Abstract:

This study traces the development of students’ entrepreneurship self-efficacy whilst studying on a four-week post graduate Innovation module on the Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSC at the University of Warwick. We collect before and after measures of their self-efficacy relating to competences. Whilst studying the module they work as a team balanced for Belbin role types and technical skills within a context simulating a business process. Students work as a group of external consultants to the company creating a video pitch of their proposal including a metaverse simulation of their proposed business solution. Their team’s grade is compared to their tutors to gain insights into the accuracy of the scores. We reflect on aspects of the learning environment that contribute towards entrepreneurial growth and development. We also evaluate the efficacy of our implementation of EntreComps Entrepreneurial Framework as deployed with our post graduate students.

The importance of developing the entrepreneurial mindset is a key directive from the European Commission. It is a transversal skill described as one of the eight key competencies for lifelong learning. The European Competency Framework (EntreComp) aims to: ‘build consensus around a common understanding of entrepreneurship competence by defining 3 competence areas, a list of 15 competences, learning outcomes and proficiency levels, which current and future initiatives can refer to'. The EntreComp framework, developed through a realisation of the key importance of entrepreneurship and its role in ensuring the competitiveness of Europe’s economy, describes itself as the outcome a robust research methodology, consultation with an international group of experts and has been embedded and evaluated in a small number of case studies. This study seeks to test its usefulness in the post graduate area by applying the methodology to trace the development of students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Our study will in part meet the EntreComp framework developers call for it to be tested in practice, with feedback used to amend and refine further iterations.

This case study makes the following contributions to the Entrepreneurial Education (EE) literature. We expand the evaluation of the efficacy of the EntreComp framework.  We also triangulate data with students' attainment and evidence of competency growth to gain insights into its value as a measure of progression Ideas and opportunities.  We further our understanding of entrepreneurship education and reflect on the usefulness of the concept of self-efficacy, originating from social learning theory, in understanding learning within a complex entrepreneurial setting.

Keywords:

Mentoring, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial competencies, digital skills, self-efficacy, entrepreneurial education, EntreComp.