Abstract:

In Europe, from 2000 to 2011, efforts have been made in several countries to promote entrepreneurial actions in education. Entrepreneurial education is not just about teaching students how to create and manage a business (narrow definition), but also helping students acquire life skills, transferrable skills, such as critical and creative thinking, risk-taking, problem solving, decision making, etc. (wide definition). This study aims to investigate the views of teachers in three countries, Greece, Spain and Portugal, regarding the idea of infusing entrepreneurship into education. More specifically, it focuses on clarifying basic tenets of entrepreneurship in education that concern both theory, e.g. what is meant by the term, to which skills it refers, why it is important for our students, and also practice, e.g. who can teach it and with what qualifications, how and when it can be taught, what adjustments should be made (if any) according to age, gender, nationality, culture, etc. Moreover, an investigation of the relation between entrepreneurship and ethics is attempted in this study, deriving from the fact that entrepreneurial ethics are a set of principles and rules employed by entrepreneurs, which define their behavior and impact society positively. The differences among two hundred and thirty-one (231) teachers who participated in the study from three countries are presented. The field of entrepreneurial education in the Mediterranean countries selected for this study is relatively in an early stage of development. Results showed significant differences among the teachers of the three countries, with the Spanish and the Portuguese teachers showing higher mean values, compared to the Greek teachers, in many responses of the questionnaire completed. The discussion focuses on analyzing the reality and the prospects of the why, what, when and how of the entrepreneurial education and emphasizes on developing students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes that are important for their personal and professional growth.

Keywords:

Entrepreneurship, ethics, entrepreneurial education, transferrable skills.