https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/436 2026-04-10T11:54:14Z 2026-04-10T11:54:14Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141997 2025-12-05T10:44:53Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Senior entrepreneurship : late call or new beginning? Abstract: The importance of senior entrepreneurship is attracting increasing attention from academia and policymakers. Longer life expectancy, reduced retirement pensions, and enhanced well-being in older age which allows individuals to stay active in the workplace until later in life, are some of the main drivers of this growing trend. While some studies have explored senior entrepreneurship, the field remains underdeveloped, with several gaps yet to be addressed. One such gap concerns the intentions and motivations of senior entrepreneurs, which are plausibly different from those of younger entrepreneurs, but which are not yet adequately understood. This study addresses this gap by exploring the motivations and intentions underlying older individuals’ decisions to pursue senior entrepreneurship. The study adopts an exploratory qualitative design that allows a deeper understanding of senior entrepreneurs’ perspectives and the discovery of aspects of their journeys still unobserved. The aim is to distinguish and link the intentions and motivations of senior entrepreneurs, thereby deepening understanding of these two key antecedents to senior entrepreneurship. A theoretical model was constructed to underpin the study by building on and extending transferable theory from psychology and entrepreneurship, using the Theory of Planned Behavior and elements of the Entrepreneurial Event Model for intentions, and the Theory of Self-Determination for motivations. The field research was based on semi-structured interviews involving 28 participants (14 senior entrepreneurs and 14 younger entrepreneurs) that were conducted to explore the initial framework. Data were analyzed through a process of Thematic Analysis and comparative analysis between seniors and younger entrepreneurs using Directed Content Analysis. Four themes were identified, namely: (i) ‘Autonomy and Aspirations’; (ii) ‘Entrepreneurial Intentions (EI) and Trigger Events’; (iii) ‘Hierarchy of Constructs’; and (iv) ‘Entrepreneurship as ‘Therapy’’. The study contributes to the literature on senior entrepreneurship by developing, empirically testing, and refining a comprehensive conceptual model of intentions and motivation in senior entrepreneurship. In so doing, it reveals insights into the complex journeys of senior individuals who decide to become entrepreneurs by shedding light on the different roles played by motivations and intentions and how they relate to one another in the senior entrepreneurial journey. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.)

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141126 2025-11-11T13:20:31Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Creative self-beliefs : perspectives on an intervention study with pre-service teachers Abstract: Creativity is considered a fundamental factor in the 21st century. Students must learn to handle the challenges of increasing uncertainty and ambiguity in this day and age. In this scenario, teachers are critical in facilitating students' engagement with a creative mindset and developing creative thinking skills. Therefore, the intervention study aims to explore if and how creative mindset intervention can be an effective tool to facilitate a cognitive shift in pre-service teachers' creative mindset perception. The study consists of three phases: (a) pre-test, (b) intervention, and (c) post-test. Ten pre-service teachers took part in the intervention study, which started with open-ended questions aimed at exploring their conceptualization of creativity, its relationship with definite psychological constructs and its interconnection with teaching. These pre-service teachers participated in a 4-hour classroom intervention with workshops and activities following which a reflective focus group was set up to collect feedback. The findings reflect how pre-service teachers conceive creativity as a psycho-cognitive process strictly interrelated with curiosity and intuition and essential for teaching. Furthermore, pre-service teachers testified to having experienced a cognitive shift in their creative beliefs such as creative self-awareness, self confidence, and creative mindset. Findings also provided insightful guidelines on the intervention's affordances and limitations. On the one hand, pre-service teachers found the intervention successful in terms of the tools provided, mindset fostered, and group dynamics whilst on the other, they would incorporate warm-up activities to prepare participants better, offer extensive materials to facilitate comprehension, allocate additional time for specific activities, and alternate between tasks during the idea generation tools activity. The practical implications are significant, as an intervention based on creative thinking and growth mindset principles can profoundly influence the creative self-perception of pre-service teachers. Teachers could take inspiration from the intervention presented in the study to build personalized activities based on idea generation tools, think and share as well as brainstorming techniques to shape their students' or pre-service teachers' creative mindsets. Description: M. CI(Melit.)

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141125 2025-11-11T13:16:23Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Creativity in haute cuisine : exploring the role of socio-cultural and material constraints in culinary creation Abstract: This dissertation explores the role of the socio-cultural and material environment on culinary creativity in haute cuisine chefs. Creativity is widely recognized as essential for gaining a competitive advantage in the culinary field. However, research on how socio-cultural and material influences can constrain or enhance creativity in chefs is limited. In particular, the role of the material environment in fostering creativity is underexplored. This research aims to understand how these environments affect the creativity of chefs, particularly focusing on restaurant guides and critics, the role of customers, and the kitchen facilities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten haute cuisine chefs in Malta and Vienna, Austria. The sample was chosen through the restaurant’s listing in the Michelin Guide, one of the most prestigious international restaurant ranking systems and includes both Michelin-starred and Bib Gourmand awarded chefs. A thematic analysis revealed that creativity in haute cuisine predominantly follows a customer-centric approach, prioritizing input from customers over guidelines set by guides and critics, including the Michelin Guide, who are considered as gatekeepers of the culinary domain. Customer expectations, feedback and cultural context were found to have a more substantial impact on the direction of haute cuisine and chefs’ creativity than the influence exerted by external evaluators. Spatial constraints, such as kitchen layout and equipment, are revealed to both challenge and enhance creativity. Chefs adapt to spatial limitations through problem-solving and creative thinking. High-end kitchen equipment emerges as an enabler of creativity by enhancing operational efficiency, affording more time for experimentation. The study concludes that the dynamic interplay between socio-cultural and material environments significantly impacts culinary creativity, emphasizing the role of customer feedback, cultural context, and advanced equipment in enhancing creative action. The broader implications of the findings suggest that fostering a supportive socio-cultural and material environment can significantly enhance creative outcomes in the culinary arts. Description: M. CI(Melit.)

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141123 2025-11-11T13:11:58Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The role of cultural capital in ideation and entrepreneurship : an exploratory study from Portugal Abstract: This exploratory research study investigates the role of cultural capital in the idea formation stage of the entrepreneurial path (Galanakis & Giourka, 2017), focusing on the Portuguese context. Although entrepreneurship is an extensively researched topic, its cultural component - particularly how cultural capital shapes business ideation - remains understudied. As Bourdieu (1986) conceptualised it, cultural capital encompasses embodied, institutionalised, and objectified forms; recent contributions also acknowledge digital cultural capital as a new category. This paper aims to investigate how these four states of capital affect entrepreneurial creativity and the development of business ideas. Twelve semi-structured interviews with active entrepreneurs from Portugal helped address these issues. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns within the data, leading to a deeper understanding of the ideation phase within the entrepreneurial path. The findings suggest that cultural capital influences ideation at a personal, contextual and social level. These three dimensions are impacted by the embodied, institutionalised, objectified and digital forms of cultural capital - from personal habits to inherited cultural values - that are mutually dependent on each other in facilitating creative idea development. The study concludes that cultural capital has a complex and dynamic role in entrepreneurial ideas and advises more inclusion of cultural factors into entrepreneurial education and policy structures. Description: M. CI(Melit.)

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z