Entrepreneurship Education in Higher Education Institutions: Estonian Case

Abstract

The European Union (EU) faces the daunting challenge of emerging from the crisis and putting economies back on a sustainable growth path – there is still need of innovative, well-educated, and entrepreneurial citizens who have the spirit and inquisitiveness to think in new ways, and the courage to meet and adapt to the challenges. Entrepreneurship education (EE) is much broader concept than entrepreneurship as a practice of trade; it includes the entrepreneurship key competence that refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. Educational institutions stress the need to offer opportunities to increase entrepreneurial skills development (Bird, 2002). EE in European higher education institutions (HEI) is experiencing a growth; but there are still weaknesses (Varblane & Mets, 2010; Kyro & Carrier, 2005): for example, teaching of entrepreneurship for non-business industries is not sufficiently integrated in HEI’s curricula; education provides little training in entrepreneurship. In the article authors map and analyse the situation of EE in Estonian HEIs. Authors use classification (as proposed in Twaalfhoven, Suen & Prats, 2001), which distinguished three types of approach to entrepreneurship programme development: a) the research-oriented model; b) the “consulting” model; c) the teaching/practice-oriented student development model. Authors use case-study approach and for data-collecting method interview is used. Findings: EE should be more experiential and interdisciplinary; entrepreneurship should be the third career choice for students and be part of curricula; the EE should be supported by ecosystem, teaching methods must change, etc. Also we have recommendations what are implemented in developing special program of EU structural foundations. Keywords: entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurship education; Estonia; Higher education institutions;