Measuring career intentions of youth in Bhutan : is entrepreneurship a career alternative?

Abstract

Introduction

Bhutan has registered significant youth unemployment in recent times. Unemployment, being a critical problem of underdevelopment, understanding the unemployment problem from various perspectives is of paramount importance for Bhutan. In this paper, we explore this issue from the vantage of the career intentions of the youth in Bhutan. Specifically, we are interested in understanding the extent to which entrepreneurship has emerged as a career option for the youth. It is interesting to note that entrepreneurship has not been recognized in Bhutan for a long time. However, in recent times, entrepreneurship has been a focus area for the government, potentially due to rising unemployment among the youth (Department of Employment and Entrepreneurship of Bhutan, 2022; National Statistics Bureau, 2022). There are significant gaps for further research because the issue of entrepreneurial intent among the youth as a career alternative in Bhutan is very briefly covered in the existing academic literature.