How to Build Entrepreneurial Knowledge for University Students? Approaches from an European Perspective

Subjects concerning entrepreneurship are at the heart of European Union concerns. With growing international student mobility for decades now, many higher education institutions (HEIs) face a more diverse student body. The change of mobility patterns means that students’ professional future is not necessarily anymore in their home country. At the same time higher education institutions are under increasing pressure to ‘guarantee’ the employability and a successful access to labor markets of their graduates. One of the challenges for HEIs, is to deliver a comprehensive education, to develop their graduates’ employability relevant skills and support them with structures that ease either their integration in the national and the international labor markets. Entrepreneurship is as an engine for economic growth for young and senior people to create new business opportunities and corresponding jobs while increasing markets’ competitiveness and innovation. Some higher education institutions provide with comprehensive trainings and courses, as well as guidance for those who want to become an entrepreneur. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to show a case study about building entrepreneurial practices and knowledge together with a community of international partner universities, in order to enhance student’s competences in relation to labor market, mainly focusing on entrepreneurship skills. Higher education institutions can foster entrepreneurship and, consequently, be entrepreneurs incubators by delivering a comprehensive and interactive education, developing their students’ entrepreneurial relevant skills, as well as supporting them with infrastructures and guidance. In particular, HEIs can educate tomorrow’ entrepreneurs by offering entrepreneurial summer schools. Summer schools have been key in this ongoing process of teaching students how to be entrepreneurs. We highlight the essence of the research as an innovative scenario for students to innovate and enhance the development of their business skills beyond our borders within educational atmospheres.