Title :
Work in progress: Integrating entrepreneurship into undergraduate engineering education
Author :
Hixson, Cory ; Paretti, Marie ; Lesko, J.J.
Author_Institution :
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Abstract :
As government and industry leaders place increased importance on entrepreneurship and innovation within science, technology, and engineering (STEM) in higher education, courses, programs, and centers are being developed to enhance students´ learning and development in these areas. Despite this growth in programming and the extensive entrepreneurship research in the literature, little research has been completed regarding ways in which students in STEM disciplines value, identify with, and are willing to participate in entrepreneurship activities. This paper presents work in progress to develop a survey and run focus groups to better understand STEM students´ perceptions of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship educational opportunities. The results can be used by educators to better understand the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of students being served by entrepreneurship and innovation programming, and to identify approaches to engaging more students in this critical area.
Keywords :
commerce; educational courses; engineering education; further education; innovation management; risk management; STEM; course; entrepreneurship educational opportunity; government leader; higher education; industry leader; innovation programming; science-technology-engineering; student learning enhancement; student perceptions; undergraduate engineering education; Educational institutions; Engineering profession; Engineering students; Innovation management; Technological innovation; STEM; entrepreneurship; future career; identification; program development; undergraduate education; willingess;
Conference_Titel :
Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2012
Conference_Location :
Seattle, WA
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-1353-7
Electronic_ISBN :
0190-5848
DOI :
10.1109/FIE.2012.6462399