Entrepreneurship education for the digital generation: Invention or transformation?

Creation of the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem is becoming one of the main research topics in the field of entrepreneurship. Many researchers believe that such an ecosystem should not be created on the premise of the existing entrepreneurial ecosystem paradigm, but from scratch, based on other, brand new principles and institutions. Scholars purposely include education among the key processes within the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. Without an appropriate level of education, the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem cannot be developed, and this could be a problem not only for national economies and governments, but global. The emergency of COVID-19 and the associated social distancing is a current alarm for the use of digital ways to respond to both education and entrepreneurship. To assess the ability of the educational system to meet the requirements defined by the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem, we analyzed the existing educational programs in the Russian Federation. Our analysis revealed that entrepreneurial education in Russia is based on traditional, formalized norms and rules, which could negatively affect its adaptation to the requirements of digital entrepreneurship. A short survey shows that the basic supportive processes are not valued yet. To create a viable digital entrepreneurial ecosystem, it is necessary to determine, as in the case of the ecosystem itself, the principles and institutions of its formation. To determine the institutional basis of the educational system of digital entrepreneurship, it is necessary to determine the positions of the main stakeholders, to which we include the entrepreneurs themselves, educators and the state. The present article draws upon previous research on entrepreneurship education in Russian universities to propose how education in the specific environment can respond to the challenge of the digital age to support sustainable digital entrepreneurial ecosystems