In light of global economic changes and financial crises, entrepreneurship has become increasingly important, as entrepreneurial projects have the potential to absorb the repercussions of such crises, accommodate job seekers and thus contribute to the development of Omani society in all aspects. Entrepreneurship can transform graduates - especially of higher education - from job seekers to job creators, while contributing to increasing competitiveness in major projects which, in turn, feed into and promote this trend. It also helps to bridge the gap in local demand for a range of goods. Furthermore, such projects play a role in preserving the environment and local natural resources because a majority of them are based on using and recycling industrial waste, thus maintaining depletable resources.

In this context, Prof. Said Al-Dhafri - College of Education - has conducted a study aimed at identifying the attitudes of higher-education students towards entrepreneurship and to reveal whether there are statistically significant differences in their attitudes towards entrepreneurship due to gender, educational institution, family economic level and GPA. It also investigated the most important challenges facing Omani youth in the field of entrepreneurship and their possible solutions. 

The study used a descriptive-analytic approach. Two questionnaires were distributed to measure higher-education students’ attitudes towards entrepreneurship, and to address challenges and solutions in this regard. The study was conducted with a stratified random sample of 1152 students. 

The results demonstrated highly positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship among higher-education students, which reflects a growing interest among Omani youth to innovate entrepreneurial projects and contribute to the development of the national economy. Moreover, statistically significant gender differences appeared in attitudes towards entrepreneurship in the two dimensions of creativity and independence. Compared to male students, female students showed higher levels in these dimensions, indicating a greater tendency among females towards creative ideas and independent work.

There were statistically significant differences in the students’ attitudes towards entrepreneurship at Sultan Qaboos University, thanks to the solid support provided by the university to enhance the culture of entrepreneurship among its students. The challenges facing Omani youth in entrepreneurship are related to technical, administrative, investment environment and societal aspects.

Accordingly, Dr. Al-Dhafri recommended that integration be promoted between educational institutions and the private sector to provide real training opportunities for students, in addition to establishing support centres for entrepreneurship within universities to provide advice and guidance to young entrepreneurs. He also stressed the importance of enhancing the culture of entrepreneurship in Omani society, encouraging young people to engage in innovative thinking and independent business, increasing opportunities for the soft financing of youth entrepreneurial projects and providing facilities and exemptions from fees and taxes during the initiation phase of projects. In this way, it will be possible to create a fertile environment that enables young people to transform their entrepreneurial ideas into successful projects that contribute to building a sustainable and growing economy. 

Future studies, the researcher argued, could focus on the quality of services provided by institutions that support entrepreneurs, the effectiveness of entrepreneurship in achieving the sustainable development of Oman’s economy and the role of business incubators in transforming entrepreneurial projects lead by Omani youth into medium and large enterprises.