Purpose: Students in higher education (HE) and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) represent a significant source of future entrepreneurs. While pro-entrepreneurial traits like core self-evaluation (CSE) are vital, little research explores the environmental factors shaping CSE in these groups. Our study addresses this void. Design/methodology/approach: Data was captured using a cross-sectional survey of 221 HE and TVET students, and hierarchical regression to model CSE based on a number of environmental factors, namely social conditions (role models, parents with HE) and experiential factors: full-time work experience (FTWE), self-employment experience (SEE), and entrepreneurship education (EE), while controlling for age and gender. Findings: Parents with HE positively associated with CSE among TVET students but not HE students. Overall, the study found that TVET and HE students do not share a mutual set of experiential factors associated with their CSE; FTWE and SEE were linked to higher CSE among HE students, but this was not the case among TVET students. Conversely, EE was positively associated with CSE among TVET students but not among HE students. There was a mean difference of −0.10 for our TVET sample. Originality/value: Our study is among the first to comparatively examine external influences on potential entrepreneurs’ CSE, focusing on HE and TVET students—two distinct entrepreneurial pathways. We extend the literature on CSE and entrepreneurship by shifting beyond individual traits to social and experiential factors, offering new insights with implications for EE and public policy. © 2025, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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