The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication - TOJDAC ISSN: 2146-5193, September 2018 Special Edition, p.3080-3091 ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS AMONGST FEMALE STUDENTS: TEST OF A MODERATED MODEL IN AN EMERGING ECONOMY Umair Ahmed 1 Arab Open University, Kingdom of Bahrain umairahm@gmail.com Munwar Hussain Pahi 2** Indus University, Karachi, Pakistan hussainpahi@gmail.com Soleman Mozammel 3 soleman.mozammel@aou.org.bh Waheed Ali Umrani 4 IBA Sukkur, Pakistan **Corresponding Author Munwar Hussain Pahi hussainpahi@gmail.com ABSTRACT The study attempted to shed light on the predictors of entrepreneurial intention among young female population. Through critical appraisal of the existing body of knowledge, the present study tested the role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and risk-taking propensity towards enhancing entrepreneurial intention. More importantly, the study attempted to examine the moderating role of entrepreneurial education on these relationships. PLS path model results of the 318 female MBA students underlined significant positive impact of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and risk-taking propensity on female students` entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, the study also found significant moderation of entrepreneurial education on the risk-taking propensity and entrepreneurial intention relationship. Overall, the study has forwarded healthy results to help scholars understand the theoretical and practical implications of entrepreneurial self-efficacy, risk-taking propensity and entrepreneurial education towards nurturing entrepreneurial intentions among the young female respondents. Keywords: Women Entrepreneurship, self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurial education. INTRODUCTION Women have a notable role in entrepreneurship across the globe (Wilson, Kickul & Marlino, 2007). It has been reported that around 37 percent of the global businesses are owned and operated by women (Saxena, 2016). In parallel, the Malaysian economy also has a significant contribution from its female population whereby, 21 percent of its entrepreneurial entities are owned and operated by women (GEM, 2012). Hence, these figures outline a notable contribution of women in entrepreneurship. Notably, the global entrepreneurial consortium suggests that women are striving to actively participate in the entrepreneurial activities but sadly, they lack in a variety of prospects like awareness and core entrepreneurial skills (Consortium, 2014). Similarly, for a developing economy like Malaysia, encouraging women and female participation in entrepreneurial activities is a need of time especially in the current tough economic conditions which sadly is being neglected (Usman, Buang & Usman, 2015). Keeping this considerable gap in view, the present study aimed to understand and examine how female population in Malaysia can be harnessed to increase their intention towards entrepreneurial activities. Moreover, Malaysia accounts 48.4 percent of women population (Trading Economics, 2016), the country should ideally work on capitalizing upon this massive human capital to boost its economic Submit Date: 06.07. 2018, Acceptance Date: 25.08.2018, DOI NO: 10.7456/1080SSE/385 Research Article - This article was checked by Turnitin Copyright © The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication