Entrepreneurial Skills and Education‐Job Matching of Higher Education Graduates

Abstract

This article studies entrepreneurial education and its impact on job‐skills matches for higher education graduates. Those who possess entrepreneurial skills are assumed to be more market aware and creative in their job search. They are also expected to foresee which job offers would and would not, match their skills. Using a large comparative survey (REFLEX‐HEGESCO) to test this hypothesis, we show that higher levels of entrepreneurial skills (defined as scanning and search, association and connection, and evaluation and judgement) reduce the probability of over‐education for university graduates in 18 OECD countries five years after graduation. Entrepreneurial education helps individuals to obtain better jobs, even if they search for wage employment and not for self‐employment. Resorting to a multilevel regression, our results indicate a stronger need for training in entrepreneurial skills at higher education institutions on the one hand, and the introduction of policies that promote innovation at the micro and macro levels in countries’ economy, on the other.

An Explanatory Study of MBA Students with Regards to Sustainability and Ethics Commitment

“…The opportunity cost associated with the use of these resources implies the need for managerial efficiency. The results of this study suggest that training in entrepreneurial skills could improve students' abilities to find a job or start a business venture [4] and also helps them to manage businesses following the values demanded by our society. Consumers are demanding from companies that the firm has behaved considering its environmental and social impact [69], but also, there is an increasing number of rules and new regulations that push in favor of this commitment (World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 2000 [70]).…”

“…Everything seems to indicate that educational policies, such as reorienting programs of study and public policies for entrepreneurial development, have at least managed to maintain the main entrepreneurial skills in business leaders and future entrepreneurs, despite the adverse effect that the crisis could cause on these individuals, as noted in the literature [4,[65][66][67][68].…”

“…In addition to the internal measures, several external factors favor the creation of enterprises in certain areas and cities, such as policies supporting entrepreneurial initiative [34] To outline policies that foster entrepreneurship [4], one must be aware of basic competences, so that entrepreneurs can perform their role efficiently. In this context, a thorough understanding of such skills helps guide educational policies and curricula, taking into account the growing weight of the subjects and content related to the entrepreneur's skills and the entrepreneurial projects not only in business schools and economics and business faculties, but also in the field of science [2,3,21].…”

“…The available empirical evidence shows that students who possess such entrepreneurial skills generally obtain more rapid entry into the job market than those who do not possess them, added to the fact that their positions match their academic and competency-based profile, reducing youth unemployment generated by the economic crisis [4].…”

“…Such an example is the European Commission's statement, which in mid-2009, already considered that developing an economic, social and educational environment that fostered entrepreneurial skills among young people and that provided a proper environment for entrepreneurship was the main action plan to combat youth unemployment [1]. To that end, countless measures have gone into effect in Spain, with more or less success, starting with Act 14/2013 of Support to Entrepreneurs and Investors (Ley de Emprendedores) promoted by the Government of Zapatero and ending with a large number of programs of study and university studies adapted and more oriented to the labor market and entrepreneurship [2][3][4]. …”