Measuring and Promoting Entrepreneurial Intentions and Entrepreneurial Competence – Implications for Education

The questionnaire “Entrepreneurial Competence” (developed as part of the author’s dissertation) can be used in practice, but above all also for the measurement of entrepreneurial intentions and competence within (higher) education. Data were collected in two periods at both universities, OTH Regensburg and VŠTE Budweis, for the underlying descriptive evaluation in the field of higher education. This study provides information on the entrepreneurial environment, but also on the students’ entrepreneurial competence. At the two universities, 153 students have already taken part in an entrepreneurship course. The environment at both institutes is rated as above-average. The entrepreneurial intention is also clearly visible at the institutes and is significantly higher in the second survey. In the area of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, the second survey revealed higher levels than at the time of the first initial measurement. In order to be able to better adapt the teaching to the entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial competence of students in the future, the increasing use of activating elements within entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship education is recommended. Planning, role-play, case studies and project work, for instance, contribute to the targeted, group-specific and differentiated competence-based promotion of potential entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. To achieve this, the initial measurement of entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial competence is therefore essential