Integration of Entrepreneurship into Higher Education (Educational Sciences) in Lithuania and Latvia: Focus on Students’ Entrepreneurial Competencies

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to highlight the aspects of integration of entrepreneurship into higher education (Educational sciences) in Lithuania and Latvia. The article maintains that proper entrepreneurial competencies are required to successfully start, operate and ensure the new business in the marketplace. From an educational perspective, scholars are primarily concerned with the development of individual-level competencies for entrepreneurship. Therefore the following question arises: what competencies for entrepreneurship should individuals be able to manifest when facing an entrepreneurial venture? More specifically, from educational and higher education perspectives, the question is: what competencies for entrepreneurship should universities address in their curricula for graduate programmes specifically in Educational sciences. Models of students’ entrepreneurial competencies are highlighted theoretically and some empirical insights on which competencies students in Educational sciences from Lithuanian and Latvian universities would like to have acquired are provided. The article presupposes that competence–based education can be designed to promote entrepreneurial activity among university students. Key words: entrepreneurship, higher education, Educational sciences. JEL CODES: L 26, I 23 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/rfds.v18i1.1250