Abstract:

Entrepreneurship is a transversal competence in Engineering Degrees that contribute not only to the creation of new companies, but also to the employability of young people. Engineering students usually have concerns associated with innovation and product development and therefore closely related to entrepreneurship. However it is necessary to guide and motivate them to acquire this competence and help theme to identify business opportunities in their professional field.

The factors that influence entrepreneurship are many and they consist of a combination of personal factors, attributes, experience, disposition, perceptions, etc. Generally, it is considered that entrepreneurial intentions are determined by the individual's attitude towards entrepreneurship, by motivation, personal characteristics, as well as by external factors (social norms, financial, economic or legal factors) [1].

Among the entrepreneurial attitudes, creativity and innovation are currently most valued and both are traditionally related to entrepreneurship [2]. Creativity is the ability to create new ideas based on specific products or services. It is the starting point that the entrepreneur needs to start a project. On the other hand, innovation is defined as “a process that involves the generation, adoption, implementation and incorporation of new ideas or practices within an organization” [3].

These attitudes are very important for the companies today, because the information and communication technologies and globalization require entrepreneurs and companies to respond to customers and adapt to the environment more quickly. Innovation is an essential element for entrepreneurs to maintain their business [4].

This paper presents the results related to the attitudes of innovation and creativity in engineering students. For this, the Self-Diagnosis of Entrepreneurial Attitudes questionnaire developed by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of Spain.
This activity has been carried out within the Project for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Culture "Entrepreneurship strategies to promote the entrepreneurial attitude of engineering students" and the results have allowed detecting the deficiencies in terms of attitudes that students have and thus suitable activities can be planned developed to reinforce these attitudes.

Acknowledgements:
This research was funded by Vice-Rector’s Office for Knowledge Transfer, Employability and Entrepreneurship of the University of Jaén by the project “Entrepreneurship strategies to promote the entrepreneural attitude of engineering studients” University of Jaén.

References:
[1] R. de Martino, R. Barbato,”An analysis of the motivational factors of intending entrepreneurs,” J. Small Bus. Strat., vol. 13, 26–36, 2002.
[2] L.-m. Hsueh and Y.-y. Tu, "Innovation and the operational performance of newly established small and medium enterprises in Taiwan," Small Business Economics, vol. 23, pp. 99-113, 2004.
[3] A. H. Van de Ven , M. S. Poole, "Explaining development and change in organizations," Acad Manage Rev, vol. 20, pp. 510-540, 1995.
[4] M. Ç. Gündoğdu, "Re-thinking entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and innovation: A multi-concept perspective," Procedia Soc Behav Sci, vol. 41, pp. 296-303, 2012.

Keywords:

Entrepreneurial attitudes, creativity, innovation, engineering students.