Nurturing Students' Entrepreneurial Mindset: A Design Thinking Approach

Introduction

Entrepreneurial education has been demonstrated to boost students' entrepreneurial skills, perspective and career objectives (Colombelli, Loccisano, Panelli, Pennisi & Serraino, 2022). Exposure to entrepreneurship education is critical for the development of various entrepreneurial characteristics as well as the acquisition of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills (Liu, Gorgievski, Qi & Paas, 2022). Basic problems like the necessary key outcomes, the primary guidance techniques, andragogical and pedagogical approaches, and how to identify the impact elements for evaluation are areas where there are some agreements in entrepreneurial education (Maritz & Brown, 2013). However, when it comes to what should be taught and how to teach it, researchers can't seem to agree because best practises changes depending on the student's ability and culture. The larger body of research on entrepreneurial education have provided insights into various entrepreneurial learning styles and suggests a crucial contrast between theoretical and practical-based learning.

Past research has shown that education and training play a significant role in the growth of entrepreneurial mindset (Cui, Jun, Junhua Sun, & Robin Bell, 2021). Practical based approaches such as design thinking bootcamps have been shown to be particularly beneficial in the domain of entrepreneurship (Colombelli, et. al., 2022). Entrepreneurship, like other academic subjects, can be studied and developed through regular activities that explore the subject matter and assist students in developing the information, skills, attitudes, and personalities essential for success. New models, frameworks and paradigms are needed if entrepreneurship values and an openness to innovation are to be included in the educational programme (Banha, Coelho & Flores, 2022).

This approach can be matched with the entrepreneurial process, which comprises producing a product or service by frequently adopting unique methods or procedures to produce value (Bell & Bell, 2020). It is founded on the identification of opportunities which is inherently an inductive process and typically entails various levels of risk and uncertainty (Jack and Anderson, 1999 in Bell & Bell, 2020). By paying attention to the curriculum and strategies for teaching practical based entrepreneurship courses, students will develop a stronger entrepreneurial mindset.

Based on Pittaway & Edwards (2012) typology of entrepreneurship education and assessment practice, we used the “For” approach to engage students in tasks, activities and projects that enable them to acquire key skills and competencies. Approaches in this type takes many forms including experiential, inquiry based, and project based. The “For” approach allows the student to acquire skills in preparation for future entrepreneurial endeavours. For example, such approaches include certain forms of business planning and allowing actual practice of entrepreneurship in “a safe” condition. The driving force behind this form is to provide students who are of non-business majors some form of awareness and experiences of entrepreneurship, directly within their discipline so that the form of entrepreneurship that they learn about is relevant to their field of interest or major. Nonetheless, students must be prepared with the right knowledge, skills and attitudes required to learn entrepreneurial skills and competencies.

The set of entrepreneurial outcomes that can be linked to the “For” form of entrepreneurship education are 1) encourage students to engage in activities that seek to develop key entrepreneurial behaviours such as opportunity seeking, initiative taking, and 2) creating generic entrepreneurial competencies (e.g., finding an idea, appraising an idea). Both of these form focuses on skills acquisition. These are aimed at encouraging the inculcation of key entrepreneurial values and learning objectives targeted at trying to motivate students to consider an entrepreneurial career.