Entrepreneurial Competence in Higher Education: An Assessment of the Importance Attributed to It by Final-Year Undergraduate Students

María Lambarri Villa, Janire Gordon-Isasi () and Elvira Arrondo Diez
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María Lambarri Villa: Deuso Social Lab, University of Deusto, 48007 Bilbao, Spain
Janire Gordon-Isasi: Faculty of Engineering, University of Deusto, 48007 Bilbao, Spain
Elvira Arrondo Diez: Deusto Business School, University of Deusto, 48007 Bilbao, Spain

World, 2025, vol. 6, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: In an increasingly complex global context, higher education faces the challenge of preparing professionals who are innovative, committed, and socially responsible. Entrepreneurial competence is particularly prominent among the key skills required to meet this goal, given its significant personal and social impact. This study examines how final-year undergraduate students at the University of Deusto (Spain) perceive the importance of entrepreneurial competence—defined as a set of transversal skills, knowledge, and attitudes enabling initiative and opportunity recognition across various contexts—rather than entrepreneurial competence strictly understood as business creation. The sample included 267 students from different faculties. Descriptive, comparative, and ordinal logistic regression analyses (SPSS) were used. The results show that, while entrepreneurial competence was given significant importance, it was ranked comparatively low relative to other competencies. Significant differences by gender were observed, with women rating entrepreneurial competence more highly than men. The faculty variable showed slight disparities, and there were no relevant differences between campuses. These findings highlight the need to reinforce the integration of entrepreneurial competence into educational curricula on a transversal basis, adapting the teaching of this competence to the sociocultural context of students, as well as the need to increase students’ awareness of the importance of entrepreneurial competence. It is proposed that further research should focus on the relationships between intrapreneurship, gender, and academic disciplines, in order to enrich entrepreneurial competence education and its impact on the employability and social commitment of students.

Keywords: entrepreneurial competence; higher education; social impact; student perceptions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G15 G17 G18 L21 L22 L25 L26 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 R51 R52 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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