Investigating the Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on Engineering Students NCIIA Open Conference 2011– Washington, D.C. Nathalie Duval-Couetil, MBA, PhD Director, Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program Associate Director, Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship Teri Reed-Rhoads, MBA, PhD Assistant Dean of Engineering for Undergraduate Education Associate Professor of Engineering Education Shiva Haghighi, Graduate Student Civil Engineering
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Investigating the Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on
Engineering StudentsNCIIA Open Conference 2011– Washington, D.C.
Nathalie Duval-Couetil, MBA, PhDDirector, Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation ProgramAssociate Director, Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship
Teri Reed-Rhoads, MBA, PhDAssistant Dean of Engineering for Undergraduate Education
Associate Professor of Engineering Education
Shiva Haghighi, Graduate StudentCivil Engineering
Component of larger study• Entrepreneurship Education and Its Impact on
Engineering Students Outcomes: The Role of Program Characteristics and Faculty Beliefs (NSF)
• Partners: NCIIA, Purdue University, Penn State University, North Carolina State University
Objectives of the NSF Study
Student outcomes
Program characteristics
Faculty beliefs and practices
Explore relationships to help inform program development,
improve educational experiences, and evaluate their
success
Student Outcomes Study Objectives• Characteristics of engineering students who
participate in entrepreneurship education• Attitudes toward and levels of involvement in
entrepreneurship education• Impact of entrepreneurship education on self-
efficacy
Why is this important?
• Careers available to engineers have changed• Universities must graduate engineers with
broader skills• Growth in entrepreneurship programs and
models• Few valid and reliable assessments in the field
2010 NCIIA Workshop: Assessing the Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on Engineering Students
Our Methodology
A. Assessment Instrument DevelopmentB. Data CollectionC. SampleD. Statistical Analysis
Duval-Couetil, N., Reed-Rhoads, T., Haghighi, S. (2010, October). Developing an Assessment to Examine Multiple Outcomes of Entrepreneurship Education on Engineering Students ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Washington, DC.Duval-Couetil, N., Reed-Rhoads, T., Haghighi, S. (2010, October). Developing an Assessment to Examine Multiple Outcomes of Entrepreneurship Education on Engineering Students ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Washington, DC.
Duval-Couetil, N., Reed-Rhoads, T., Haghighi, S. (2010, October). Developing an Assessment to Examine Multiple Outcomes of Entrepreneurship Education on Engineering Students ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Washington, DC.
Constraints• Homogeneity across institutions – senior design• Distribution across institutions - online– Downsides are lower participation and self-selection
• Scope and length– Brief enough so faculty will see the value and
students will complete it– Broad enough to characterize programs, schools and
faculty
Assessment Instrument Development• 135-item web-based survey• Survey item categories included in this paper:– Demographics (14 items)– Attitudes (40 items)– Behaviors (12 items)– Self-efficacy (23 items)– Perceptions of programs and faculty (9 items)
Select Item Sources• Reasons for and Barriers to Entrepreneurship
(Shinnar et al. 2009) – Student and faculty attitudes toward entrepreneurship and its education
in context of assessing demand for a multidisciplinary course
• Venturing and Technology Self-efficacy (Lucas & Cooper 2009)– Students’ confidence in their venturing and technology applications skills
based on “authentic” tasks they might encounter in the workplace
• Purdue University Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation entry and exit surveys
• Reliability for select scales - Coefficient Alpha > 0.89
Data Collection and Sample• Engineering students enrolled in senior-level
capstone design courses at 3 institutions:• Capstone level students chosen to provide
homogeneity across institutions and entrepreneurial activities most often occur at the capstone level
University # Students Participating
NCSU 97PSU 100
Purdue 144Total 343
Statistical Analysis• Analyses focused primarily on differences
between students who had and had not taken an entrepreneurship course
• Nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U post-hoc tests
• To simplify, 5-point response scales were collapsed into three by grouping responses
• Statistical significance set at p<.05
Research Question1
What are the characteristics of engineering students participating in entrepreneurship courses and programs?
Characteristics of Students in E-Ship• The participation of Asian students
significantly higher than Caucasian (p<0.001)• International students were found to
participate more than domestic (p<0.05)• Mechanical and electrical were significantly
higher involvement than civil and chemical (p<0.001)
• Trend in favor of males (p=08)
Research Question 2
To what extent does entrepreneurship play a role in engineering students’ academic programs and career plans?
E-Ship in Engineering Programs
• Less than a third agreed that entrepreneurship was presented as a worthwhile career option
• Fewer were encouraged to take entrepreneurship courses or activities
• A fifth agreed that engineering faculty discussed entrepreneurship
• Two thirds agreed that engineering students should learn more about entrepreneurship
ResultsItem Disagree
%Undecided
%Agree
%
Students should learn more about entrepreneurship 16 20 64
There are opportunities to interact with entrepreneurs 43 22 35
Students are encouraged to develop entrepreneurial skills 49 22 29
Entrepreneurship is presented as a worthwhile career option 49 27 24
Faculty discuss entrepreneurship 63 15 21
Students are encouraged to take entrepreneurship courses 56 24 21
Students are taught entrepreneurial skills 65 17 17
Students are encouraged or required to participate in entrepreneurship-related activities
65 21 14
Students are encouraged to consider starting their own companies 61 26 13
Interest in Entrepreneurship• More interest from students who had taken
entrepreneurship courses• Both groups strongly agreed entrepreneurship
education could broaden their career choices• Half of those who had not taken an e-ship
course were interested in doing so• Over half wanted to learn about
entrepreneurship in their engineering courses
Interest in Entrepreneurship
Item No e-ship coursesAgree %
One or more e-ship courses - Agree %
Entrepreneurship education can broaden my career prospects and choices
70 86I would like to learn about entrepreneurship in my engineering courses
59 81I am interested in taking entrepreneurship classes 47 79I have a general interest in the subject of entrepreneurship
59 78I would like to know if I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur
27 71I want to become an entrepreneur 30 62I have an idea for a business, product or technology 27 49
All significant at p<0.001
Involvement in Entrepreneurship• 60% of students took e-ship courses within their
engineering programs• Moderate involvement in the area of “developed
a product or technology for a real client or customer” for both groups
• Low but equal levels of involvement in “patenting a technology or protecting intellectual property”
• For all other activities, students who had taken one or more e-ship courses were over twice as likely to participate
Involvement in E-ship Activities Item
No e-ship courses
%
One or morecourses
%
Totaln
Developed a product or technology for a real client or customer 29 38 106
Conducted market research and analysis for a new product or technology 18 46 89
Given an "elevator pitch" or presentation to a panel of judges about a product or business idea
15 43 78
Written a business plan 12 40 69Participated in an entrepreneurship related competition (e.g., product development, business plan)
7 38 54
Interned or worked for an entrepreneurial or startup company 11 25 50
Been involved in patenting a technology or protecting intellectual property 14 15 46
Participated in entrepreneurship-related workshops (extra-curricular, non-credit) 3 28 36
Been involved in entrepreneurship- or business-related student organizations 5 24 11
Post-Graduation Career Goals• All students most interested in working for a
medium- or large-size business, followed by attending graduate school
• Significant differences were found for only two options - start their own business or work for a small business or startup (p<0.001)
Post-Graduation Career Goals
Item No e-ship coursesAgree %
One or more e-ship courses
Agree %p-value
Work for a medium- or large-size business 71 68
Attend graduate/professional school 41 51
Start my own business or be self-employed 25 43 *
Work for a small business or start-up company 29 43 *
Work for the government 31 29
Work for a non-profit organization 11 13
Serve in the military 4 9
Significant at p<0.01
Why students would start a business
Top reasons they would• Satisfy a need in the market• Have more flexibility and
independence• Focus on a technology that
interests me• Create something of my
own
Top reasons they wouldn’t• Lack of initial capital for
startup• Lack of legal assistance or
counseling• Excessively risky• Lack of ideas of what
business to start
Question 3
What are engineering student perceptions of their entrepreneurship-related abilities?
Perceptions of their Abilities• Students who had taken an entrepreneurship
course had higher confidence for each item• Business-related items accounted for some of
the largest differences • Entrepreneurship students rated themselves
significantly higher on items not directly related to entrepreneurship
Self-Efficacy Items (Lucas & Cooper)Item No e-ship One or more
M SD M SDDesign and build something new that performs very close to your design specifications 6.91 2.29 7.95 2.09Lead a technical team developing a new product to a successful result 6.79 2.52 7.86 2.16Translate user needs into requirements for a design so well that users will like the outcome 6.79 2.50 7.80 2.06Grasp the concept and limits of a technology well enough to see the best ways to use it 6.65 2.25 7.72 2.04Convince a customer or client to try a new product for the first time 6.05 2.45 7.52 2.17Develop your own original hypothesis and a research plan to test it 6.59 2.53 7.50 2.30Recognize when an idea is good enough to support a major business venture 5.66 2.44 7.49 2.32
All significant at p<0.01
Self-Efficacy Items (Lucas & Cooper)
Item
No e-ship courses
One or more e-ship courses
M SD M SD
Understand exactly what is new and important in a groundbreaking theoretical article 6.50 2.41 7.46 2.08
Convert a useful scientific advance into a practical application 6.33 2.49 7.43 2.23Recruit the right employees for a new project or venture 6.09 2.47 7.36 2.15
Work with a supplier to get better prices to help a venture become successful 5.33 2.48 7.12 2.35Write a clear and complete business plan 5.37 2.56 6.98 2.33Estimate accurately the costs of running a new project 5.72 2.55 6.89 2.39
Pick the right marketing approach for the introduction of a new service 4.76 2.42 6.50 2.26
Know the steps needed to place a financial value on a new business venture 4.43 2.43 5.87 2.22All significant at p<0.01
Other Self-Efficacy Items
ItemNo e-ship courses One or more p
Communication skills 70 69
Presentation skills 60 63
Analytical skills 85 87
Ability to evaluate business ideas 33 61 *
Level of risk tolerance 35 47 *
Ability to deal with uncertainty 47 55 *
Overall how would you rate your entrepreneurial ability 17 50 *
How would you rate your ability to start a business now 11 17 *
* p<.05
Discussion - Demographics• Engineering students with particular
characteristics are participating in at higher rates than others
• High rates of participation by particular groups could mean that entrepreneurship courses may be one way to attract and retain students
Discussion - Interest/Involvement• Considerable interest in learning more about
entrepreneurship• A third or less felt it was addressed in their
engineering programs• Suggests more demand than supply
Discussion - Self-Efficacy• Even one course impacts self-efficacy• Interestingly, no significant impact on
presentation, communication and analytical skills
• Positive impact in areas not closely tied to entrepreneurship
Additional QuestionsInvolvement Would demand for entrepreneurship translate
into enrollment?
Self-Efficacy Is the knowledge gained in entrepreneurship courses making students feel more confident in a wide range of activities?
Or, are more confident students gravitating to entrepreneurship courses and programs?
How do other factors (e.g., family background) impact entrepreneurial self-efficacy?
Engineering Disciplines
Is entrepreneurship more relevant to specific engineering majors?
Is it being addressed to a greater degree by those programs?
Are students with an entrepreneurial disposition more attracted to specific majors?
How can entrepreneurial involvement or relevance be duplicated in other departments?
Impact on Careers
To what degree does it impact students’ post-graduation careers?
Curriculum Where is entrepreneurship education situated relative to the other curricular priorities?
Additional Analyses• Multi-course program versus single course• Extent to which attitudes differ by university
or program model• Differences by demographic characteristics
Conclusion• Provides baseline data about engineering student
interest, involvement, and self-efficacy related to e-ship education
• Relatively few engineering students are being exposed to it even at institutions with established programs
• Those who take at least one course have significantly higher self-efficacy and are 2-3 times more likely to acquire hands-on skills which are valuable in the market for jobs