The HEI, in addition to its teaching function, assumes research as a basic element of knowledge creation, innovation and development 1. Currently, HEIs face new challenges due to the emergence of the idea that entrepreneurship is the main engine for the creation of economic, social and ethical value, i.e., it is one of the key drivers for economic growth and wealth creation 2, 3. These circumstances have forced universities and other HEIs to approach the business community, to develop interactions with entrepreneurs at local, regional and national levels, and to make them important sources of knowledge 4, 5, 6. Furthermore, due to changes within the economy and society, reflected by fewer available job opportunities (even for graduates) 7 and the need for self-employment and innovation, entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial behaviour have become central issues in HEIs. This concern is reflected not only in the growing literature about entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial universities, but also in public policies and programmes aimed at promoting entrepreneurial behaviour through education.
The theme of entrepreneurship education is not consensual and includes several areas of discussion. One of these discussions focused on the question of whether entrepreneurship can or cannot be taught 8, 9, 10. Some authors feel that entrepreneurship cannot be taught, because there is a lack of accepted theories or paradigms pertaining to entrepreneurship education 11, 12, 13. Other discussions have focused on what the purpose and content should be of entrepreneurship education 14, 15, 16, 17, 18; should it only be concerned with the creation of new enterprises and jobs or should it focus more on behavioural and cognitive processes like creative thinking and problem solving? In recent decades, studies on entrepreneurship have indicated that:
Entrepreneurship can indeed be taught and learned 19, 20, 21, though its success depends on internal (individual) and external (contextual) factors 22, and should also be related to the development of entrepreneurial behaviour 23, 24, 25. In this sense, an enterprising person may not necessarily be an entrepreneur and their skills and characteristics may be exercised in different contexts (e.g., in a social context as a family or local community) instead of in the market.
Globally, entrepreneurship has become a subject of research 26, 27, 28, 29 at many universities through programmes and courses in entrepreneurship 30, 31, 32, although with little uniformity in content and approach among these programmes and courses. In reference to 33, three different types of entrepreneurship education were distinguished: education ‘for’, ‘through’ and ‘about’ enterprise.
In recent years, there has been a growing trend in the emergence of professionals and teachers of entrepreneurship 34.
Although research and entrepreneurship education still shows slow progress 35, 36, for students in HIE, there is considerable interest pertaining to the creation of new business as a career option 37, 38. To meet the challenges of future human resources, HEIs should promote critical and creative thinking 39 in order to stimulate among students the development of an entrepreneurial culture that can respond to the pressures of globalization. Thus, one of the challenges facing HEIs is the definition of creative teaching methods and approaches for students that will assist them to acquire knowledge, skills and entrepreneurial behaviour through individual constructs and collective practices 40.
Knowledge about the cognitive processes of entrepreneurs allows HEIs to design courses aimed at helping students with entrepreneurial initiatives for improving their decision-making and risk management capabilities 41. In other words, it is important that the university helps students to understand the world and the lives of entrepreneurs 42, so that they are aware of the attractiveness of the challenges and opportunities, as well as the uncertainty, complexity and limitations of their activities 43, 44.
The emphasis in sudent´s context makes evident the importance of context for entrepreneurship. In 45, it was argued that “context is important for understanding when, how, and why entrepreneurship happens and who becomes involved” (p.166). Welter considers what she calls an “omnibus context”, a broad perspective, drawing attention to “who, what, when, where and why” (p.167).
In the context of developing countries, entrepreneurship is frequently viewed as a catalyst for development, the solution for inclusive economic growth and for social inclusion 46, 47, 48, 49. Despite some authors being sceptic about the link between entrepreneurship and development in the context of developing countries 50, 51, 52, most consider entrepreneurship, if not as a panacea for development, at least as a part of the solution 53.
The interest in entrepreneurship in this context is observable mainly within public policies 54, 55, 56, 57, although within academia, this interest has also exhibited growth during the past few decades 58, 59, 60.
However, in developing countries the business conditions are not favourable because of legal barriers, regulations, insecurity, corruption, inadequate infrastructure and poor financial systems that inhibit the development and growth of many companies 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70. Furthermore, the quality of entrepreneurship is viewed as being weak. Entrepreneurship is largely represented by micro-small informal businesses with little or no innovation, which compromises its function as an engine for development. Thus, in these countries, some governments are becoming aware of the need for intervention in the business environment 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 and that a key issue is to promote a different kind of entrepreneurship: with skilled entrepreneurs, able to innovate and structure a company and its growth. As mentioned in 79, skilled entrepreneurship offers potential rewards for individuals across the socioeconomic spectrum, including vulnerable populations and workers in the informal sector, for whom entrepreneurship signifies potentially more stable income flows, increased profits and more secure employment. For this reason, educational institutions are increasingly seen as tools for the development of an entrepreneurial culture. Some studies 80, 81, 82, 83 show evidence of the growing sub-Saharan African governments' investments in entrepreneurial education and training.
In general and despite of the difficulty of measuring the impact of entrepreneurship education, primarily due to its long-term effects 84, 85, several studies have concluded that government policies for developing entrepreneurship within the education system help to instil entrepreneurial values and attitudes in students 86, 87, 88, 89. The importance of these policies lies mainly in promoting a strong educational system for the teaching of entrepreneurship, aimed at a constant incentive for delivering innovation 90.To create these policies, 91 suggested a list of actions that aim at transforming the educational system of countries that wish to induce entrepreneurial actions in their students. Among the items the authors suggest are: (i) developing national education plans for entrepreneurship; (ii) creating inter-ministerial work groups (education, economy, research and technology, etc.); (iii) creating public or private agencies to stimulate entrepreneurial education; (iv) teaching leadership in educational institutions; (v) reassessing rules and regulations in universities. These elements represent not only an investment in entrepreneurship education, but also a change within HEIs toward more entrepreneurial behaviour. The institutional culture of the higher education institution, together with its practices and policies, play a fundamental role in preparing the student for the employment market 92, which in turn highlighted the importance of a more dynamic and entrepreneurial institutional profile. Furthermore, the principle that the institution is important in the training of students is intrinsically linked to the fact that universities must be prepared to change teaching paradigms toward more global and business-like dynamics, in this way changing the culture of these institutions 93.
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