Can entrepreneurship education activities promote students' entrepreneurial intention?

Abstract

Entrepreneurship education activities (EEA) aim to promote entrepreneurship, however, existing research on the impact of EEA on students' entrepreneurial intention (EI) shows contradictory results. Building on this research, our explorative study examines the relationship between curricular EEA and extracurricular EEA – differentiated into startup talks, workshops, and startup competitions – and participants’ EI.We conducted multiple linear regression analyses to compare students in Germany from multiple universities who participated exclusively in one of the four mentioned EEA (N = 105) with a control group, that didn’t participate in any EEA (N = 105), while controlling for external factors such as role models and students' demographic characteristics.Our findings show that the EI of students who participated in curricular EEA or startup competitions as assessment-based activities is not significantly different from students who did not participate in EEA at all. Attendees of non-assessed startup talks and workshops, however, showed significantly higher EI than the control group.We employ self-determination theory (SDT) to interpret our findings and hypothesize that assessment situations reduce social relatedness among students and exert a form of negative pressure on them, leading to lower motivation and ultimately a reduced entrepreneurial intention. Implications for educators and policymakers are drawn.