Self-Efficacy and the Entrepreneurial Mindset Revisited

Abstract

In 2009, entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) had already experienced a significant build-up in interest for some years. Since then this interest has been continuously growing. This can, to some extent be explained by the increased attention that has been given to entrepreneurship in general, but especially by the increasing focus on entrepreneurial education (EE). In the following, we are revisiting the chapter “Self-Efficacy – Conditioning the Entrepreneurial Mindset” and continue the discussion that the original chapter ended with, namely how we can foster ESE through EE. In particular, we zoom in on how we can assist the formation of an entrepreneurial mindset at the university level (unfolding the young adulthood level to a greater extent). We thereby focus on those individuals who have not yet developed significant levels of ESE in their formative years. We assume that specifically for those individuals EE plays an important role in developing entrepreneurial attitudes, abilities and skills, and hence in enhancing ESE (Neck and Greene 2011). In other areas, researchers are already starting to connect self-efficacy with empowerment, and we explore the potential connections between empowerment and ESE. Concrete examples of how educational interventions can be designed to empower students and increase their ESE will be provided, but we also discuss the issues connected with the increased focus on ESE when designing teaching formats. We will, however, begin by discussing why measuring ESE has become so prevalent as well as presenting and evaluating how the field has developed during the past years to relate to the original chapter’s discussion about the development of ESE scales and how these have been applied.