The potential impact of entrepreneurship education on doctoral students within the non-commercial research environment in Chile

Cristian A Muñoz,Mauricio E Guerra,Simon Mosey

doi:10.1080/03075079.2019.1597036

Cristian A Muñoz, Mauricio E Guerra + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1597036

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Abstract

ABSTRACTChilean doctoral programs in science and technology generally do not consider entrepreneurial training within their curricula. Taking an entrepreneurial competency approach, we explore the potential impact of introducing an entrepreneurship education course to doctoral students based within a non-commercial research environment. We identified two main areas of possible impact: the potential effects upon doctoral research projects and upon the doctoral students themselves. We followed the learning experiences of science and technology PhD students before, during, and a year after an entrepreneurial course through a multiple case study research design. Our results suggest that entrepreneurship education has a positive impact upon the development of student’s creative problem-solving and communication skills. This was reported to have a generally positive effect upon the students’ doctoral projects and on the student’s self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions. We conclude that entrepreneurship education complements traditional doctoral training for students within a non-commercial academic setting.

Highlights

Entrepreneurship is considered a key economic activity as it fosters innovation and economic growth (Acs 2006; Acs and Szerb 2007)
Theoretical Entrepreneurship Education Implications Our research provides evidence that supports and expands the idea, suggested in previous studies, that entrepreneurship education has several positive effects in terms of competences (Béchard and Grégoire, 2005; Nabi et al, 2017), adding that similar results were observed in the neglected research context of doctoral education in a non commercial setting
This paper explores the potential benefits of including entrepreneurship education in the training of doctoral students in a non commercial setting

Summary

Introduction

Entrepreneurship is considered a key economic activity as it fosters innovation and economic growth (Acs 2006; Acs and Szerb 2007). Entrepreneurship courses are becoming more prevalent in higher education programs, even in those not directly related to business. They are argued to have a positive impact on students’ capabilities and career paths (Arranz et al 2016; Greene and Saridakis 2008). Some authors even argue that the entire modern university should take an entrepreneurial approach (Abreu et al 2016; Etzkowitz 1983; Gibb 2007) where entrepreneurship education should play a central role (Gibb 2005)

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