HEI Teacher Perceptions of Entrepreneurship Education: The Role of Teachers' Entrepreneurial Backgrounds and HEI Managerial Support

Introduction

The management of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), at both the strategic and operational level, has been acknowledged as an important support mechanism in enhancing university-business collaboration (Galán-Muros et al., 2017). A HEI’s management compiles the strategies and guidelines for university-business and industry collaboration and supports development work on entrepreneurship education (see O'Connor, 2012; Borhani et al., 2020). In successful entrepreneurial universities, policies and top-down leadership and managerial support foster the integration of entrepreneurial activities and entrepreneurial goals (Borhani et al., 2020). Thus, a HEI’s managerial practices also affect, both directly and indirectly, entrepreneurship education practices implemented by teaching staff (Ruskovaara & Pihkala, 2013; Peltonen, 2015). However, perhaps surprisingly, little attention has been paid to clarifying the effect of HEI management on teachers’ attitudes and, as a consequence, their readiness to renew pedagogical practices in entrepreneurship education. This chapter aims to enhance understanding of the factors influencing teachers’ perceptions of entrepreneurship education. Its core research question focuses on: what are the external (managerial practices) and internal (teachers’ background) factors that affect teachers’ perceptions of the importance of entrepreneurship education and their interest in it?

In addition to managerial support, teachers’ own background (e.g., length of teaching experience) shapes their perceptions of entrepreneurship education and how they implement it (Galán-Muros et al., 2017). Teachers may have different perceptions of entrepreneurship education and its objectives and goals based on their background and prior experiences. However, studies examining differences in teachers’ perceptions of entrepreneurship education linked to their entrepreneurial background are scarce (e.g., Penaluna et al., 2012; Ruskovaara & Pihkala, 2015; Ruskovaara et al., 2016), and more research is needed.

Furthermore, according to Ödalen et al. (2018) pedagogical training can also have an impact on teachers’ readiness to renew their pedagogical practices. This is particularly important in entrepreneurship education because most HEIs adopt a business school paradigm-based approach to teaching entrepreneurship which is typically focused on new venture creation. However, more recently, there has been a shift from this traditional approach to a more holistic one which focuses on building an entrepreneurial mindset in students (De Carolis & Litzky, 2019). Thus, in this chapter we argue that teachers’ perceptions of entrepreneurship education and their willingness to change their practices can be shaped by both internal (teachers’ background and managerial support) and external factors (teacher training). We argue that in order to develop an entrepreneurial HEI/university, it is important to consider the organisation’s managerial practices as these can have a major impact on teachers’ perceptions of the importance of entrepreneurship education as well their interest in it.