Thinking skills and entrepreneurship education: supply and demand

Tertiary Education and Management. 2025. P. -–-.

Sorokin P. S., Vyatskaya Y., Chernenko S., Frumin I. D.

This study aims to identify the place of thinking skills, first, as learning outcomes in leading entrepreneurship education programs for university students (supply) and, second, as individual features required by actual entrepreneurship practice (demand) - and to analyze the possible gap between the two based on 82 in-depth interviews with university graduates having a unique background combining practical entrepreneurship experience and entrepreneurship education. Using the method of discourse-analysis we reveal the importance of thinking skills for both entrepreneurship education and practical entrepreneurship. At the same time, there is a gap between the skills that are developed in education and the skills that respondents note as important in business activities. High variability of skills required by practice and significant gap between ‘supply’ and ‘demand’ creates a significant challenge to entrepreneurship education. The study contributes to the literature on skills in entrepreneurial education by using a unique sample, which consists of respondents who simultaneously have experience in entrepreneurship education and in launching startups.

Keywords: предпринимательство, человеческий капитал, высшее образование, entrepreneurship, навыки, обучение предпринимательству, спрос и предложение, Entrepreneurship education, supply and demand, Skills, higher education, Human capital

Publication based on the results of: The agency of children involved in extracurricular activities as a factor in the transformation of the social environment: the role of educational institutions, family and contextual factors (2024)