The Relationship between Thinking Styles and Entrepreneurship Characteristics of Faculty Members in the Distance Education System

Faculty members are of the main components of the higher education system and universities with a significant role in educating entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between thinking styles and entrepreneurship characteristics of faculty members of distance learning. The study was descriptive-correlational considering the method and applied in terms of purpose. The population was all faculty members (contractors, covenants, formal and adjunct professors) of distant learning universities in West Azarbaijan, teaching at the university in the first semester of 2012-2013, who were 2000 people. From among the population, 270 subjects were selected as the sample by cluster sampling. The data was collected using two standard questionnaires. One questionnaire was related to thinking styles with Cronbach's alpha of 0.87 and the other one was related to entrepreneurship characteristics with Cronbach's alpha of 0.89. Data were analyzed using SPSS, Pearson correlation, and multivariate regression analysis. The results suggested that pragmatic thinking positively and realistic thinking negatively are related to entrepreneurial characteristics, and other thinking styles have no significant relationship with entrepreneurial characteristics. Moreover, the findings showed that realism and pragmatism have a larger share in explaining the entrepreneurial characteristics of faculty members in the distance education system. Accordingly, it is suggested that the thinking styles of the faculty members be considered while recruiting them.