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My future as an entrepreneur - A study into BUas students' Entrepreneurial Intentions

Learning in networks Community of Practice: a new approach to entrepreneurial learning

Educational programs teaching entrepreneurial behaviour and knowledge are crucial to a vital and healthy economy. The concept of building a Communities of Practice (CoP) could be very promising. CoP’s are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavour (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002). They consist of a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. Normally CoP’s are rather homogeneous. Saxion institute Small Business & Retail Management (SB&RM) started a CoP with entrepreneurs September 2007. Typical in the this community, are the differences between the partners. The Community consists of students, entrepreneurs and members of an institution for higher education. They have different characteristics and they don’t share the same knowledge. Thus, building long-lasting relations can be complicated. Solid relations for longer periods are nevertheless inevitable in using CoP as a mean in an educational concept that takes approximately 4 years. After one year an evaluation took place on the main aspects of a lasting partnership. The central problem SB&RM in Deventer faces is to design the CoP in a way possible members will join and stay for a longer period and in a way it ensures entrepreneurial learning. This means important design characteristics have to be identified, and the CoP in Deventer has to be evaluated to assess whether it meets those design characteristics in an effective and efficient way. The main target of the evaluation is to determine which key factors are important to make sure continuity in partnership is assured and entrepreneurial learning is best supported. To solve the problem, an investigation on how a CoP works, what group dynamics take place, and how this can be measured has to be conducted. Furthermoreusing the CoP as a tool for entrepreneurship means key aspects of entrepreneurial learning have to be identified. After that the CoP in Deventer has to be examined on both aspects. According to literature CoP’s define themselves along three dimensions: domain (indicating what is it about), community (defining how it functions), and practice (indicating what capabilities it has produced) (Wenger, 1998). This leads to meaningful, shared and coordinated activities (Akkerman et al, 2007): Key aspects of a successful CoP lie in both hard and soft sides of creating a partnership. It means on one hand a CoP has to deal with defining their own overall vision, formulating long term goals and targets on the short term. They have to formulate how to achieve those targets and create meaningful activities (reification). On the other hand a CoP has to deal with relations, trust, norms and values (participation). Reification and participation as design characteristic can provide indicators on which the CoP in Deventer can be evaluated. A lasting partnership means joining the CoP and staying. Weick provides us with a suitable model that enables us to do research and evaluate whether the CoP in Deventer is successful or not, Weick’s model of means convergence. To effectively ensure entrepreneurial learning the process in the CoP has to provide or enable actionoriented forms through Project-based activity, accompanied by reflection, with high emotional exposure (or cognitive affection) preferably caused by discontinuities to be suitable as a tool in entrepreneurial learning. Furthermore it should be accompanied by the right preconditions to work effectively and efficiently. The evaluation of the present CoP in Deventer is done by interviewing all participants at the end of the first year of the partnership. In a structured interview, based on literature studies, all participants were separately questioned

Following in parental footsteps?

This study focusses on the influence of the family context on the development of entrepreneurial intention (EI) among young adults with entrepreneurial parents. It extends the EI literature by drawing on social cognitive career theory to study the interaction between entrepreneurial parents and their children. We introduce the learning experiences ‘vicarious learning’ and ‘social persuasion’ as antecedents of EI and found significant empirical support for the influence of social persuasion. In addition, we study the relationship between gender and EI. Our results not only confirm the direct effect of gender on EI but also reveal a significant mediating effect of parental preference – one of the social persuasion factors studied – on the gender–EI relationship.

Teaching future teachers about entrepreneurship: The focus on entrepreneurial competences

Workshop summaryIn this workshop we work together with the participants towards concrete steps that educators could take to promote inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems. Nowadays, entrepreneurial ecosystems do not provide all entrepreneurs equal access to opportunities, resources, and support. Specifically, entrepreneurial ecosystems remain heavily male-dominated with women and other underrepresented groups facing challenges to access resources and grow their ventures due to a range of (institutional) barriers. This lack of inclusivity is problematic as it limits the release of untapped entrepreneurial potential necessary to maximize the societal and economic benefits of entrepreneurship. During this workshop we want to engage in discussions and propose actions to be undertaken by educators and HEI’s to foster the inclusivity of their institutional and regional entrepreneurial ecosystem in which they are embedded. By using the ‘inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem framework’, we want to raise awareness of this topic and share actionable ideas that participants can implement in their daily practices.

The Development of Entrepreneurial Intention amongst University Students: The Influence of Individual and Contextual Factors

The swift enhancement of technology has affected the business environment while higher education alone no longer plays a definitive role in the employment process. To meet the emerging requirements of employers, individuals, specifically students, need to develop more entrepreneurial tendencies. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the entrepreneurial intention (EI) of university students. In order to do so, eight constructs (EI, individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO), self-efficacy, perceived educational support, perceived relational support, perceived structural support, knowledge sharing and gender) and their items taken from existing literature were used within the proposed model, and the constructed hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation modelling (SEM). In total, 268 surveys were returned by students of various universities. The findings of this study show that self-efficacy is the strongest influencer of students’ EI. The findings also show the mediating influence of self-efficacy on the environmental components. Additionally, male students are more likely than female students to have EI. Overall, this study will help establish the influencers of EI among university students.

Innovativeness, Entrepreneurial Tendencies and Cultural Differences

The purpose of this study was to explore innovativeness and entrepreneurial tendencies among different national cultures. A survey instrument was administered on a sample of 731 business students from several countries in Asian, Baltic, USA, Nordic and Middle, South and East European countries. Respondents completed the questionnaire which focused on innovativeness and proactiveness as well as entrepreneurial risk-taking, growth and intention to start a business. Results indicated various statistically significant differences between cultures. The paper highlights country specific strategies for enhancing entrepreneurship.