The role of the Polish higher education system in the development of entrepreneurship

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this paper is to present the perceived impact of entrepreneurship education in Poland from different points of view (e.g. of national experts and students), as well as to discuss the role of the higher education system in entrepreneurship development. Research Design & Methods: The method partly consists of the analysis of selected secondary data (Eurobarometer survey and GEM project). Additionally, an explorative study was carried out among the students of an entrepreneurship course offered by the Faculty of Management at the Poznań University of Economics and Business. Findings: Formal education does not seem to play a major role in the development of entrepreneurship among young people in Poland; however, it begins to improve when the tertiary level of education is taken into consideration. Additionally, the fragmentation of studies makes it difficult to measure and ascertain the total impact of the higher education system on entrepreneurship development. Implications & Recommendations: More effort should be made to evaluate the real impact of the educational activities proposed by the academic community on the entrepreneurship of young people. The role of the formal education system, especially at the tertiary level, is underestimated, and has great potential to influence the entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviour of students and graduates. Contribution & Value Added: The contribution of this work is to propose a more comprehensive framework for studying the role of the higher education system in the development of entrepreneurship in Poland.