Cultivating social entrepreneurs: Shaping self-evaluations for positive social change in impact careers

How do individuals evaluate their capacity to contribute to<br/>positive social change when choosing careers? Drawing on<br/>construal level and prosocial motivation theories, we examine<br/>how contact with social issues and potential beneficiaries<br/>shapes individuals’ self-evaluations, and how these selfevaluations<br/>influence their social entrepreneurial and other<br/>impact career intentions. Through a longitudinal study of 189<br/>university students experiencing either firsthand or secondhand<br/>contact with social issues, we find that, compared to secondhand<br/>contact, firsthand contact more strongly enhances positive<br/>and reduces negative self-evaluations through perceived<br/>positive impact. In turn, changes in positive self-evaluations<br/>enhance social entrepreneurial and other impact career intentions.<br/>We contribute to social entrepreneurship and impact<br/>careers literature by developing the concept of self-evaluations<br/>for positive social change. Our findings suggest that creating<br/>meaningful opportunities for contact with social issues and<br/>potential beneficiaries during formative career stages can cultivate<br/>young professionals’ sense of possibility to become social<br/>entrepreneurs.