Title: Creating entrepreneurial education programs and ecosystems in universities

Authors: Anna Závodská; Veronika Šramová; Dario Liberona

Addresses: Research Centre of the University of Žilina, Univerzitná 8215/1, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia ' University Science Park of the University of Žilina, Univerzitná 1, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia ' Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Av. España 1680, Valparaiso, Chile

Abstract: Research has shown that majority of start-ups fail (Patel, 2015; Shorewala and Chaudhary, 2016; Silas, 2004) due to following reasons: premature scaling, poor product, ignoring customer needs, etc. One of the main factors is caused by the lack of entrepreneurial skills of founders and their co-workers. Creating favourable start-up ecosystem requires cooperation of many stakeholders including enthusiastic individuals. Universities play a crucial role in the ecosystem creation. They are actively trying to prepare students for their entrepreneurial career by organising events as well as offering courses. This paper describes the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem at the University of Žilina in Slovakia and at Santa María Technical University in Chile. The case study method was used for describing experiences with the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Authors have tested various approaches in order to develop a complex entrepreneurial ecosystem. Proposed system and methodologies serves as a basis for future research.

Keywords: start-up; entrepreneurial course; start-up events; university entrepreneurial ecosystem; experimental learning; entrepreneurial skills; experiential learning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWET.2019.100341

International Journal of Web Engineering and Technology, 2019 Vol.14 No.1, pp.4 - 29

Published online: 26 Jun 2019 *

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