The competence of digital entrepreneurship in education: Analysis of the perception of university students

Abstract

Purpose: From an educational perspective, digital entrepreneurship comprises the convergence of the dimensions of entrepreneurship competence and digital competence. The EmDigital project has generated a model of digital entrepreneurship based on the proposals of Entrecomp and Digcom models that, from a transversal approach, addresses digital entrepreneurship from the perspective of challenges and the development of new opportunities that technology can offer.

Design/methodology/approach: The project conducted a study using a non-experimental and exploratory design with the objective of analyzing the digital entrepreneurship competence of 135 final-year students from the Polytechnic University of Cartagena. A questionnaire validated by experts and exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the four dimensions of digital entrepreneurship competence: identification of opportunities, action planning, implementation and collaboration, and management and security.

Findings:The results show that the students feel they are more competent in the dimension of management and security, while they perceive that the dimension related to the identification of opportunities in the framework of digital entrepreneurship is less developed. It is concluded that it is necessary to establish a series of common and interdisciplinary indicators around digital entrepreneurship that can be reinforced in all degrees, so students could develop good strategies related to digital entrepreneurship regardless of the degree they come from.

Originality/value: The added value of this study lies in its comprehensive approach, the solid theoretical foundation on which it is based, its exploratory approach, the integration of key dimensions, the identification of specific areas of improvement and the practical recommendations to address these deficiencies in higher education. 

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This research has been carried out within the framework of the project “EmDigital. kills for digital entrepreneurship of university students” (https://www.um.es/emdigital/), which is funded by the SénecavFoundation (Agency Science and Technology Agency of the Region of Murcia, Spain). It has also been funded by the project MAEDU (Framework for Analysing Digital Entrepreneurship in Universities), project funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain. Proyecto PID2022-139332NB-I00 financiado por MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033/ y por FEDER, UE. The data has been collected thanks to the participation of undergraduate students from Polytechnic University of Cartagena (Spain).