It was a Failure, But a Good Failure': A Qualitative Study Exploring Engineering Students' Critical Entrepreneurship Experiences and Their Impacts

摘要

Integrating entrepreneurship into engineering education has gained momentum in recent years. Engineering students at many institutions now have access to a variety of mediums to get involved in entrepreneurship including classes, pitch competitions, and accelerator programs. Participating in these classes or programs can lead to engineering students getting very involved in entrepreneurship and having important, memorable experiences. This study sought to investigate these 'critical' entrepreneurship experiences among engineering students including the impacts they have. The study applied the critical incident technique in a narrative format to elicit and thoroughly investigate three senior engineering student's entrepreneurship experiences who were very involved in advancing multiple entrepreneurial projects during their undergraduate education. The study reports these critical experiences and their impacts in a narrative format with rich detail. The findings suggest that entrepreneurship funding programs and classes are primarily involved in catalyzing powerful student experiences that have profound effects including changes in attitudes, behavior, and altered career goals. This study overall provides evidence of the value programs and classes have in facilitating the development of an entrepreneurial mindset.