Entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship competencies and entrepreneurial activities of alumni: A comparison between the engineering and other graduates of Estonian University of Life Sciences

ArticleEntrepreneurial mind-set, knowledge and skills to recognise opportunities and implement ideas are vital competences for achieving success in the midst of rapid global changes. The main purpose of the entrepreneurship education is to foster those competencies. The present paper focuses on the role of the university education in developing various entrepreneurship competences, and the share of entrepreneurs among the alumni. The aim is more specifically to examine the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship competence development in university and the later entrepreneurial activities of the engineering alumni. The analysis is based on a questionnaire survey of alumni entrepreneurship conducted in 2016 as a part of a programme ‘Edu ja Tegu- Development of entrepreneurial education throughout all educational levels’. Chi-square tests, t-tests are used to compare the engineering alumni of Estonian University of Life Sciences with graduates from other fields. The overall share of entrepreneurs among the engineering alumni was 35.6%. The entrepreneurial activities were impacted by the time of graduation. It had also impact of whether the graduates had received entrepreneurship courses during their studies. In comparison with other alumni, the engineering graduates assessed that their university education helped them develop significantly better problem-solving skills, critical thinking, self- evaluation skills, ability to develop new ideas and solutions and leadership skills and obtained significantly less entrepreneurial and financial knowledge during their studies. However, in case of engineering alumni, entrepreneurship education did not have significant impact on their entrepreneurial activities and assessments of competences, thus indicating that other factors are in play

Õpetaja professionaalne agentsus digitaalse tehnoloogia integreerimisel õpetamisse Eesti ja Läti koolides

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsiooneDoktoritöö “Õpetaja professionaalne agentsus digitaalse tehnoloogia integreerimisel õpetamisse Eesti ja Läti koolides” eesmärgiks on uurida, kuidas õpetaja professionaalne agentsus on väljendatud viisides, millega õpetajad tegutsevad erinevates personaalsetes, situatiivsetes ja kontekstuaalsetes tegurites, mis on seotud digitaaltehnoloogia integreerimisega õppetöösse nii Läti kui ka Eesti koolides. Minu doktoritöö aktuaalsus on ühest küljest seotud asjaoluga, et Euroopa õpetajad on üldiselt vabad otsustamaks kasutatavate õpetamisviiside üle, kuid teisest küljest mainivad õpetajad järjest piiravamaid töö hindamisvahendeid, väliseid hindamissüsteeme, aruandereegleid ning õppekavade nõudeid. Taoliste pingete uurimine näitab, kuidas õpetaja professionaalne agentsus ilmneb konkreetsetes kontekstides erinevate personaalsete, situatiivsete, sotsiaalsete ja kontekstuaalsete mõjude taustal. Oma doktoritöös soovin selle asemel, et läheneda õpetaja agentsusele “muutuste poolt” vs “muutuste vastu” vaadete kaudu, mõista õpetajate reageeringuid hariduslikele muudatustele oluliselt laiema spektri kaudu. Selle doktoritöö empiirilised materjalid hõlmavad andmeid 26 semistruktureeritud intervjuust erinevate aineõpetajatega Eestis ja Lätis, tunnivaatlusi ja uurimust õpetajate infootsingulisest käitumisest veebis. Oma doktoritöö tulemusena pakun välja uue tüpoloogia, mis koosneb viiest erinevast õpetaja agentsuse väljendusviisist: entusiastlik omastamine, pragmaatiline sulandamine, reserveeritud tasakaalustamine, piiratud kohanemine ja skeptiline ritualism. Doktoritöös näitan, et õpetajate seisukohad ja valikud IKT integreerimisel õppetöösse on seotud väga keeruka võrgustikuga mõjutustest, millest olulisematena tuleb rõhutada enesetõhususe tajumist, tugevat ainevaldkonnaga seotud identiteeti ning vajadust vastata õpetajate tööle esitatud kvaliteedinõuetele. Variatiivsused õpetaja agentsuse väljendusviisides paljastavad raskesti märgatavaid konflikte ja ebakõlasid erinevate ning sageli tehnoloogiaga mitte seotud väärtuste, survete ja nõudmiste vahel, mille keskel püüavad õpetajad leida tasakaalu oma professionaalsete rollide ja vastutuste täitmiseks. Minu doktoritöö näitab, et leidub õpetajaid, kelle jaoks IKT kasutuselevõtt on avanud uusi võimalusi eksperimenteerimiseks, mängimiseks ja uute õpetamismeetodite katsetamiseks. Samas osutus teiste õpetajate jaoks IKT kasutamine vahendiks välise heakskiidu saavutamisel ning kaasaegse ja “moodsa” õpetaja kuvandi loomisel ning hoidmisel. Paljude valimisse kuulunud õpetajate jaoks on IKT kasutus koolides tekitanud olukordi, kus neil on tulnud muuta oma seniseid praktikaid ning teha valikuid selle kohta, kuidas IKT-d õpetamisse sobitada. Tuginedes oma doktoritöö järeldustele, rõhutan, et vaid siis, kui mõistame õpetajate olulist rolli IKT strateegia vahendajana ja pöörame tähelepanu kontekstidele, kus õpetajad sätestatud põhimõtteid tõlgendavad ning ellu viivad, on võimalik aru saada, miks tehnoloogia integreerimine koolides toimub just nii, nagu see toimub. Õpetajate praktikaid mõjutavate erinevate tegurite vastastikmõju komplekssuse ja mitmetahulise olemuse mõistmine võib viia tulemuslikuma dialoogini poliitikakujundajate ning õpetajate kogukonna vahel ning sedakaudu läbimõeldumate arengustrateegiateni.The aim of the doctoral study “Teacher professional agency in relation to digital technology integration in teaching in Estonian and Latvian schools” is to explore how teacher professional agency is manifested in the ways teachers navigate within the different personal, situational and contextual factors related to digital technology integration in teaching in Latvian and Estonian schools. The topicality of this dissertation lies in the fact that digital technology is widely perceived as an integral part of every subject area. Additionally, teachers in Europe generally are granted autonomy in deciding on their instructional approaches, although they report being increasingly exposed to tightening performativity measures, which include the use of ICT, external evaluation systems, accountability rules and curriculum requirements. Explorations of such tensions reveals how teacher professional agency emerges in relation to ICT use within particular contexts shaped by various personal, situational, social and contextual influences. This doctoral study avoids the often-applied “pro-change versus con-change” conceptualization of teacher agency, instead showing the broadness of the spectrum of teachers’ responses to educational change. The empirical basis of this study consists of data from 26 semi-structured interviews with different subject teachers in Estonia and Latvia, class observations, and a study of teacher online search behaviour. As a result of this doctoral study, a new typology of teacher agency manifestations is proposed, distinguishing between enthusiastic appropriation, pragmatic assimilation, reserved balance, hampered accommodation and sceptical ritualism. This PhD study demonstrates that out of the complex network of influences, teacher stances and choices of ICT integration in teaching are most strongly related to self-efficacy beliefs, strong subject-related identity and the need to establish teacher accountability policies. Variations in teacher agency manifestations reveal the underlying conflicts and inconsistencies between the different and often non-technological values, pressures and demands which teachers try to balance in order to fulfil their professional roles and responsibilities. This doctoral study indicates that for some teachers the arrival of ICT opened new avenues for experimenting, playing and trying out new teaching methods, while for others the use of ICT turned out to be a means of receiving external approval and creating and sustaining the image of being a “modern” teacher. For many teachers in the sample, the presence of ICT in schools created situations where teachers had to re-consider their existing practices and make choices regarding how ICT could be made to fit in. Speaking of the implications of this study, it should be emphasised that only through acknowledging the important role of teachers as mediators of ICT policy implementation and paying close attention to the contexts in which teachers “read” and enact policy messages is it possible to understand why technology integration in schools happens in the ways it does. Understanding the complexity and multifaceted nature of the interplay of various factors shaping teachers’ practices might lead to better policies and improved dialogue between policy makers and teachers

Investigating Employer Support as a Predictor of Online Master\u27s Student Retention

Enrollment in master level programs has been increasing nationwide, particularly in online programs which tend to enroll older and more ethnically diverse students who are likely to be balancing work, finances, and family responsibilities with their educational pursuits. The challenges related to this balance has resulted in higher attrition rates and lower completion rates. In this quantitative study, the relationship between employer support and first-year retention for master\u27s students enrolled in online programs at a for-profit university was examined. Bean and Metzner\u27s model of nontraditional student attrition was used as the theoretical foundation. Archival data from the online institution were examined to determine the extent that 1st year retention is predicted by employer support when controlling for demographics, student background, external factors, integration/socialization, and intent to graduate. Findings from the logistic regression analysis showed 4 variables that significantly predict 1st year retention, employer support, household income, overall satisfaction, and importance of graduating from the institution. Students who received employer support were almost 2 times more likely to be retained at 1-year. Positive social change can result from having educational institutions encourage students to seek employee educational benefits. Having students seek these employer benefits may lead to higher graduation rates, higher pay, and job satisfaction for employees

Evaluation of the Outcomes of Entrepreneurship Education Revisited

This dissertation addresses two major gaps discernible in contemporary entrepreneurship education (EE) research: firstly, the lack of comparative studies on different forms of EE, such as traditional and experiential, which would test the widely accepted assertion that experiential EE is more effective in generating the desired outcomes in learners; secondly, the lack of evidence of how objective expressions of entrepreneurial behaviour in self- or paid employment are dependent upon entrepreneurship-specific competences that can be developed throughout EE. In bridging these gaps, the dissertation proposes and tests the integrative framework for evaluating the outcomes of EE that conceptually relies on Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives (Kraiger et al. 1993; Bloom et al. 1964), human capital theory (Becker 1975), and teaching models in entrepreneurship for higher education (Béchard and Grégoire 2007, 2005b). The applied framework overcomes several trending points of concern in the literature on the impact of EE including the over-reliance on models of entrepreneurial intentions, overlooking, among others, the details of EE design and delivery in the evaluations performed. This novel evaluation framework puts forward the triad of cognitive, skill-based and affective outcomes of EE in the domain of education, and the triumvirate objective outcomes: employability, intrapreneurship and private early-stage entrepreneurial activity (EA) in the domain of entrepreneurship. It conceptualises experiential EE through the prism of demand and competence teaching models, while traditional EE is viewed as analogous of a supply model (ibid 2007). This study focuses on two small, open neighbouring post-transition economies: Estonia and Latvia. The analysis applies a mixed methods embedded design by combining multiple case study, cross-sectional and comparative designs. Data were collected from 16 entrepreneurship educators and from 559 final year bachelor students participating in business-related programmes, and recent graduates from these programmes taught at 8 local HEIs (4 per country). Purposive expert and homogeneous sampling were employed, respectively, at the qualitative and quantitative data collection stages that involved face-to-face semi-structured interviews and an online survey. The interview data were used to diagnose the prevailing form of intervention at each HEI. The survey data were used to test the hypotheses. Content analysis by means of data coding was performed to process the qualitative data. The structural equation modelling was applied to estimate cognitive, skill-based and affective outcomes. The analysis of co-variance was used to determine if statistically significant differences exist between predominantly traditional and experiential teaching and their learning outcomes. In addition, various regression models were run to estimate the association between learning outcomes and objective outcomes as well as between experiential EE and objective outcomes. The findings of the study question the common assumptions mentioned earlier, having brought partial support for the principal hypotheses. Experiential EE was associated with higher skill-based and affective outcomes than traditional EE, but only in Estonia. The analysis indicated that the experiential form of intervention does not necessarily lead to higher levels of learning outcomes – in some cases even being associated with adverse effects; and that other factors (e.g. prior entrepreneurial aspirations, attitudes to educators) exhibit a significant influence on these outcomes. Affective outcomes acted as a consistent predictor of graduate employability, private early-stage EA as well as increasing the propensity of graduates to engage into nascent intrapreneurship. However, none of the objective outcomes showed the hypothesized dependency upon cognitive and skill-based learning outcomes. As far as the objective expressions of entrepreneurial behaviour were concerned in the period of the study, it did not matter significantly whether entrepreneurship was studied traditionally or experientially in Estonia, and the attendance of more experiential EE even tended to be less beneficial in Latvia. These results were largely divergent from conventional wisdom within human capital theory implying that investments in entrepreneurship-related human capital assets do not quite meet the expectations in the given context. The discussion of the results advances our understanding of why experiential EE might not work as expected. The findings are appraised from the viewpoint of entrepreneurship pedagogy, external factors affecting the development of local EE as well as other dimensions pertaining to EE design, delivery and the transfer of learning in the two countries. In particular, I find pertinent the intervention volume, the pedagogical and entrepreneurial experience of educators, the learning habits of students, coherence among teaching aims, methods used and outcomes expected as well as government support, and the availability of EE infrastructure, among other contextual influences. The dissertation concludes with recommendations for educators and decision-makers at HEIs, prospective students, policy makers in charge as well as EE scholars. Overall, this work contributes to topical debates in EE research with novel theoretical, methodological and empirical results.Siirretty Doriast

Should the concept of highly skilled migration be redefined? A case analysis of Estonia

Despite receiving countries' growing favourable perceptions of highly skilled (labour) migrants, defining, and using the concept of high-skilled migration is a puzzling question. The uncertainty that results makes it difficult to quantify human capital, preventing worldwide evaluations of skills, and makes it challenging to evaluate immigration policy. In this thesis, three standard criteria are evaluated to provide a discussion on this phenomenon of highly skilled migration. The term "highly skilled" has been evaluated from a definitional perspective under the paradigm of academics, the global labour market and immigration policies. To assess the applicability of the criteria defining a "highly skilled", Estonia has used a case study to assess how the definitional approach differs from immigration policies and thus provide a critical analytical discussion on the relevancy of "highly skilled" in the new knowledge economy

Developing a Creative Entrepreneurship Education Model to Enhance Student’s Creativity and Innovation for Successful Completion of the Independent Entrepreneurship MBKM Program

In this study, the objective is to develop an innovative educational model for fostering creativity and innovation in aspiring entrepreneurs using the "learning by doing" approach, specifically through practical business experiences. The aim is to cultivate creativity and innovation among students, equipping them with the skills needed for entrepreneurial endeavors. By integrating students' creativity and innovation into entrepreneurship education, the research aims to instill an entrepreneurial mindset and contribute to reducing the high unemployment rate among educated individuals in Indonesia. This research was carried out at Udayana University's Faculty of Tourism, focusing on alumni who had completed entrepreneurship courses. The study employed a descriptive and verification research approach, with data presented as percentages and detailed descriptions. A purposive sampling technique was utilized, targeting undergraduate students who had taken entrepreneurship courses, resulting in a sample size of 100 individuals. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis using the Lisrel 8.0 software was the chosen analytical tool. The SEM analysis revealed that the t-values for both student creativity (6.80) and student innovation (6.56) exceeded the critical t-value of 1.85 at a 5% error rate. This led to the rejection of the null hypothesis (Ho) and the acceptance of the alternative hypothesis (Ha)

Developing Quality Cultures in Teacher Education: Expanding Horizons in Relation to Quality Assurance

The Teacher Education Policy in Europe Network (TEPE) was established with the overarching aim to develop teacher education policy recommendations at institutional, national and European levels. TEPE is an academic network that builds on previous European collaborative initiatives on teacher education policy, e.g. TNTEE and EUDORA. Today, its central goals relate to: 1) Advancing research in and on Teacher Education, 2) Increasing mobility and extending the European Dimension in Teacher Education, 3) Enhancing quality through the renewal of evaluation cultures in Teacher Education

Mathematics teachers’ beliefs about good teaching: A comparison between Estonia, Latvia and Finland

The article presents results from a cross-cultural NorBa-project “Mathematics teachers’ educational beliefs”. We report Estonian, Latvian and Finnish lower secondary mathematics teachers’ beliefs about good teaching. A principal component analyses identified a two-component structure of teachers’ beliefs about good teaching: (1) Reasoning and conceptual understanding and (2) Mastery of skills and facts. Cross-cultural differences were identified in both of these dimensions. Latvian teachers indicated the strongest agreement with reasoning and conceptual understanding, Estonian teachers with mastery of skills and facts, while Finnish teachers scored lowest on both dimensions. Moreover, we analysed the amount of teachers with different profiles with regard to these two dimensions.Peer reviewe