3rd meeting of young researchers at UP 1 - IJUP - Universidade do ...

Are the 'entrepreneurs students' entrepreneurs of the future?
The contribution of junior enterprises for entrepreneurship
A. S. Ferreira 1 , L. M. Fonseca 1 and L. Santos 1
1 Economic students, Faculty of Economic, University of Porto, Portugal.
Few empirical studies have been done on social entrepreneurship, in particular, on the work
done by individuals or organizations whose purpose is to provide solutions for social problems.
Junior enterprises and students associations created within the higher education system, whose
aim is to promote closer relations between academic students and businesses, stand as an
example of such organizations. In recent decades the number of junior enterprises within the
higher education system has increased significantly. Some argue that they act as true
'incubators' of talent and business, in a relatively small scale, which is adapted to the academic
activities of the students involved. Existing literature on social and business entrepreneurship
usually emphasizes, respectively, conceptual aspects and the enumeration of the characteristics
of an individual with an entrepreneurial profile. Moreover, the literature on students’
entrepreneurship targets in particular the role of education and training in entrepreneurship as a
way to promote and enhance entrepreneurial attitudes in students.
The present study differs from the existing literature on its aim and scope, providing a
complementary approach to the field. In concrete, we analyze, not how to instilling
entrepreneurship through formal education or training, but instead, how the participation of
students involved on junior enterprises contributes to the development of their potential and
enhance, through the practice of action, adequate entrepreneurial characteristics. Thus, our aim
is to understand to what extent the work of these organizations impact on students’
entrepreneurial competencies, and as such the importance these organizations might have in the
(informal) training of future entrepreneurs and CEO’s. More specifically, we examine how the
participation of students on junior enterprises increase their skills, namely regarding leadership,
creativity and innovation, facilitating not only the admission (successful) in the labour market,
potentially reflected in the occupation of managerial roles, but also encouraging the creation of
new ventures.
To achieve these goals we implemented a direct survey to all former members of Fep Junior
Consulting, a junior enterprise at Faculdade de Economia do Porto with 12 years of experience.
Based on 44 responses of the 93 former members (response tax: 47,3%) we conclude that the
participation in FJC develops entrepreneurship characteristics, with 50% of respondents
revealing entrepreneurial characteristics (potential entrepreneurship) and 11,4% of the
respondents answering that they had created their own enterprise (effective entrepreneurship).
References:
[1] Tracey, P.; Phillips, N. (2007); “The Distinctive challenge of education social entrepreneurs: a
postscript and rejoinder to the special issue on entrepreneurship education”, Academy of Management
Learning & Education, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 264-271.
[2] Teixeira, A.A.C.; Davey, T. (2008), “Attitudes of higher education students to new venture creation:
preliminary approach to the Portuguese case”, Working Paper FEP nº298, Faculdade de Economia,
Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
236 3 rd meeting of young researchers at UP