Awareness of Start-up Opportunities at Brandenburg University of Technology

Small and medium-sized businesses are generally considered to be a key driving force in national economies. In comparison with other countries, the percentage of nascent entrepreneurs in Germany is small. This has been attributed to a lack of entrepreneurial awareness, which can be created and developed in schools and higher education institutions. The importance of intensifying the teaching and training of entrepreneurial skills has therefore often been stressed. Two different courses on entrepreneurship – a traditional lecture course and an advanced seminar course – are offered in the summer term at Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus. Two surveys were conducted in 2010 for each course, to measure the change in the students' willingness to start a business and thus to gain insights into the effect of entrepreneurship education on ‘founding’ awareness – that is, awareness of the process and demands of entrepreneurial start-ups. Analysis of the survey data was designed to identify (a) whether a change in students' founding propensity can be achieved through entrepreneurship education; (b) what type of course is best suited to introducing students to the idea of self-employment; and (c) whether specific groups of students can benefit from different types of courses. The research results suggest a positive change occurred in participants' stereotypically pessimistic perception of the German climate with regard to new start-up businesses. Some who had never thought about becoming an entrepreneur discovered a personal affinity for this career option. An unexpected finding was that the level of interest in start-up businesses of many students who had originally planned to establish such a business gradually declined. The authors conclude that entrepreneurship education should be offered primarily to advanced students, in order to derive maximum benefit.