"Students’ entrepreneurial potential and the role of entrepreneurial education - A Comparative study between Romania and Greece"

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, the paper draws a comparison between the national entrepreneurial potential and characteristics in Romania and Greece, using the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) statistics. On the other hand, the paper aims to investigate the students’ entrepreneurial potential and the role of education, considering the case of two technical universities, one from Greece and one from Romania. While at national level the latest GEM data indicates a higher entrepreneurial potential for Romania, the institutional comparison made, and the statistical data processing, underline the gap of entrepreneurial education in both universities. More precisely, using the questionnaire approach, we show that students hardly perceive the role of courses related to entrepreneurship. Thus, the courses taught at the analyzed universities fail in highlighting and developing entrepreneurial skills, although their structure and topics are related to entrepreneurship. These results have practical implications and they serve to find solutions for improving the entrepreneurial education in both institutions.