ASSESSING ENTREPRENEURIAL ATTITUDES AND SKILLS OF STUDENTS

Entrepreneurship is often defined as the opportunistic pursuit of economic wealth by limited resources. Governments all over the world undertake many programmes to boost entrepreneurial spirits amongst students - potential entrepreneurs. The benefits gained are significant such as: job creation, innovation and ultimately contribution to national economic wealth. The role and effect of education, including training, on entrepreneurial activities has been a major topic of discussion in the last decade. The term “entrepreneurship education” refers to a holistic approach advocated in place of traditional schooling on the basics of how to run a business. The purpose of this study is to assess how grades obtained by students influence their entrepreneurial attitudes and secondly to assess students’ entrepreneurial skills. Paper questionnaires were used to survey students studying at Warsaw School of Economics and Rzeszow University of Technology. The respondents were undergraduate students participating in the general module of Management at Warsaw School of Economics and Statistics Methods at Rzeszow University of Technology. The average grade students obtained during their studies strongly differentiates students plans considering what they are going to do after graduation. The more entrepreneurial students are those with average grade 3.5–3.99 as 19% of them would like to start their business. The best students (with higher grades) are the least entrepreneurial, just 6% of them would be willing to set up a business. This is a signal for educators that enterpreneurial attitudes can not be solely related to education but other factors must be taken into account such as individual predispositions e.g. wilingness to take a risk.

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