The Influence of the School Environment on the Formation of Entrepreneurial Intentions Among Schoolchildren in Grades 9-11 of the City of Nizhny Novgorod

The number of young entrepreneurs is growing noticeably in the country, so the issue of learning the basics of entrepreneurship from school becomes important. The purpose of this work is to study the influence of the school environment on the formation of entrepreneurial intentions of schoolchildren in grades 9-11 in Nizhny Novgorod. The object of research is schoolchildren of grades 9-11 in Nizhny Novgorod. The subject of the research is the influence of the school environment on the entrepreneurial intentions of schoolchildren. The main hypotheses of the study: personal factors, the close environment, and school have a direct impact on the intentions of teenagers regarding their business. A survey was developed to measure schoolchildrens' intentions based on the GUESSS international survey questionnaire and including questions from the Bass orientation test. The study was based on 690 questionnaires from 30 schools in Nizhny Novgorod, and the responses were analyzed using the SPSS statistical program. Regression analysis confirmed the direct impact of commitment to entrepreneurship, experience of attending business events, and low academic performance on the entrepreneurial intentions of schoolchildren. It is also revealed that the school environment most strongly affects schoolchildren in contrast to personal factors and the close environment. However, the business climate in Nizhny Novgorod schools requires improvement, so the paper offers several recommendations for modernizing educational processes. The scientific novelty of the research consists in analyzing the factors that can act as moderators of the emergence of intentions in Nizhny Novgorod schoolchildren, especially focusing on the significance of the influence of the school environment. Besides, the paper considers the measures that have been taken in Russia and foreign countries to develop entrepreneurship among the younger generation. The results obtained can be useful for developers of regional programs for the modernization of the educational system, school Administrators for adjusting the curriculum.