How Entrepreneurial Education and Environment Affect Entrepreneurial Readiness of STEM and Business Students? A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This paper explores how entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial environment affect entrepreneurial readiness (ER) of students from Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM), and business, i.e., economics and management (E&M) studies. Moreover, it examines how the combination of the aforementioned factors affect the difference in ER between STEM and E&M students. The evaluation is performed on the sample of 595 university students. The results show that two sources of entrepreneurial learning, entrepreneurial experience in the family environment and entrepreneurial education at university, combined with the field of studies represent significant factors that predetermine students' ER. To be able to reach the highest level of ER, the combination of having entrepreneurial environment and entrepreneurial education is crucial for both E&M and STEM students. However, since E&M students show higher level of ER, the paper emphasises the importance of fostering systemic entrepreneurial education among STEM students.