Impacts of entrepreneurship education on brazilian undergraduate students: An empirical study comparing compulsory and elective disciplines

Abstract

Objective of the study: This study assesses the impact of entrepreneurial education on students of entrepreneurship courses at the undergraduate level of Brazilian universities. Methodology: The methodology adopted was pre/post based on the collection of primary survey data among 398 entrepreneurship students of 10 undergraduate courses from six Brazilian universities, involving twelve professors. Data analysis was performed using confirmatory factor analysis and paired t-tests to compare means. Main results: Entrepreneurship elective courses have a greater positive impact (especially for entrepreneurial attitudes, perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention) for undergraduate students, when compared to mandatory courses, which negatively impacted entrepreneurial attitudes, perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention. Theoretical / methodological contributions: The development of a framework to analyze the impact of entrepreneurial education based on the recent entrepreneurship literature representing an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior that includes entrepreneurial knowledge and competencies. Relevance / originality: The application of a rigorous methodology (pre/post intervention) with application of paired t-tests and the comparison between elective and mandatory entrepreneurship courses in large database.