Patterns in entrepreneurial competences as the perceived learning outcomes of entrepreneurship education

Abstract

The importance of evaluating the outcomes of entrepreneurship education (EE) has been widely acknowledged, but how to approach the evaluation and what models and measures to use are still subjected to academic debate. In this article, the authors present an application of the European Competence Framework (ECF) – the knowledge–skills–attitude triad that stems from Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. A survey of self-assessed entrepreneurial competences acquired in entrepreneurship education courses was carried out in five Estonian higher education institutions (HEIs). An exploratory factor analysis based on the sample of 249 respondents confirmed the empirical viability of the ECF for evaluating the outcomes of EE, while also indicating a wide spectrum of these outcomes. Knowledge about entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial skills and a range of affective outcomes was perceived to be stronger by those students who had higher aspirations to become entrepreneurs before entering the HEIs.