The importance of entrepreneurial activity to the economy is well founded, particularly in the areas of economic growth and job creation 1, 2. Schools and universities across the world have been actively engaged in the study of entrepreneurship and the development of an entrepreneurship curriculum in recent years 3, 4, 5, 6. The field of entrepreneurship has been one of the most topical areas of study in education in schools and universities throughout the world. Although formal education in Europe has not promoted entrepreneurship and independent employment, attitudes and cultural references are developed from childhood 7, 8 and so education can play a fundamental role in responding to the challenge of entrepreneurship in Europe 9 and particularly in Portugal.
Gert-Jan Koopman of the European Commission stated that entrepreneurship education really affects the number of young people choosing to start up their own business in the future. But although the majority of adolescents think schools are conscious of the need to provide their pupils with competences in the area of management, few feel that their school does this effectively 10, 11.
Traditional teaching methods and the normal classroom context do not promote the development of capacities and skills essential in the modern business world. Scholars have written much on what should be taught in entrepreneurial education. A review of the literature shows that entrepreneurship education should include skill-building courses in negotiation, leadership, new product development, creativity and innovation 12.
Identification of opportunities has also been seen as a critical entrepreneurial skill that should be included in an entrepreneurship curriculum 13, 14. Educating students about entrepreneurship and how to become more entrepreneurial are also significant components of entrepreneurial education 15. Understanding the role of partnerships, clients and other stakeholders have been identified as important entrepreneurial concepts 16, 17. New educational experiences based on project work have therefore been incorporated in curricula, in order to stimulate the skills and capacities essential in working life 18 and to respond to the greater complexity and uncertainty the individual, as a worker, has to face in a globalized world 19, 20.
In this context, Entrepreneurship Education Programmes (EEP) have proliferated in Portugal in recent years, similarly to what has happened in other European countries 21, 22, at all levels of education, promoted not only by the respective Ministries but also by private entities 23, leading to the formation of inter-organizational relations and partnerships.
Access to partnerships is a critical resource as many types of economic behavior, including change of career path and exchange of information or tangible resources between actors, are influenced by social relations 24, 25. Entrepreneurial activities are likewise dependent on personal networks, as these can provide the necessary knowledge, employees or capital in situations of uncertainty 26, 27. Interaction with entrepreneurs in partnerships can also provide inspiration and ‘‘mental models’’ i.e. sets of entrepreneurial behaviors, attributes and consequences that can be observed and imitated by other partnership members 28. However, the involvement of actors from both academia and industry in partnerships can be more difficult to achieve since there are considerable differences in the norms and modes of operation between schools and firms 29, 30, 31.
This study used the concept of partnerships between School and Community to designate the relationships formed between the School and individuals, organizations and firms in the community, aiming to promote the integral development of children/teenagers, giving them significant pedagogical experiences 32, 33 which, due to the wide-ranging nature of the resources involved, the school would not be able to provide on its own. Indeed, there is a lack of literature and studies on School – Community partnerships, in promoting entrepreneurship education. Despite Entrepreneurship Education Programmes (EEP) exploring the existing literature and best practices of other regional programmes, little research and few programmes exist of this type in secondary schools.
To fill this research caveat, this study aims to understand the need to form partnerships to promote entrepreneurship education, how those partnerships are characterized, the obstacles faced in forming and maintaining these relationships and their success factors. Therefore, this study intends to respond to two research questions: (1) What is the structure and functioning of the relationships formed by the school with local and regional bodies to promote entrepreneurship education? and (2) What is the contribution of the relationships formed by the school with local and regional bodies to promote entrepreneurship education? This study intends, therefore, to make a contribution to theory in the areas of entrepreneurship and strategic management and it serves as a benchmark model for others in the development of similar regional, collaborative organizations to foster entrepreneurship education.
The remainder of the chapter is structured as follows: Section 2 presents a review of the literature on inter-organizational relationships, some characterization of school-community partnerships and some considerations regarding EEP. Section 3 presents the methodology used, followed by analysis and discussion of the results in Section 4. Conclusions, contributions, limitations and future lines of research are also presented.
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