The role of entrepreneurship support organizations in the promotion of entrepreneurship education

Abstract

In recent years, entrepreneurship has been growing in importance. European policy makers have been indicating entrepreneurship as a way to reduce the 25.6 million1 people unemployed and, as a consequence to reach higher levels of economic growth. Education has been appointed as a way to stimulate it. In Portugal, Entrepreneurship Support Organizations (ESOs) seem to have been more active in the promotion of entrepreneurship education by contrast to higher education institutions (HEIs). Only in Lisbon, from one ESO in 2010, there are now more than eleven, which represent more than 200 startups2. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the role of ESOs in the promotion of entrepreneurship education This thesis found that: (1) On the one hand, entrepreneurship education offered by HEIs target people who are perceived as unlikely to get involved in entrepreneurial activity, (2) on the other hand, most other ESOs target people that are more likely to be already engaged in entrepreneurial activity. The comparisons of this thesis findings with the goals of policy makers, allowed concluding that ESOs and HEIs have a complementary role in the promotion of entrepreneurship education. Increasingly, however, ESOs are turning into hybrid organizations, which means that they focus on a wide variety of activities, and this may make the education environment more competitive.

Date of Award	12 May 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Juan Andrei Villarroel Fernandéz (Supervisor)