Promoting entrepreneurship in higher education - a review of entrepreneurship policies and the practices of the two universities

Authors

• Tiina Salmijärvi
• Pirkko Siklander
• Essi Vuopala
• Niina Impiö

Keywords:

higher education, entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship policies, university self-evaluation reports, university strategies

Abstract

Although the role of entrepreneurship has been strengthened in higher education organizations in the 21st century, only a small proportion of students still choose to study entrepreneurship or become entrepreneurs after graduation. In 2015–2018, higher education institutions have been issued guidelines for the development of measures to promote entrepreneurship. This article examines the content emphases of the guidelines using qualitative content analysis and analyzes the entrepreneurship-promoting practices of the two universities. The results show that the policies for entrepreneurship in higher education are broad and complex in content and can be divided into four categories: 1) promoting the strategic level and leadership of entrepreneurship, 2) developing large-scale entrepreneurship-related education, 3) creating new business, and 4) and promoting business cooperation.
Based on the results, it can be stated that the breadth of the guidelines puts universities in a challenging situation.