Entrepreneurship Education: A Tool for a New Paradigm in Higher Education?

Abstract

Entrepreneurship Education in its broadest sense may constitute a new educational approach to be promoted that can contribute to the development of students' transversal skills in personal, social, and professional contexts. It simultaneously can contribute to employability and to the goals of sustainable development. This chapter proposes a reflection on how Entrepreneurship Education can be a tool for a new paradigm at the level of course curricula and educational practices in higher education. The theoretical framework chapter will cover the concept of entrepreneurship education and its importance, its relationship with employability, sustainability and entrepreneurial predisposition, and ways of integrating this theme into curricula or extracurricular formats in higher education. A qualitative approach will be used with illustrative multiple case studies, at the University of Lisbon, Polytechnic of Lisbon, and University of Évora, in Portugal. This will be complemented with biographical narratives of students who have participated in entrepreneurship education initiatives, to understand the effects of these on their professional and personal development.