Entrepreneurial mindset and the role of universities as strategic drivers of entrepreneurship

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the factors that influence the mindset of youth in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in choosing entrepreneurship as their future employment. It also suggests the pathway to improve the role of the universities as strategic drivers in inducing an entrepreneurial mindset. Design/methodology/approach An exhaustive literature review of extant research followed by an exploratory study was conducted. Furthermore, to understand factors influencing the role of universities, interpretive structural modelling methodology is applied to evolve a hierarchy-based relationship among the strategic factors. Findings The results of empirical research suggest that young people in the UAE rank entrepreneurship as their first employment choice. However, most of them have not attended any formal entrepreneurship-related course in school or in college. The study also suggests that individual and environmental factors influence the entrepreneurial mindset of both males and females in the UAE. The structural model developed in the study indicates that to give an impetus to the entrepreneurial mindset, the government must create a supporting environment with UAE universities playing the role of a catalyst. Practical implications Professional entrepreneurship instruction is seen as a strategic tool to stimulate financial and societal growth. The results could provide insights for both entrepreneurship educators and policymakers and will boost their commitment to promote the entrepreneurial mindset within UAE society by enhancing and developing traits associated with entrepreneurial success. The results support recognition of the factors that induce educational programmes and economic incentives targeted at the development of sustainable entrepreneurial culture and ventures in the UAE. Originality/value The study is an effort to highlight the role of higher education in envisaging and cultivating entrepreneurs in a fast-growing developing country through a survey and a hierarchy-based model.

The Role of Entrepreneurship Education and University Environment on Entrepreneurial Interest of MBA Students in Saudi Arabia

“…The significance of entrepreneurship education and university environment has been acknowledged as one of the crucial factors that help youths to understand and foster an entrepreneurial interest and attitude (Gorman et al, 1997;Kourilsky and Walstad, 1998;Wang and Wong, 2004;Jabeen et al, 2017). Entrepreneurship education at the university level provides the opportunity for students to be more aware of the latest developments, which allows them to have a more clear vision on how they can implement these developments into future business.…”

“…Recent studies such as Durst and Sedenka (2016) in Sweden, Jabeen et al (2017) in United Arab Emirates, Shahid et al (2017) in Pakistan and Hasan et al (2017) in Bangladesh among others suggested that university environment where students learn plays a pivotal role in encouraging students to develop business ideas and start up their own business. This seems to help students mitigate any adverse impact that their negative perceptions that surrounds them might have on their entrepreneurial intentions (Shahid et el., 2017).…”

The Need for Integrating Entrepreneurial Education and Training in Nigerian Technical Colleges

“…With regards to this [12,13] suggested the need for new school curriculum that would adopt the teaching of entrepreneurial education, this will serve as a solution to the current issues of unemployment and high poverty rate. According to Ghina, Simatupang, and Gustomo, [14]the intention of instilling entrepreneurial mindset into students is to produce novice educated entrepreneurs as well as innovative ventures that can form jobs opportunities.. [15] observed based on their research, the need for encouragement both from the government and the business community to invest heavily in EET more especially at the early age. They also reiterated that instilling entrepreneurial mindset among teaming youth would influence global economic development positively In view of this [16] conducted a research on the Japanese high school students and found that to influence students entrepreneurial mindset there should be an innovation and convert the ideas to reality is one of the vital role of EET.…”

Ecossistema Empreendedor: Análise Do Papel Da Universidade No Fomento a Negócios De Base Tecnológica

“…(Etkowitz et al, 2000). Cabe ressaltar que o ensino empreendedor e a sua relação com a maior propensão a empreender ainda possui resultados difusos e é tema de acalorados debates (Chen, Hsiao, Chang, Chou, Chen & Shen, 2013;Premand, Brodmann, Almeida, Grun & Barouni, 2016;Habibov et al, 2016;Jabeen, Faisal & Katsioloudes, 2017). Ao mesmo tempo, parece haver certo consenso de que as práticas de ensino de empreendedorismo são ultrapassadas, confusas e carecem de base teórica consistente (Gibb, 2002;Anderson & Ronteau, 2017).…”