Academic Entrepreneurship Education: Does Gender Matter?

Abstract

Academic entrepreneurship education aims to train and raise awareness amongst students about entrepreneurial activity, thereby increasing the number of academic start-ups and spin-offs. However, as yet, there are very few findings on the gender-specific differences amongst potential entrepreneurs. Building on the current state of research, gender-specific differences in the form of various different components of entrepreneurial competence are examined. This study focuses in particular on (1) entrepreneurial knowledge, (2) domain-specific interest in entrepreneurship, (3) interest in leadership roles, and (4) entrepreneurial and (5) intrapreneurial intention. Based on an online survey of 281 students of a German and Czech university, the mean differences show that there are statistically significant lower values for female students than for male students for all the variables investigated, that is with exception to intrapreneurial intention. These findings underline the need for targeted promotion of female entrepreneurship within the context of academic entrepreneurship education.