Abstract:

This exploratory study conducted in the transitional context of the Ukraine explores whether students drawn from a supportive entrepreneurship education (EE) entrepreneurial ecosystem reported higher intensity of entrepreneurial intention (IOEI) than students that did not participate in EE.  Further, this study explores what specific competencies honed within a supportive EE entrepreneurial ecosystem is associated with students reporting high IOEI.  Guided by competency theory, two hypotheses were tested with regard to a representative sample of 125 business EE students, and a further 64 engineering students that had never participated in EE.  EE students drawn from a supportive EE entrepreneurial ecosystem were found to be associated with significantly higher IOEI.  With regard to 13 competencies honed by EE it was found that only three competencies (i.e., ability to identify high quality opportunities, computer literacy and networking) were weakly significantly associated with higher IOEI.  Additional studies are warranted in several former Soviet Union contexts to provide a rigorous evidence base to guide the resource allocation decisions of Government with regard to supporting EE entrepreneurial ecosystems or not.  This exploratory study relating to sample of students in one entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Ukraine does not provide conclusive evidence for Government to more proactively support the EE entrepreneurial ecosystem with regard to its current content and delivery.