Skills as declared learning outcomes of entrepreneurship training in higher education institutions across the globe: Classification and analysis with a focus on thinking skills

Abstract

The study identifies and classifies skills as declared learning outcomes in entrepreneurship education programs and courses in higher education by looking at globally recognized universities, indexed in authoritative QS ranking and mentioned in literature (43 universities). We analyze descriptions of the declared expected results of entrepreneurship education located on universities’ official websites. We take into account both, available documents and general descriptions on the webpages. The method is manual content-analysis.We find a lack of consistency and high differentiation, including formulations related to thinking skills. We develop the classification of declared outcomes of entrepreneurship education in higher education institutions based on the ideas of human capital theory. This classification considers the role of thinking skills, which remains on periphery of current discussions about learning outcomes of entrepreneurship education.