Abstract
This study investigates green entrepreneurship as a mediating mechanism transforming individual capabilities and institutional support into social change outcomes among university student entrepreneurs. This study addresses the limited empirical evidence explaining how entrepreneurial skills, incentives and entrepreneurship education contribute to social change through environmentally responsible entrepreneurial behavior. Using Structural Equation Modeling with Partial Least Squares analysis of 150 registered student entrepreneurs at Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia, we test seven hypotheses examining direct and mediation relationships among skills, incentives, entrepreneurship education, green entrepreneurship and social change promotion. Results demonstrate that all hypotheses are statistically supported, with skills emerging as the strongest predictor of green entrepreneurship, followed by incentives and entrepreneurship education. Green entrepreneurship exhibits a powerful influence on social change promotion, confirming its substantial capacity for societal transformation. These findings indicate that green entrepreneurship functions as a strategic mechanism that converts individual entrepreneurial resources into broader social and environmental outcomes. Mediation analysis reveals that green entrepreneurship effectively transmits antecedent influences to social change outcomes, with skills demonstrating the strongest indirect effect, followed by incentives and education. This study contributes theoretically by clarifying the mediating role of green entrepreneurship in linking individual capabilities with social change and empirically by providing evidence from university student entrepreneurs in a developing economy context. Practically, the findings offer insights for higher education institutions and policymakers to strengthen entrepreneurship programs by emphasizing hands-on skill development, supported by incentive systems, sustainability-oriented education.
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Skills, Entrepreneurship Education, Environmental Sustainability, Green Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Development.