Entrepreneurship Education at Mtech, University of Maryland

Entrepreneurship Education at Mtech, University of Maryland

James V. Green, David F. Barbe
Copyright: © 2015 |Pages: 25
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8468-3.ch061
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Abstract

As universities recognize that an entrepreneurial education is an enabler, entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as higher education's ally. Today, more than 5,000 entrepreneurship courses are offered in over 2,000 college and universities in the United States (U.S.) (Kauffman, 2009). Entrepreneurship education is extending beyond its traditional business school offerings to engineering, arts, and sciences schools as educators develop specialized, experiential content most relevant to their student populations. The Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), a unit of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, is a global leader in entrepreneurship education (Barbe, Green, & Chang, 2010). Mtech's award-winning programs are being replicated throughout the U.S. and abroad to serve entrepreneurial students in pursuit of new ventures. Mtech's entrepreneurship courses and programs have more than 1,000 student enrollments annually. This chapter introduces Mtech's approach to entrepreneurship education, defines the inner workings of Mtech's entrepreneurship education initiatives, and discusses best practices and lessons learned.
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Introduction

How can universities best develop the entrepreneurial mindset and functional skillsets of entrepreneurial students? This chapter addresses the question by reviewing entrepreneurship education in U.S. colleges and universities, and providing a comprehensive discussion of the entrepreneurship education activities of Mtech.

Mtech’s award-winning undergraduate programs are discussed first, as these programs are being rapidly replicated (23 colleges and universities as of August, 2011). Graduate and professional programs are examined second as these fill a central gap in the commercialization of university-based research. Finally, a discussion of Mtech’s pre-college programs examines how middle school and high school students are learning about entrepreneurship and innovation.

Program assessment is a high priority for Mtech. A section of the chapter is dedicated to Mtech’s holistic approach to entrepreneurial education progress through both short-term measures evaluating entrepreneurial mindset and functional skillsets, and long-term measures including new venture creation.

Further research directions and conclusions close the chapter.

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