1. Investigating the Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on Engineering StudentsNCIIA Open Conference 2011– Washington, D.C. Nathalie Duval-Couetil, MBA, PhD Director, Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program Associate Director, Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship Teri Reed-Rhoads, MBA, PhD Assistant Dean of Engineering for Undergraduate Education Associate Professor of Engineering Education Shiva Haghighi, Graduate Student Civil Engineering

3. Objectives of the NSF Study

4. Student Outcomes Study Objectives Characteristics of engineering students who participate in entrepreneurship education Attitudes toward and levels of involvement in entrepreneurship education Impact of entrepreneurship education on self-efficacy

5. Why is this important? Careers available to engineers have changed Universities must graduate engineers with broader skills Growth in entrepreneurship programs and models Few valid and reliable assessments in the field 2010 NCIIA Workshop: Assessing the Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on Engineering Students

6. Our Methodology Duval-Couetil, N., Reed-Rhoads, T., Haghighi, S. (2010, October). Developing an Assessment to Examine Multiple Outcomes of Entrepreneurship Education on Engineering Students ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Washington, DC. Duval-Couetil, N., Reed-Rhoads, T., Haghighi, S. (2010, October). Developing an Assessment to Examine Multiple Outcomes of Entrepreneurship Education on Engineering Students ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Washington, DC. Assessment Instrument Development Data Collection Sample Statistical Analysis Duval-Couetil, N., Reed-Rhoads, T., Haghighi, S. (2010, October). Developing an Assessment to Examine Multiple Outcomes of Entrepreneurship Education on Engineering Students ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Washington, DC.

7. Constraints Homogeneity across institutions – senior design Distribution across institutions - online Downsides are lower participation and self-selection Scope and length Brief enough so faculty will see the value and students will complete it Broad enough to characterize programs, schools and faculty

8. Assessment Instrument Development 135-item web-based survey Survey item categories included in this paper: Demographics (14 items) Attitudes (40 items) Behaviors (12 items) Self-efficacy (23 items) Perceptions of programs and faculty (9 items)

9. Select Item Sources Reasons for and Barriers to Entrepreneurship (Shinnar et al. 2009) Student and faculty attitudes toward entrepreneurship and its education in context of assessing demand for a multidisciplinary course Venturing and Technology Self-efficacy (Lucas & Cooper 2009) Students’ confidence in their venturing and technology applications skills based on “authentic” tasks they might encounter in the workplace Purdue University Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation entry and exit surveys Reliability for select scales - Coefficient Alpha > 0.89

12. Research Question1 What are the characteristics of engineering students participating in entrepreneurship courses and programs?

13. Characteristics of Students in E-Ship The participation of Asian students significantly higher than Caucasian (p<0.001) International students were found to participate more than domestic (p<0.05) Mechanical and electrical were significantly higher involvement than civil and chemical (p<0.001) Trend in favor of males (p=08)

14. Research Question 2 To what extent does entrepreneurship play a role in engineering students’ academic programs and career plans?

15. E-Ship in Engineering Programs Less than a third agreed that entrepreneurship was presented as a worthwhile career option Fewer were encouraged to take entrepreneurship courses or activities A fifth agreed that engineering faculty discussed entrepreneurship Two thirds agreed that engineering students should learn more about entrepreneurship

16. Results

17. Interest in Entrepreneurship More interest from students who had taken entrepreneurship courses Both groups strongly agreed entrepreneurship education could broaden their career choices Half of those who had not taken an e-ship course were interested in doing so Over half wanted to learn about entrepreneurship in their engineering courses

18. Interest in Entrepreneurship All significant at p<0.001

19. Involvement in Entrepreneurship 60% of students took e-ship courses within their engineering programs Moderate involvement in the area of “developed a product or technology for a real client or customer” for both groups Low but equal levels of involvement in “patenting a technology or protecting intellectual property” For all other activities, students who had taken one or more e-ship courses were over twice as likely to participate

20. Involvement in E-ship Activities

21. Post-Graduation Career Goals All students most interested in working for a medium- or large-size business, followed by attending graduate school Significant differences were found for only two options - start their own business or work for a small business or startup (p<0.001)

22. Post-Graduation Career Goals Significant at p<0.01

23. Why students would start a business Top reasons they would Top reasons they wouldn’t Satisfy a need in the market Have more flexibility and independence Focus on a technology that interests me Create something of my own Lack of initial capital for startup Lack of legal assistance or counseling Excessively risky Lack of ideas of what business to start

24. Question 3 What are engineering student perceptions of their entrepreneurship-related abilities?

25. Perceptions of their Abilities Students who had taken an entrepreneurship course had higher confidence for each item Business-related items accounted for some of the largest differences Entrepreneurship students rated themselves significantly higher on items not directly related to entrepreneurship

26. Self-Efficacy Items (Lucas & Cooper) All significant at p<0.01

27. Self-Efficacy Items (Lucas & Cooper) All significant at p<0.01

28. Other Self-Efficacy Items * p<.05

29. Discussion - Demographics Engineering students with particular characteristics are participating in at higher rates than others High rates of participation by particular groups could mean that entrepreneurship courses may be one way to attract and retain students

30. Discussion - Interest/Involvement Considerable interest in learning more about entrepreneurship A third or less felt it was addressed in their engineering programs Suggests more demand than supply

31. Discussion - Self-Efficacy Even one course impacts self-efficacy Interestingly, no significant impact on presentation, communication and analytical skills Positive impact in areas not closely tied to entrepreneurship

32. Additional Questions

35. Additional Analyses Multi-course program versus single course Extent to which attitudes differ by university or program model Differences by demographic characteristics

36. Conclusion Provides baseline data about engineering student interest, involvement, and self-efficacy related to e-ship education Relatively few engineering students are being exposed to it even at institutions with established programs Those who take at least one course have significantly higher self-efficacy and are 2-3 times more likely to acquire hands-on skills which are valuable in the market for jobs

37. THANK YOU! QUESTIONS?