ARE ENTREPRENEURS BORN OR MADE? EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC MODELS TO FOSTER ENTREPRENEURIAL GRADUATES

Introduction. Professional training of the people possessing a wide range of entrepreneurial competencies is becoming an imperative in the conditions of a post-industrial society development characterized by a focus on innovation, priority of knowledge, a high level of competition and involvement of a big proportion of population in service industries. Universities are charged to play a key role in developing highly qualified specialists with an extensive creative and intellectual potential capable of implementing various business projects and becoming a driving force of a sustainable economic growth in their countries. Therefore, there is a big interest in practices of developing graduates’ entrepreneurial culture and literacy established in universities of developed countries.

Aim. The article is aimed at systematizing the existing experience of the US and UK universities in delivering entrepreneurship education based on academic models as well as considering a possibility of adapting the most efficient conceptions, teaching approaches and techniques within the Russian higher education system.

Methodology and research methods. The methods include a qualitative analysis of the concepts “entrepreneurship education” and “entrepreneurial competencies”. A case study method was used for describing the academic models applied for teaching entrepreneurship in different universities.

Results and scientific novelty. The processes and outcomes of entrepreneurship training in the US and UK higher educational institutions were characterized and compared. The paper provides the description of the academic models applied at the leading universities for providing business education. They integrate the elements of experiential learning, multidisciplinary, multicultural, interactive, learner-centered teaching approaches to developing entrepreneurial behavior patterns, key and variable competencies and “soft” skills.

The paper reveals the problems and drawbacks of entrepreneurship education delivery within the Russian higher education: a discrepancy between the competencies fixed in university curricula and the ones actually needed; an inadequacy of teaching methods and absence of consistency in the course of students’ acquisition of theoretical knowledge and practical skills for efficient entrepreneurship activity.

Practical significance. The recommendations for improving entrepreneurship education in the Russian higher education system were proposed. The authors grounded a need for implementing an academic model of experiential learning, which enables graduates to develop entrepreneurial competencies and acquire a system of knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship. 

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