Abstract:

Learning entrepreneurial skills became one of the core requirements of 21st century education aimed to provide graduates with best chances to benefit form job market opportunities and meet high competitiveness standards of European businesses. Furthermore, given the rising unemployment rates worldwide, the skills needed to develop successful startups are of utmost importance. Taking up private initiative appear as a highly valued option that is encouraged by EU through various initiatives supporting young entrepreneurs, fostering economic growth and decreasing the number of young NEETs. European formal tertiary education provide differentiated and uneven entrepreneurial training. Efforts are made to leverage the existing initiatives and frameworks, as highlighted by EC reports and studies.

The conceptual framework of this paper is based on empirical findings gathered as a result of close collaboration with third and fourth year undergraduates and five local companies. The paper presents and discusses the findings of the study conducted with the aim to provide recommendations for education and job-market stakeholders. The research was conducted by applying quantitative and qualitative methods. We applied written questionnaires and conducted interviews with 280 undergraduates and graduates specializing in different fields, as well as with the involved business representatives.

Theoretical aspects of Entrepreneurial-Minded Learning (EML) and Problem Based Learning (PBL) are considered in order to allow a coherent and objective interpretation of results. The findings show that undergraduates attending entrepreneurship theoretical training do not consider themselves ready to take action mainly because of a practical skills gap. The contextualization of entrepreneurial practices and awareness activities fostering critical thinking and problem solving need special attention. Needs analysis show that formal education must engage in closer partnerships with industry and companies.

Keywords:

Education, Entrepreneurship, Higher-education, Business, Entrepreneurial-Minded Learning (EML), Problem Based.