Instrument for analysing digital entrepreneurship competence in higher education

Abstract

Entrepreneurship and digital skills are key competences that students must acquire throughout their formal education. The EmDigital model was developed to assess digital entrepreneurship competence following a comparative analysis of these two competences. This model describes the competence of digital entrepreneurship in terms of four areas and 15 sub competences. The aim of the present study was to validate a quantitative instrument to measure digital entrepreneurship competence in university students. The following techniques were used: focus group, expert panel, cognitive interview and exploratory factor analysis. A pilot sample of 190 final year undergraduate students (60% were female with an average age of 24.97) was used. The instrument produced very good reliability indices. EFA outcomes indicated a 4-factor instrument that explained 43% of total variance. Based on the presented outcomes, the instrument was revised and a definitive questionnaire created. The final version of the questionnaire is presented in the present article. Data only revealed gender differences in relation to one of the dimensions of the instrument, namely, the identification of opportunities, in which men scored more highly.