Chinese students entrepreneurial career anchors, self-cultivation and the role of in-group collectivist values and gender: a conservation of resources perspective

Using Conservation of Resources theory (COR) as our conceptual framework we investigate the relationship between the entrepreneurial career anchor (ECA) and self-cultivation (SC) values of Chinese business students. We additionally examine the moderating role of in-group collectivist values (IGVs) and the interaction of IGVs and gender in this relationship. Based on survey data from 643 undergraduate students attending a university in northern coastal China we found a positive relationship between ECA and SC. We also found that IGVs, in combination with gender as a covariate, moderated this relationship. Our study contributes to the international HRD literature by emphasising prospective graduates as a source of entrepreneurship, and the salience of the ECA in promoting self-cultivation. This is accentuated through IGVs and gender. Our findings have significant implications for international HRD education and the development of prospective graduates.