The ideathon as an instrument for entrepreneurial education in university contexts

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide support for the use of ideathons as a useful tool in entrepreneurial education, enhancing the practical perspective of students and constituting a sound basis for generating collaborative ecosystems in universities. The objectives include exploring and describing the main steps and issues in organising this type of event. Considering the descriptive nature of the phenomenon and the first-hand information available, the case study approach has been used. To do so, a number of interviews have been conducted with high-level management positions with extensive experience in the university and in private companies. As a result, we provide a set of guidelines for organising and running successful ideathons in social sciences: (1) planning, (2) budgeting, (3) training, (4) running the competition, and (5) networking and benefits. A successful ideathon should help improve the reputation of the institution. Students can also increase their employability due to enhanced entrepreneurial skills and their interaction with real companies during the competition. Considering the scarcity of studies addressing ideathon, from a theoretical and empirical point of view, we offer a social sciences approach to idea-generation events, which have traditionally been covered from technical areas (IT domain).