (2013) and Tunio, (2020) regarded entrepreneurial intentions and perceived barriers could be affected by the overall business environment in respective countries. It is observed that several factors like social, economic, environmental, cultural, and family aspects pose the barriers in the entrepreneur’s process and cause unexpected issues for the young entrepreneurs (Jørgensen et al., 2009). Thus, different countries experience many problems which need to deal in a structured way (Lumpkin et al., 2013; Bogenhold, 2017). Moreover, it is observed that entrepreneurship grants solutions for the social, economic, and environmental issues across actors, individuals, and organizations play as new pioneers (Bögenhold, et al., 2017; Santos, 2012; Tan & Yoo, 2015; Verreynne et al., 2013; Tunio, Shaikh, & Lighari, 2021). Concerning to this, the emerging entrepreneurs are change agent who creates social and economic value (). Hence, entrepreneurial intentions of the individuals are an integral part of the entrepreneur’s nature, ISSN No:1001-2400 http://xadzkjdx.cn/ Journal of Xidian University VOLUME 16, ISSUE 2, 2022 https://doi.org/10.37896/jxu16.2/035 417