Integrating Entrepreneurial Competencies into Education: A Comparative Analysis in Europe


Akar H., Potluka O., Akgüngör E. S., Sharma V.

&th Profeedback Conference "Business Development, SMEs, Entrepreneurship, Competitiveness", Athens, Yunanistan, 19 Eylül 2024, ss.18-19, (Özet Bildiri)

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Athens
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Yunanistan
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.18-19
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The main argument of the paper is that changing needs of business and workforce necessitate a focus on preparing students for entrepreneurship. As the knowledge economy evolves and youth unemployment rises, entrepreneurship education becomes important for Europe. This education involves a curriculum that includes technology and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). However, the role of school climate in fostering these skills has not been fully explored. The paper highlights that school climate plays a crucial role in developing students' entrepreneurial skills. Research indicates a link between school climate and students' entrepreneurial skills (Cohen, McCabe, Michelli, and Pickeral, 2009). Ryan and Deci (2000) argue that a supportive environment in schools enhances students' creativity. Jones and English (2004) suggest that interactive teaching methods foster a school’s creative environment. Furthermore, Nguyen et al. (2021) argue that extracurricular activities increase students' entrepreneurial intention due to improved self-efficacy. In 2016, the European Commission published the Eurydice Report (2016) to provide an overview of the landscape of entrepreneurship education and identified a cross-curricular approach, comprising two key elements: a. Entrepreneurship education objectives integrated across subjects; b. Entrepreneurship education is taught as a compulsory or optional subject. Entrepreneurship education is offered as an option. The paper investigates how European countries integrate entrepreneurial skills development through hidden curricula, school climates, and extracurricular activities. It also examines how school climate factors influence the level of entrepreneurial competencies among students in various European nations. The analysis utilizes PISA 2022 data, incorporating variables from the student, teacher, and school questionnaires. Student variables encompass students' educational pathways and postsecondary aspirations, subject-specific beliefs, attitudes, feelings, and behaviors, as well as general socioeconomic and emotional characteristics, creative thinking, and economic and social standing. School climate variables cover availability of in-house professional development, positive school climate, career guidance, the main person responsible for career guidance, information on internships, future careers, career opportunities, creative school environment, creative school activities offered, openness culture/climate (from the school questionnaire), subject-specific overlap between initial education and teaching the modal www.cost.eu www.profeedback.eugrade, teachers feeling of trust, and percentage of students with different abilities (from the teacher questionnaire). Cluster analysis groups students according to their level of entrepreneurial competencies. Differences across clusters are analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Logistic regression is used to estimate the probability of cluster membership given the school climate for entrepreneurship development. The main conclusion of the paper shows that different school environments contribute to the entrepreneurial skills of the students across Europe. This understanding is important for policymakers across Europe in designing programs to prepare students for the changing demands of the future and dynamic business world.