Designing a Model for Entrepreneurial Activities Extension in Agricultural Students’ Cooperatives

Despite the fact that student cooperatives are setup with the aim of promoting entrepreneurial competencies among students; however, due to not following the indigenous model, they have not been able to take appropriate action to promote entrepreneurial and business activities among students. In this way, the purpose of this study was to design a model for the extension of entrepreneurial activities in student’s cooperatives, for which the qualitative paradigm and grounded theory was used. The study participators consisted of all members of agricultural student cooperatives in the universities (Razi, Kurdistan, Bouali, Lorestan and Ilam universities) of the west of Iran. The studied samples were first selected purposefully and then theoretically. Theoretical saturation was obtained after 25 in-depth one-on-one interviews. In order to analyze the data, open, axial and selective coding was used. Findings showed that environmental support, social capital, psychological characteristics, human capital, economic motivations and role models as causal factors; Administrative bureaucracy, financial barriers, cultural barriers, structural barriers and environmental opportunities as underlying factors; and climate change, market fluctuations and environmental turbulence were identified as intervention factors that affect the extension of entrepreneurial activities in agricultural student cooperatives in the west of Iran. Strategies for promoting entrepreneurial activities in student cooperatives in the west of Iran included educational-extension, modeling, reducing administrative bureaucracy, support-motivation and financial facilities strategies, which ultimately resulted in entrepreneurial activities extension among agricultural students such as developing entrepreneurial competencies, development Social, agricultural development and economic development.