Insights for Shaping Entrepreneurship Education: Evidence from the European Entrepreneurship Centers

Abstract

The pivotal role of Entrepreneurship centers in the development of Entrepreneurship Education (EE) is receiving more attention. This study aims to open the “black box” of “how, when, why and what” entrepreneurial mindset and competencies in the field of technology entrepreneurship are learned over time in the Entrepreneurship Centers. The study adopts an empirical web-based content analysis of ten entrepreneurship centers in European Universities from seven countries, analyzing 105 curricular and extra-curricular entrepreneurship education programs. This method allows researchers to address generalization bias and to effectuate a cross-case comparison, thus revealing more common patterns regarding the phenomenon. Findings reveal some common pillars of EE as developed within the Entrepreneurship centers in terms of five key dimensions: target audience, learning objectives, entrepreneurship contents, learning pedagogies and stakeholders’ engagement. This analysis provides the basis to introduce a process-based framework for entrepreneurial mindset creation in EE that is organized around four main phases: inspiration, engagement, exploitation and sustainment. The process-based model of EE supports entrepreneurship centers in designing learning initiatives that are aimed to inspire students at all levels of education, young entrepreneurs and start-uppers and scientists in their need to be equipped with an entrepreneurial mindset for technology entrepreneurship. The originality of the paper stands on the “process-based” framework that is proposed that serves as an interactive pathway that dynamically combines the phases toward entrepreneurial venture creation, the entrepreneurial competence level, the entrepreneurial learning strategies and collaboration with the University’s stakeholders’ network toward the achievement of the competence goal.

Threat or opportunity? A case study of digital-enabled redesign of entrepreneurship education in the COVID-19 emergency

“…Whereas most studies have been conducted in business schools, an increasing stream of research focuses on non-business students. Among these, the strategic importance of training engineering and scientists on entrepreneurship has been explicitly discussed by several scholars ( Lynch et al., 2019 ; da Silva et al., 2015 ; Ndou et al., 2018 ; Elia et al., 2011 ; Lamine et al., 2018 ; Maresch et al., 2016 ).…”

“…The entrepreneurial ecosystem includes a large and diversified number of stakeholders providing a valuable contribution to the entrepreneurial development process ( Elia et al., 2020 ; Elia et al., 2011 ; Ndou et al., 2018 ; Secundo et al., 2019 a; Secundo et al., 2019 b). Digital technologies can support the interaction of students with stakeholders during seminars, mentoring activities, project development sessions, demonstrations, and debates, with the final aim to make the education experience more effective and attractive.…”

Entrepreneurship Education and Sustainable Development Goals: A literature Review and a Closer Look at Fragile States and Technology-Enabled Approaches

“…For example, Moon et al [133] point out the importance of building a socially and ecologically aware mindset for learners and teachers alike to maximize the sustainable impact of EET in higher education institutes. Although a large number of studies focus on mindset development as key EET outcome (for example [68,69,134,135]), very few focus on EET's relationship to developing the mindset needed to achieve sustainability through entrepreneurship. Additionally, I follow Schaltegger et al [136] in recommending additional research on the role of collaboration in achieving sustainable development through entrepreneurship, with a specific focus on EET's impact on fostering collaborative mechanisms among and within entrepreneurial ventures and teams to enhance sustainability.…”

Technology Entrepreneurship Aspects On The Master’s Degree Level Of Education

“…Existing studies are dedicated to such aspects as entrepreneurship education, individual growth, inclinations and intentions for entrepreneurship, interrelation with social aspects (Bae, Qian, Miao, & Fiet, 2014), differences between countries in terms of goals, target audience, format of pedagogical approach for the development of entrepreneurial thinking among university students. A number of scientists are exploring entrepreneurial thinking in universities and entrepreneurial centers in universities (Ndou, Secundo, Schiuma, & Passiante, 2018).…”