A Survey on Contextual Barriers to Business Startup by Iranian Graduates

Entrepreneurship is an effective strategy for employment of massive Iranian university students and graduates along with countries’ economic progress. The aim of this research was to investigate the contextual barriers to enterprise startup by Iranian graduates. A quantitative descriptive survey method was used for this research. The statistical population of the research included university students and graduates that established startups businesses (independent-individualistic entrepreneurship). The sample comprised the founders of business startups that stationed in incubator centers of public universities affiliated to the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. A questionnaire was used for data gathering. To determine its validity, content validity was utilized through entrepreneurship’s experts and scholars. The reliability of questionnaire was determined by calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data analysis was performed through inferential and descriptive statistics. Descriptive analysis of the independent variables and Friedman test for ranking of factors showed that deficiency of entrepreneurship education and skills, lack of financial resources, lack of positive social and cultural attitudes toward entrepreneurship, lack of access to knowledge and technology, deficiency of the government supportive policies and programs, absence of market openness and rules and regulations are the most important contextual obstacles to business startup of Iranian graduates. According to Spearman's correlation analysis between the dependent variable (a new business startup) and independent variables (lack of financial resources, deficiency of entrepreneurship education and skills, and rules and regulations) there was an inverse significant correlation at 95% confidence.