The entrepreneurial mindset : an essential tool for students in the information age

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to evaluate how the skills which form the entrepreneurial mindset are beneficial for students in the information age. Context: The 17 skills which form the entrepreneurial mindset are divided into 12 attributes from the 21st Century Skills, and 5 skills from a selection of books, articles, blogs, and journals. Methodological Approach: Quantitative research via online questionnaires was used to collect the data from the University of Malta students. The questions asked were intended to discover the students’ perception and application of the entrepreneurial mindset through self-evaluation questions. An adaptation of the entrepreneurial mindset model was developed by the researcher to answer the research questions for this study. Since there are other interpretations of the respective model (which consist of different entrepreneurial skills), this model consisted of a set of skills which are not conventional to the others, and thus an interest was shown in exploring them further. This model consists of various calculations which will be made to determine a final score, portraying how much the respondents in this study nurtures an entrepreneurial mindset or not. Findings: The students in this sample have shown a tendency to foster an entrepreneurial mindset. This study also concludes that UM students are applying the entrepreneurial skills more than being aware of having them.