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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Basic Student Entrepreneurial Programme (BSEP) among local university graduates who have undergone the training programme in entrepreneurship development.

In total, 410 respondents who had participated in BSEP were interviewed with a structural questionnaire to gather information on their social attitude towards the effectiveness of BSEP on their intention to become an agri‐entrepreneur. Chi‐square analysis was used to determine the relationship between demographic variables towards motivating agri‐entrepreneurship among the participants.

The results show that the participants agreed upon the effectiveness of BSEP in developing graduates’ intention towards becoming agri‐entrepreneurs. The results also show that there is a significant relationship between three variables which motivate participants to become agri‐entrepreneurs. These were the origin of the participant, the presence of family members already involved in entrepreneurial activities and educational background.

The paper is only concerned with students’ perceptions towards the effectiveness of BSEP in encouraging them to become agri‐entrepreneurs. The results from this paper are limited in terms of determining whether they really become an agri‐entrepreneur or not because this research only focuses on intention.

The paper provides an important exploratory analysis of the BSEP programme to enable further research to take place in the area of entrepreneurship education. The findings provide a valuable insight on effective teaching methodologies in the area of entrepreneurship education.

The paper expands on Ajzen's framework to provide a basis to improve the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in Malaysia.

The purpose of this paper is to understand gender differences in entrepreneurial intentions as measured by perceived feasibility and perceived desirability, and to explore gender differences in perceptions of entrepreneurship education needs – in terms of programmes, activities or projects – to succeed in an entrepreneurial career from the university student's point of view.

Using data gathered from 3,420 university students in more than ten countries, and applying the Mann‐Whitney non‐parametric test, differences between genders and different intention groups were examined. To reduce the items regarding educational needs, factor analysis was used. Gender differences in educational needs were also examined via Mann‐Whitney Test.

The results confirm that compared to males, female students are less willing to start their own businesses. There are significant gender differences in terms of perceived feasibility and perceived desirability such that although they feel more supported by their families, females are less self‐confident, more tense, reluctant and concerned about entrepreneurship. In terms of entrepreneurial intention, there are fewer gender differences among students; however, differences relating to self‐confidence and family support still exist. Furthermore, students cited establishing entrepreneurial mentoring and an appropriate tutoring structure as the most needed entrepreneurial educational activity/program/project at an academic institution; this was rated higher by females compared to males.

The findings of this paper could help guide educators and policy makers in designing effective entrepreneurship programmes that are customized to respond to gender specific needs to increase entrepreneurial participation.

This study reveals the gender differences in perceived desirability and perceived feasibility which impact entrepreneurial intentions. Gender differences in the entrepreneurial programmes/activities/projects required at an academic institution to promote entrepreneurial participation among university students is also explored.

The basic role in the development of the national economy of each country plays their citizens – their entrepreneurs. Preparation of the society for entrepreneurial activities takes place during the education process. In the Polish National Development Program for years 2007–2013 the development of entrepreneurial competencies was prioritised to increase the competitiveness of the economy.

In this chapter a set of features referred to as entrepreneurial competencies was developed. They were divided into four groups, that is, technical, social, economic and managerial. In addition, the literature on entrepreneurship education was reviewed. The empirical part presents the results of own analysis on the methods for developing entrepreneurial competencies which are preferred by students and widely used at Polish universities in four fields of study: humanities, technical, natural and economic studies.

The research results show that the humanities rather do not attach significance to the analysed competencies. Studies in economics include them, but their educational programmes focus primarily on shaping a group of technical competencies. The method most often indicated by all groups of respondents as effective in developing individual entrepreneurial competencies was discussion. The project method came in second, and coaching in third place. Meanwhile, the lecture method still dominates in the educational practice in all fields of study.

This chapter presents the results of the original research project, which are guidelines for all responsible for shaping study programmes and deciding about the educational methods.

With the unbridled demand for entrepreneurship in higher education, the purpose of this paper is to identify how pedagogy can inhibit students in making the transition to graduate entrepreneurship. Along the way, the concept of what and who is a graduate entrepreneur is challenged.

The paper reports upon the pragmatic development of enterprise programmes in Ireland and Australia. Despite different starting points, a convergence of purpose as to what can be realistically expected of enterprise education has emerged.

This study reinforces the shift away from commercialisation strategies associated with entrepreneurial action towards developing essential life skills as core to any university programme and key to developing entrepreneurial capacity among students. Despite similar government intervention, university policy and student demand for practical‐based entrepreneurial learning in both cases, graduates tend not to engage in immediate entrepreneurial action due to the lack of fit between their programme of study and individual resource profiles, suggesting that graduate entrepreneurship is more than child's play.

There are practical implications for educationalists forced to consider the effectiveness of their enterprise teachings, and cautionary evidence for those charged with providing support services for graduates.

Given the evolutionary approaches used at the University of Tasmania to develop students as “reasonable adventurers” and at the University of Ulster to develop “the enterprising mindset” the paper presents evidence of the need to allow students the opportunity to apply entrepreneurial learning to their individual life experiences in order to reasonably venture into entrepreneurial activity.

Research on entrepreneurial ecosystems has advanced over recent years and has become a popular topic. Despite the interest, previous work has focused on entrepreneurial ecosystems in large cities in the United States. Ecosystems in small cities, underpopulated rural areas, university towns and outside the USA have not been considered much. This paper begins to address this deficit by reviewing three groups of literature.

From the review, the paper builds a conceptual framework to consider entrepreneurial ecosystems led by universities. After summarizing the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems, entrepreneurial universities and entrepreneurship education, the paper suggests a conceptual framework outlying the structure, components and mechanisms that enable universities to operate as catalysts in the creation of entrepreneurial ecosystems.

It is evident that on many of the “ingredients” of a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem, a resource-constrained environment would have many gaps. Building an entrepreneurship ecosystem in such contexts would be inherently challenging. The model presented suggests that the presence of a university in such locations should enhance the prospects of progress but that the nature of the university itself would impact any outcomes. Universities that make concerted efforts to be entrepreneurial and that have entrepreneurship programmes have strategies available to them that can enhance entrepreneurship ecosystems over time.

The contribution of this paper is to show “how” a university and its entrepreneurship programme can operationally address deficits in a local ecosystem and how it might bring about positive change. The paper also opens new avenues for entrepreneurship education researchers.

The Polish economy is continuing its expansion through the adoption of free market economics in the post‐communist era. To encourage this growth in a future where difficult global economic conditions are likely to persist, it is essential that entrepreneurial activity is encouraged within the next generation of graduates. This study aims to explore the attitudes and motivations of Polish students towards an entrepreneurship education programme.

To achieve the research objectives the methodological approach adopted for this study involved semi‐structured interviews undertaken with 122 Polish students. Each student undertook an interview within which they were asked to reflect on the impact of an entrepreneurship education programme on their entrepreneurial attitudes and motivations.

This study builds on Jones et al., whose “snapshot” study found that Polish students had limited prior entrepreneurial experiences and expectations and welcomed the opportunity to undertake entrepreneurship education. The findings here confirmed the results of the prior study, but also provided greater insight regarding the reasons underpinning respondent behaviour.

The data collected within this study are limited to the experience of Polish students. It is questionable whether the results are generalisable to different nationalities. Additional research must be undertaken to explore this further.

The results have implications for the construction and delivery of entrepreneurship education to student groups.

The study contributes to the extant knowledge in the context of the experience of enterprise education in a developing country. The paper will be of value to enterprise education providers in aiding the construction and delivery of such programmes.

This study focuses on the implementation of entrepreneurship education in non-business education at the basic education level and in class-teacher education in Finland. The subject to learn was music, which did not include any entrepreneurial content. Accordingly, this study looks closely at the way learners behave when studying music. The purpose of this paper is to see whether entrepreneurial behaviour is appropriate in non-business education.

The study used the action research approach; in particular, it used the special teacher-as-researcher method. The analysis was based on content analysis.

In this study, the teacher-researcher looked at entrepreneurial learning as experimenting with alternative learning methods and different learning contents. To ensure that every learner received the support they needed in their self-chosen tasks, peer learning was encouraged. Learners got the support they needed both from each other and from the teacher-researcher.

Although this study was only carried once during some music lessons in one particular comprehensive school and once in one class-teacher education in Finland, the findings may prompt teachers in other subjects and other countries to add entrepreneurial activities to their learning environments.

There is a lack of research into entrepreneurship education practices at lower educational levels and where education is not business-oriented. Using the entrepreneurial approach in general education raises another question: is the approach suitable for every learner? Neither of these facets has been studied in depth.

The point of this study is to review the effect of entrepreneur education on the venture intention among the female undergraduate in the Nigeria University. The structural equation modelling was used in the equation analysis. The findings of the study will increase the awareness and acumen of entrepreneurship among female students. The analysis will help in developing entrepreneurial skills and aptitudes in the university’s business curriculum, which provides far-reaching exposure of critical thinking sessions that stimulate the generation of business ideas. It also helps to tailor business ideas to study and interest activities to motivate active participation, inspired progressively in the Nigeria ambience.

Entrepreneurship Education (EE) has received substantial attention, both in the popular press, as well as in academia, owing to the socio-economic impact it holds. However, while the importance of entrepreneurship is universally acknowledged, specific higher-order outcomes EE aim to achieve have not received the same level of attention. This study aims to fill this void by analysing teaching and learning approaches to EE in Africa, as well as the competencies that these EE initiatives aim to build. The study makes use of a qualitative research approach in the form of a systematic review of EE studies conducted in Africa. The systematic review aimed to uncover which approaches and competencies EE initiatives apply. Results indicated that teaching and learning of EE in Africa are mainly focussed on learning for and about entrepreneurship, and to a lesser degree through entrepreneurship. The study therefore proposes the development of higher-order competencies in the form of envisioning and constructing. The study contributes in practice by proposing a shift in the approach to EE by building competencies in the areas of visionary thinking and market expansion, rather than gaining market share. The study also makes a theoretical contribution by critically reviewing teaching and learning approaches on EE and developed competencies, and expands the role that EE can play in market development and opportunity creation.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the measurement of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in the student population of different academic programmes, in order to enhance entrepreneurship‐related procedures within universities.

A survey‐based tool for measuring EO is presented and used in one university. The answers are explored using statistical methods.

The results show that the survey provides the user with adequate data about EO within student groups. They also demonstrate that while entrepreneurial desire differs between academic programmes, actual EO results do not.

In the paper it is suggested that the new information can be used for developing entrepreneurial courses as well as student selection procedures. Some modifications for the survey, as well as initiation of a wider research programme, are also proposed.

The paper uses a traditional survey for EO in a novel setting, amongst university students. The results create new interesting knowledge about the differences and similarities of the students of different academic programmes.