Description
Information account entrepreneurial education for engineering students (review).
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
27 Vol 4/No.2/2015
UDK: 005.342-057.875 378.1 COBISS.SR-ID 220570892 Review Article
ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS
(Review)
Ratiu Mariana
University of Oradea, Romania, Faculty of Managerial and Technological Engineering,
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Automotive,
1 Universitatii str., 410087 Oradea, Romania, E-mail: [email protected]
Corresponding author: Ratiu Mariana, E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: There is a global consensus that traditional education is inadequate to prepare students
who are capable of adapting to the changing market conditions and who are capable of creating and
enhancing innovations. In this context, we can say that the engineering students need an
entrepreneurial education that should be focused, mainly, on the development of an entrepreneurial
mindset, together with the development a set of vocational skills. From the first ideas in 1938, a lot of
programs at all levels of higher education was developed in many universities across the world. For
dynamising the culture of entrepreneurship in Europe and for achievement the stated challenge
“more entrepreneurs for Europe”, in 2012 the European Commission elaborated
“ENTREPRENEURSHIP 2020 ACTION PLAN”. In accordance with it, universities should become
more entrepreneurial. To achieve this goal, is necessary that the universities to introduce in curricula
the key competence “entrepreneurship” and to assure for teachers opportunities to learn and practice
new and innovative methods to the teaching in an entrepreneurial style. Applying an entrepreneurial
education, we will obtain a new generation of engineers that will be capable to realize their full
professional potential and apply it in satisfying and responsible ways. They will be job creators, not
job seekers.
Key words: creativity, innovation, initiative, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial education, engineer
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Recived 01. avg. 2015. Recived in revised form 20. avg. 2015 Accepted 02. oct. 2015 Available online 10. jan. 2015.
1. INTRODUCTION
In our days, the enterprises need engineers who are prepared to adapt to the changing
market conditions and who are capable of creating and enhancing innovations that offer new
value to customers and society as a whole.
There is a global consensus that traditional education is inadequate to prepare students
who can meet these requirements. Innovation and creativity are essential to prepare students
for a successful professional life. In this context, entrepreneurial education is a way to
transform the traditional education system.
Entrepreneurial education is not only about educating people to start a business.
Entrepreneurial education means, also, to develop to the students the knowledge, skills and
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Vol 4/No.2/2015 28
competencies which will help them to engage in a more enterprising, innovative and flexible
manner in the changing workplace environment from today. [1]
The most commonly cited objectives of entrepreneurship education are the following:
- to acquire knowledge germane to entrepreneurship
- to acquire skills in the use of techniques, in the analysis of business situations, and in
the synthesis of action plans
- to identify and stimulate entrepreneurial drive, talent and skills
- to undo the risk-adverse bias of many analytical techniques
- to develop empathy and support for all unique aspects of entrepreneurship
- to devise attitudes towards change
- to encourage new start-ups and other entrepreneurial ventures. [2]
- After several studies in the field, Trevor says that to be successful in the 21st century,
graduates of engineering programs obviously need:
- to develop technical and analytical skills
- to be able to lead and collaborate with colleagues and peers in diverse, geographically
dispersed teams both within and across organizational boundaries
- to be flexible, resilient, creative, and empathetic
- to be able to recognize and pursue opportunities. [3]
In this context, we can say that the entrepreneurial education for engineering students
should be focused, mainly, on the development of an entrepreneurial mindset, together with
the development a set of vocational skills.
2. DEFINITIONS AND EVOLUTION
In the Guidance for UK higher education providers, „enterprise education” is defined
as the process of equipping students (or graduates) with an enhanced capacity to generate
ideas and the skills to make them happen. „Entrepreneurship education” equips students with
the additional knowledge, attributes and capabilities required to apply these abilities in the
context of setting up a new venture or business. All of this is a prerequisite for
„entrepreneurial effectiveness”, that is, the ability to function effectively as an entrepreneur
or in an entrepreneurial capacity, for example within small businesses or as part of 'portfolio
careers, where multiple job opportunities, part-time work and personal ventures combine'.
Enterprise and entrepreneurship are transdisciplinary, with a strong connection to issues of
employability, innovation, knowledge transfer, commercialization, and intellectual property.
[4]
The earliest roots of the entrepreneurial education are traced in J apan in 1938 by the
Professor Shigeru Fujii, who initiated the first efforts in applied education in
entrepreneurship. [5]
Within fifty years, the field of entrepreneurial education has evolved from a single
course offering to a diverse range of educational opportunities available at more than 1500
colleges and universities around the world. [6]
Scholars and researchers in entrepreneurship education in the United States have
reported that small business management and entrepreneurship courses at four-year college
and university levels have grown in both the number and diversity of course offerings from
1990-2014. A study concluded that 40% of schools in the United States offer specific courses
in social entrepreneurship, and 61% teach it in their core entrepreneurship courses. [7]
This expansion of educational offerings has been fueled, in part, by dissatisfaction
with the traditional Fortune 500 focus of business education voiced by students and
accreditation bodies. [8]
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
29 Vol 4/No.2/2015
3. LESSONS LEARNED AND COURSES
At the Stanford University, twenty years ago, Dr. Tom Byers came with an audacious
idea. He said that entrepreneurship education need to be a fundamental part of the curriculum
for every student in the fields of sciences and engineering. Also, he argued that all the
universities have to develop a rigorous research on the entrepreneurial education. For this
purpose, he founded the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP). Over the past
twenty years, STVP has proceeded to revolutionize research on and teaching of
entrepreneurship in the context of engineering and the sciences. In 2011, the National Science
Foundation (NSF) awarded $10 million – one of its largest single grants in history – to STVP
to support the development and launch of Epicenter, a national center to support teaching and
innovation, and entrepreneurship in engineering across the country. [3]
A study sought to examine how engineering students experience studying
entrepreneurship in a course that is based on a socio-constructivist view of learning and the
integrative pedagogy model. As a result of the study, four qualitatively different categories of
experiencing entrepreneurship as part of an engineering degree program were identified.
Entrepreneurship studies were experienced by students as a first step to self-directed learning,
a preparation for work life, a path to possible self-employment, and a context for developing
leadership and responsibility for group achievement. [9]
Engineering Entrepreneurship Program at the Penn University of Pennsylvania, under
the slogan “Engineering Entrepreneurship preparing students for Leadership”, aims to train
the founders and leaders of tomorrow's high-tech companies. The courses, at both
undergraduate and graduate levels, are approached from the perspective of the students
interested in technological innovation and who has little or no prior business education. [10]
Western Michigan University has a program called Industrial and Entrepreneurial
Engineering that combines the traditional industrial engineering program with an
entrepreneurial engineering program. Here the engineering design, creativity, and innovation
are emphasized throughout the curriculum. The students learn how to be an entrepreneur in a
small company, or how to lead successful entrepreneurial projects in a larger company.
Through a combination of academic courses and practical experiences, the students gain
knowledge and understanding of industrial and entrepreneurial engineering. [11]
Mercer University School of Engineering is a school that promotes entrepreneurial
mindset for engineering students through the curriculum development and extracurricular
activities. Through the course developed and implemented this school are: integrated
elements of entrepreneurship with engineering; developed an entrepreneurial mindset for
engineering students; fostered innovation and creativity for engineering disciplines; helped
the students to develop business plans for the entrepreneurial design projects and compete in
the annual business plan competition, and is promoted new ventures creation. [12]
Brown School of Engineering is a leader in entrepreneurial education. There are
entrepreneurial classes at the undergraduate level - the Business, Entrepreneurship and
Organizations program (BEO) and at the master's level - the Program in Innovation
Management and Entrepreneurship (PRIME) and IE Brown MBA programs. BEO program
aims to give students a coordinated, interactive approach to examining problems in the
workplace, formulating solutions, and suggesting actions. The students for th PRIME
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Vol 4/No.2/2015 30
program learn to use emerging science and technology as a basis for the creation of
commercial value and new ventures. IE Brown Executive MBA is a highly innovative
program designed to provide senior managers with the opportunity to develop and broaden
their management and leadership skills in an intensive, international environment. [13]
The Master programme in Entrepreneurial Engineering from the Aalborg University
(Denmark) develops mindset and skills that enable the students to create and realize new
value for people and organizations. The students have the opportunity to acquire the tools,
methods, knowledge of processes, as well as an organizational and managerial understanding
of innovation and entrepreneurship that will allow them to make a difference. [14]
4. ENTREPRENEURSHIP 2020 ACTION PLAN
At the level of European Union was made few surveys that conclude that between
15% and 20% from the students who participated in a mini-company program in secondary
school started later their own company. The young people who benefit from entrepreneurial
education, develop business knowledge and competencies, skills and attitudes like initiative,
creativity, tenacity, responsibility teamwork. That means an entrepreneurial mindset that
helps the young people to transform the ideas into action and at the end this will contribute to
the increased of the employability.
For dynamising the culture of entrepreneurship in Europe, in 2012 the European
Commission elaborated the Communication number 795, ENTREPRENEURSHIP 2020
ACTION PLAN.
This Action Plan is a blueprint for decisive joint action to unleash Europe's
entrepreneurial potential, to remove existing obstacles and to revolutionize the culture of
entrepreneurship in Europe. It aims to ease the creation of new businesses and to create a
much more supportive environment for existing entrepreneurs to thrive and grow. [15]
“More entrepreneurs for Europe” is the stated challenge of this Action Plan. For
achievement it, the Commission comitted to:
- develop a pan-European entrepreneurial learning initiative
- reinforce cooperation with the Member States for boost the introduction of
entrepreneurship education in each country
- establish a guidance framework for encourage the development of entrepreneurial
schools and VET institutions
- promote the recognition and validation of entrepreneurial learning in an informal or
non-formal learning environment
- disseminate the entrepreneurial university guidance framework
- facilitate th exchanges between universities interested in applying the guidance
framework
- endorse successful mechanisms of university-driven business creation (spin-offs etc.)
and emerging university-business ecosystems around key societal challenges.
“Universities should become more entrepreneurial”. Against this backdrop the European
Commission in collaboration with OECD has developed a framework for entrepreneurial
universities, designed to help interested universities assess themselves and improve their
capability with tailor-made learning modules.
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
31 Vol 4/No.2/2015
5. TEACHING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
In one of the most comprehensive empirical analyzes on entrepreneurship education is
stated: “A core objective of entrepreneurship education is that it differentiates from typical
business education. Clearly, for entrepreneurship education to embrace the 21
st
century,
professors must become more competent in the use of academic technology and also expand
their pedagogies to include new and innovative approaches to the teaching of
entrepreneurship.” [16]
European Commission says in “Entrepreneurship Education – A Guide for Educators” that:
- teachers have a central role because they have a strong impact on the attainment of
learners
- they have to be reflective teachers, to keep their practice under constant review and
adjust it in the light of desired learning outcomes and the individual needs of students
- teachers do not provide students with the answers but help them to research and
identify right questions and find the best answers
- they need a wide range of competencies related to creativity and entrepreneurship
- teachers require a school environment where creativity and risk-taking are
encouraged, and mistakes are valued as a learning opportunity. [17]
In a conference entitled “Teaching Entrepreneurship to Engineering Students” which
was held in Monterey, California during the period J anuary 12 to 16, 2003, the session topics
included was the following:
1. What are attributes of successful entrepreneurs?
2. What are models of successful programs teaching entrepreneurship to engineers?
3. What is the culture at a university that fosters a spirit of innovation and
entrepreneurship?
4. What partnerships are needed to create an environment for student and faculty
innovation?
5. How can engineering faculty become role models of innovation and
entrepreneurship? [18]
The current trend in most universities is to develop and expand entrepreneurship
programs and design unique and challenging curricula specifically designed for
entrepreneurship students. [19]
Thomassen writess a paper about a didactic strategy that can be applied in
entrepreneurship education for increasing the student’s self-efficacy. The so-called “push”
method incorporates seven enterprise-didactic strategies:
- change of habits
- role models
- reward for action
- courage to fail
- mean driven
- self-awareness and reflection
- experiences of success. [20]
The main responsibility of engineering educators is to teach their students to be more
innovative and entrepreneurial. Successful student innovators become powerful role models
for their classmates. [21]
Entrepreneurship for engineering students must be taught within the global context.
To meet the needs of engineering students, must be created institutional and individual
partnerships that to promote international collaborations. [22]
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Vol 4/No.2/2015 32
6. CONCLUSIONS
In our days, once with globalization and emerging international competition, when
jobs are an international problem, is necessary that students to be educated to be job creators,
not job seekers. For this, there is a growing need to enhance the entrepreneurial education in
universities and is obligatory to engage more engineering students in entrepreneurial
education for obtain a new generation of engineers which will be capable to realize their full
professional potential and apply it in satisfying and responsible ways. How this can be
obtained? On the one hand, by introducing into curricula at all levels of education, of the key
competence "entrepreneurship". On the other hand, the teachers must expand their
competencies related to creativity and entrepreneurship and change their pedagogies,
including new and innovative teaching methods, offering a truly entrepreneurial education.
7. REFERENCES
[1] Hynes B., Richardson I., Entrepreneurship Education: A Mechanism for Engaging
and Exchanging with the Small Business Sector, Education +Training 49(8/9), pp. 732-744
[2] Thomas Garavan, Barra O'Cinneide, Entrepreneurship Education and Training
Programmes: A Review and Evaluation - Part 1. Literature review of problems associated
with entrepreneurship education and training programmes. J ournal of European Industrial
Training, J ournal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 18 No. 8, 1994, pp. 3-12
[3] Trevor Loy - Guest Contributor, Entrepreneurs in the Academy: the Role of
Entrepreneurship in Engineering Education at Research Universities. Available:https://www.square1financial.com/-role-of-entrepreneurship-in-engineering-education
[4] Entreprise and Entrepreneurial Education: Guidance for UK higher education
providers, The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, 2012
[5] McMullan W. E., Long, W.A. (1987). Entrepreneurship education in the nineties.
J ournal of Business Venturing, 2, PP. 261-275
[6] Charney A., Libecap G. (2000) Impact of Entrepreneurship Education. Insights: A
Kauffman Research Series. Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership
[7] The National Survey of Entrepreneurship Education. An Overview of 2012-2014
Survey Data, The George Washington University Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence,
December 2, 2014
Available:http://www.nationalsurvey.org/files/2014KauffmanReport_Clean.pdf
[8] Solomon G. T. and Fernald L. W., J r. (1993). Assessing the need for small
business management/entrepreneurship courses at the university level. Proceedings of the
17thNational Small Business Consulting Conference-Small Business Institute Director’s
Association, pp. 102-107
[9] Marge Täks, Päivi Tynjälä, Martin Toding, Hasso Kukemelk and Urve Venesaar,
Engineering Students' Experiences in Studying Entrepreneurship, J ournal of Engineering
Education, Volume 103, Issue 4, pages 573–598, October 2014,
Available:http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jee.20056/abstract
[10]http://www.seas.upenn.edu/entrepreneurship/index.php
[11]http://wmich.edu/ime/iee.html
[12] Radharamanan R., J eng-Nan J uang, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education
in Engineering, 19 Apr 2014. Available:http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-
04573-3_156#
[13]http://www.brown.edu/academics/engineering/graduate-study/entrepreneurship
[14]http://www.en.aau.dk/education/master/entrepreneurial-engineering
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
33 Vol 4/No.2/2015
[15] COM(2012) 795 final, ENTREPRENEURSHIP 2020 ACTION PLAN,
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Brussels, 9.1.2013
[16] Solomon G.T., Duffy S., Tarabishy A. (2002) The state of entrepreneurship
education in the United States: A nationwide survey and analysis. International J ournal of
Entrepreneurship Education 1(1)
[17] Entrepreneurship Education – A Guide for Educators, European Commission,
DG Enterprise and Industry, Brussels, 2013
[18] Teaching Entrepreneurship to Engineering Students, Proceedings of the
Engineering Conferences International, 2003, ECI Digital Archives
Available:http://dc.engconfintl.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=teaching
[19] Kuratko D., Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, and Practice, Cengage
Learning, 2008
[20] Thomassen M.L., Developing and Conducting Entrepreneurship Education for
Engineering Students - Lessons learned while educating students through entrepreneurship,
SEFI 2014, 42
nd
Annual Conference, Birmingham, UK
[21] Byers T., Seelig T., Sheppard S., Weilerstein P., Entrepreneurship. Its Role in
Engineering Education, The Bridge, National Academy of Engineering, Vol. 43, No. 2,
Summer 2013
[22] Russel J ., Bethany O., International Entrepreneurship Education, ECI Digital
Archives, 2003. Available:http://dc.engconfintl.org/teaching/6/
doc_900343657.pdf
Information account entrepreneurial education for engineering students (review).
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
27 Vol 4/No.2/2015
UDK: 005.342-057.875 378.1 COBISS.SR-ID 220570892 Review Article
ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS
(Review)
Ratiu Mariana
University of Oradea, Romania, Faculty of Managerial and Technological Engineering,
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Automotive,
1 Universitatii str., 410087 Oradea, Romania, E-mail: [email protected]
Corresponding author: Ratiu Mariana, E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: There is a global consensus that traditional education is inadequate to prepare students
who are capable of adapting to the changing market conditions and who are capable of creating and
enhancing innovations. In this context, we can say that the engineering students need an
entrepreneurial education that should be focused, mainly, on the development of an entrepreneurial
mindset, together with the development a set of vocational skills. From the first ideas in 1938, a lot of
programs at all levels of higher education was developed in many universities across the world. For
dynamising the culture of entrepreneurship in Europe and for achievement the stated challenge
“more entrepreneurs for Europe”, in 2012 the European Commission elaborated
“ENTREPRENEURSHIP 2020 ACTION PLAN”. In accordance with it, universities should become
more entrepreneurial. To achieve this goal, is necessary that the universities to introduce in curricula
the key competence “entrepreneurship” and to assure for teachers opportunities to learn and practice
new and innovative methods to the teaching in an entrepreneurial style. Applying an entrepreneurial
education, we will obtain a new generation of engineers that will be capable to realize their full
professional potential and apply it in satisfying and responsible ways. They will be job creators, not
job seekers.
Key words: creativity, innovation, initiative, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial education, engineer
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Recived 01. avg. 2015. Recived in revised form 20. avg. 2015 Accepted 02. oct. 2015 Available online 10. jan. 2015.
1. INTRODUCTION
In our days, the enterprises need engineers who are prepared to adapt to the changing
market conditions and who are capable of creating and enhancing innovations that offer new
value to customers and society as a whole.
There is a global consensus that traditional education is inadequate to prepare students
who can meet these requirements. Innovation and creativity are essential to prepare students
for a successful professional life. In this context, entrepreneurial education is a way to
transform the traditional education system.
Entrepreneurial education is not only about educating people to start a business.
Entrepreneurial education means, also, to develop to the students the knowledge, skills and
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Vol 4/No.2/2015 28
competencies which will help them to engage in a more enterprising, innovative and flexible
manner in the changing workplace environment from today. [1]
The most commonly cited objectives of entrepreneurship education are the following:
- to acquire knowledge germane to entrepreneurship
- to acquire skills in the use of techniques, in the analysis of business situations, and in
the synthesis of action plans
- to identify and stimulate entrepreneurial drive, talent and skills
- to undo the risk-adverse bias of many analytical techniques
- to develop empathy and support for all unique aspects of entrepreneurship
- to devise attitudes towards change
- to encourage new start-ups and other entrepreneurial ventures. [2]
- After several studies in the field, Trevor says that to be successful in the 21st century,
graduates of engineering programs obviously need:
- to develop technical and analytical skills
- to be able to lead and collaborate with colleagues and peers in diverse, geographically
dispersed teams both within and across organizational boundaries
- to be flexible, resilient, creative, and empathetic
- to be able to recognize and pursue opportunities. [3]
In this context, we can say that the entrepreneurial education for engineering students
should be focused, mainly, on the development of an entrepreneurial mindset, together with
the development a set of vocational skills.
2. DEFINITIONS AND EVOLUTION
In the Guidance for UK higher education providers, „enterprise education” is defined
as the process of equipping students (or graduates) with an enhanced capacity to generate
ideas and the skills to make them happen. „Entrepreneurship education” equips students with
the additional knowledge, attributes and capabilities required to apply these abilities in the
context of setting up a new venture or business. All of this is a prerequisite for
„entrepreneurial effectiveness”, that is, the ability to function effectively as an entrepreneur
or in an entrepreneurial capacity, for example within small businesses or as part of 'portfolio
careers, where multiple job opportunities, part-time work and personal ventures combine'.
Enterprise and entrepreneurship are transdisciplinary, with a strong connection to issues of
employability, innovation, knowledge transfer, commercialization, and intellectual property.
[4]
The earliest roots of the entrepreneurial education are traced in J apan in 1938 by the
Professor Shigeru Fujii, who initiated the first efforts in applied education in
entrepreneurship. [5]
Within fifty years, the field of entrepreneurial education has evolved from a single
course offering to a diverse range of educational opportunities available at more than 1500
colleges and universities around the world. [6]
Scholars and researchers in entrepreneurship education in the United States have
reported that small business management and entrepreneurship courses at four-year college
and university levels have grown in both the number and diversity of course offerings from
1990-2014. A study concluded that 40% of schools in the United States offer specific courses
in social entrepreneurship, and 61% teach it in their core entrepreneurship courses. [7]
This expansion of educational offerings has been fueled, in part, by dissatisfaction
with the traditional Fortune 500 focus of business education voiced by students and
accreditation bodies. [8]
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
29 Vol 4/No.2/2015
3. LESSONS LEARNED AND COURSES
At the Stanford University, twenty years ago, Dr. Tom Byers came with an audacious
idea. He said that entrepreneurship education need to be a fundamental part of the curriculum
for every student in the fields of sciences and engineering. Also, he argued that all the
universities have to develop a rigorous research on the entrepreneurial education. For this
purpose, he founded the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP). Over the past
twenty years, STVP has proceeded to revolutionize research on and teaching of
entrepreneurship in the context of engineering and the sciences. In 2011, the National Science
Foundation (NSF) awarded $10 million – one of its largest single grants in history – to STVP
to support the development and launch of Epicenter, a national center to support teaching and
innovation, and entrepreneurship in engineering across the country. [3]
A study sought to examine how engineering students experience studying
entrepreneurship in a course that is based on a socio-constructivist view of learning and the
integrative pedagogy model. As a result of the study, four qualitatively different categories of
experiencing entrepreneurship as part of an engineering degree program were identified.
Entrepreneurship studies were experienced by students as a first step to self-directed learning,
a preparation for work life, a path to possible self-employment, and a context for developing
leadership and responsibility for group achievement. [9]
Engineering Entrepreneurship Program at the Penn University of Pennsylvania, under
the slogan “Engineering Entrepreneurship preparing students for Leadership”, aims to train
the founders and leaders of tomorrow's high-tech companies. The courses, at both
undergraduate and graduate levels, are approached from the perspective of the students
interested in technological innovation and who has little or no prior business education. [10]
Western Michigan University has a program called Industrial and Entrepreneurial
Engineering that combines the traditional industrial engineering program with an
entrepreneurial engineering program. Here the engineering design, creativity, and innovation
are emphasized throughout the curriculum. The students learn how to be an entrepreneur in a
small company, or how to lead successful entrepreneurial projects in a larger company.
Through a combination of academic courses and practical experiences, the students gain
knowledge and understanding of industrial and entrepreneurial engineering. [11]
Mercer University School of Engineering is a school that promotes entrepreneurial
mindset for engineering students through the curriculum development and extracurricular
activities. Through the course developed and implemented this school are: integrated
elements of entrepreneurship with engineering; developed an entrepreneurial mindset for
engineering students; fostered innovation and creativity for engineering disciplines; helped
the students to develop business plans for the entrepreneurial design projects and compete in
the annual business plan competition, and is promoted new ventures creation. [12]
Brown School of Engineering is a leader in entrepreneurial education. There are
entrepreneurial classes at the undergraduate level - the Business, Entrepreneurship and
Organizations program (BEO) and at the master's level - the Program in Innovation
Management and Entrepreneurship (PRIME) and IE Brown MBA programs. BEO program
aims to give students a coordinated, interactive approach to examining problems in the
workplace, formulating solutions, and suggesting actions. The students for th PRIME
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Vol 4/No.2/2015 30
program learn to use emerging science and technology as a basis for the creation of
commercial value and new ventures. IE Brown Executive MBA is a highly innovative
program designed to provide senior managers with the opportunity to develop and broaden
their management and leadership skills in an intensive, international environment. [13]
The Master programme in Entrepreneurial Engineering from the Aalborg University
(Denmark) develops mindset and skills that enable the students to create and realize new
value for people and organizations. The students have the opportunity to acquire the tools,
methods, knowledge of processes, as well as an organizational and managerial understanding
of innovation and entrepreneurship that will allow them to make a difference. [14]
4. ENTREPRENEURSHIP 2020 ACTION PLAN
At the level of European Union was made few surveys that conclude that between
15% and 20% from the students who participated in a mini-company program in secondary
school started later their own company. The young people who benefit from entrepreneurial
education, develop business knowledge and competencies, skills and attitudes like initiative,
creativity, tenacity, responsibility teamwork. That means an entrepreneurial mindset that
helps the young people to transform the ideas into action and at the end this will contribute to
the increased of the employability.
For dynamising the culture of entrepreneurship in Europe, in 2012 the European
Commission elaborated the Communication number 795, ENTREPRENEURSHIP 2020
ACTION PLAN.
This Action Plan is a blueprint for decisive joint action to unleash Europe's
entrepreneurial potential, to remove existing obstacles and to revolutionize the culture of
entrepreneurship in Europe. It aims to ease the creation of new businesses and to create a
much more supportive environment for existing entrepreneurs to thrive and grow. [15]
“More entrepreneurs for Europe” is the stated challenge of this Action Plan. For
achievement it, the Commission comitted to:
- develop a pan-European entrepreneurial learning initiative
- reinforce cooperation with the Member States for boost the introduction of
entrepreneurship education in each country
- establish a guidance framework for encourage the development of entrepreneurial
schools and VET institutions
- promote the recognition and validation of entrepreneurial learning in an informal or
non-formal learning environment
- disseminate the entrepreneurial university guidance framework
- facilitate th exchanges between universities interested in applying the guidance
framework
- endorse successful mechanisms of university-driven business creation (spin-offs etc.)
and emerging university-business ecosystems around key societal challenges.
“Universities should become more entrepreneurial”. Against this backdrop the European
Commission in collaboration with OECD has developed a framework for entrepreneurial
universities, designed to help interested universities assess themselves and improve their
capability with tailor-made learning modules.
ECONOMICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
31 Vol 4/No.2/2015
5. TEACHING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
In one of the most comprehensive empirical analyzes on entrepreneurship education is
stated: “A core objective of entrepreneurship education is that it differentiates from typical
business education. Clearly, for entrepreneurship education to embrace the 21
st
century,
professors must become more competent in the use of academic technology and also expand
their pedagogies to include new and innovative approaches to the teaching of
entrepreneurship.” [16]
European Commission says in “Entrepreneurship Education – A Guide for Educators” that:
- teachers have a central role because they have a strong impact on the attainment of
learners
- they have to be reflective teachers, to keep their practice under constant review and
adjust it in the light of desired learning outcomes and the individual needs of students
- teachers do not provide students with the answers but help them to research and
identify right questions and find the best answers
- they need a wide range of competencies related to creativity and entrepreneurship
- teachers require a school environment where creativity and risk-taking are
encouraged, and mistakes are valued as a learning opportunity. [17]
In a conference entitled “Teaching Entrepreneurship to Engineering Students” which
was held in Monterey, California during the period J anuary 12 to 16, 2003, the session topics
included was the following:
1. What are attributes of successful entrepreneurs?
2. What are models of successful programs teaching entrepreneurship to engineers?
3. What is the culture at a university that fosters a spirit of innovation and
entrepreneurship?
4. What partnerships are needed to create an environment for student and faculty
innovation?
5. How can engineering faculty become role models of innovation and
entrepreneurship? [18]
The current trend in most universities is to develop and expand entrepreneurship
programs and design unique and challenging curricula specifically designed for
entrepreneurship students. [19]
Thomassen writess a paper about a didactic strategy that can be applied in
entrepreneurship education for increasing the student’s self-efficacy. The so-called “push”
method incorporates seven enterprise-didactic strategies:
- change of habits
- role models
- reward for action
- courage to fail
- mean driven
- self-awareness and reflection
- experiences of success. [20]
The main responsibility of engineering educators is to teach their students to be more
innovative and entrepreneurial. Successful student innovators become powerful role models
for their classmates. [21]
Entrepreneurship for engineering students must be taught within the global context.
To meet the needs of engineering students, must be created institutional and individual
partnerships that to promote international collaborations. [22]
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6. CONCLUSIONS
In our days, once with globalization and emerging international competition, when
jobs are an international problem, is necessary that students to be educated to be job creators,
not job seekers. For this, there is a growing need to enhance the entrepreneurial education in
universities and is obligatory to engage more engineering students in entrepreneurial
education for obtain a new generation of engineers which will be capable to realize their full
professional potential and apply it in satisfying and responsible ways. How this can be
obtained? On the one hand, by introducing into curricula at all levels of education, of the key
competence "entrepreneurship". On the other hand, the teachers must expand their
competencies related to creativity and entrepreneurship and change their pedagogies,
including new and innovative teaching methods, offering a truly entrepreneurial education.
7. REFERENCES
[1] Hynes B., Richardson I., Entrepreneurship Education: A Mechanism for Engaging
and Exchanging with the Small Business Sector, Education +Training 49(8/9), pp. 732-744
[2] Thomas Garavan, Barra O'Cinneide, Entrepreneurship Education and Training
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[3] Trevor Loy - Guest Contributor, Entrepreneurs in the Academy: the Role of
Entrepreneurship in Engineering Education at Research Universities. Available:https://www.square1financial.com/-role-of-entrepreneurship-in-engineering-education
[4] Entreprise and Entrepreneurial Education: Guidance for UK higher education
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[10]http://www.seas.upenn.edu/entrepreneurship/index.php
[11]http://wmich.edu/ime/iee.html
[12] Radharamanan R., J eng-Nan J uang, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education
in Engineering, 19 Apr 2014. Available:http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-
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[13]http://www.brown.edu/academics/engineering/graduate-study/entrepreneurship
[14]http://www.en.aau.dk/education/master/entrepreneurial-engineering
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[15] COM(2012) 795 final, ENTREPRENEURSHIP 2020 ACTION PLAN,
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Entrepreneurship Education 1(1)
[17] Entrepreneurship Education – A Guide for Educators, European Commission,
DG Enterprise and Industry, Brussels, 2013
[18] Teaching Entrepreneurship to Engineering Students, Proceedings of the
Engineering Conferences International, 2003, ECI Digital Archives
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[20] Thomassen M.L., Developing and Conducting Entrepreneurship Education for
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SEFI 2014, 42
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[22] Russel J ., Bethany O., International Entrepreneurship Education, ECI Digital
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