The article presents the results of author’s research on entrepreneurship of technical university students. The key issue and the aim of the research was to determine the levels of knowledge ...necessary to run a business, in particular legal knowledge and the establishment and management of own enterprises. The analysis of secondary data and the results of previous research reveal, among others, discrepancy in the opinions of students and current entrepreneurs on the importance of business knowledge, a sense of insufficient knowledge of entrepreneurship (interestingly) also declared by students of economic faculties or lack of information on financing their own business despite going to economics studies. The research tool was an original auditorial survey. The test method was a test of knowledge and a self-report questionnaire. The obtained results were subjected to statistical analysis. The premise of an in-depth analysis of the subject matter is the social need to effectively shape the entrepreneurial attitudes of young people. Utilizing the potential of each individual contributes to the growth of social well-being. The use of the potential of students of management departments at technical universities seems particularly justified, as graduates are supposed to have both industry and technical knowledge as well as business knowledge. In the articles, the authors distinguish areas and present results that may contribute to the debate on the subject of entrepreneurship education at universities.
According to popular belief, it has never been easier to raise funds to run and manage one’s own business. In an era of startups popping up like mushrooms, crowdfunding, business angels, venture ...capital and mobile Internet, investing in a business is a much easier undertaking than it was two decades ago. Furthermore, Augmented Reality available through mobile devices like smartphones or tablets, the Internet of Things, which makes the consumer feel like a science fiction character in their own home, or Virtual Reality shopping, a Matrix movie-like experience in a testing phase at the moment, provide increasingly more innovative ways to take one’s first steps in business, gather momentum, and win loyal customers. According to the results, running one’s own business is not a popular professional plan among young people, which is especially surprising given the fact that the majority of the respondents were students of specialisations that equipped them with knowledge facilitating entrepreneurial activities. Running one’s own business seemed to be an attractive career path for about 30% of the respondents. Although they realise the significance of the Internet in running their own business, they do not believe that this is always a necessary tool. The students declared knowledge of multiple methods of communication and promotion and often use social media channels, but rarely expressed the desire to use these measures. A particular way of using the Internet to foster entrepreneurship are methods of online promotion like Social Media Marketing or Search Engine Optimization. Those tools enable reaching potential customers and engaging in an active dialogue with them about their favourite brands, products and services. They also allow exchange of information with the entrepreneur and are currently one of the fundamental tools for creating a company’s success. The article presents the results of research on the knowledge of methods of online promotion and networking by students as potential entrepreneurs.
On world’s average, every third business is run by a woman. Typically, these businesses are small and limit their growth, they rarely employ staff, have shorter survival rates, lower level of ...capitalization, and are financed with foreign capital to a lesser extent in comparison with businesses run by men. In addition, women are motivated to start their own business due to the phenomenon of a “glass ceiling”, problems finding a job after returning from parental leave, and the need to balance work and parental duties. Running their own business opens up many opportunities for women. It seems, therefore, appropriate to examine the factors that will help the next generation of women realize their entrepreneurial potential. The article presents the opinions of management students on the usefulness of different measures in supporting the initiation and conduct of business in the SME sector. The results were compared with assessments made by female entrepreneurs. This helped identify areas in which the expectations of students differed significantly from the reality. The authors of this article believe that such a discrepancy between the ideas and the realities of running your own business may be the cause of the lower survival rate of businesses run by women and their limited participation in the overall number of entrepreneurs. Based on these results, the authors propose directions for the education of potential female entrepreneurs.
The aim of the article was to determine the impact of the pandemic on the possibility of developing professional competences by young women and men in the context of their plans to set up a business. ...The pandemic period resulted, among other things, in new requirements for employees, which concerned their digital competences. Finding oneself on the job market is conditioned by possessing appropriate competences. It was noted that the educational profile differentiates between women and men, acting to the detriment of women’s employment prospects, including self-employed women. Remote learning, which is characterised by reconciliation of various types of life roles, seems to facilitate the acquisition of competences 4.0. Based on the conducted research, it can be concluded that remote learning is conducive to setting up and running one’s own business regardless of gender. It is also a potential facilitator for the acquisition of competences by women who took on family responsibilities.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The scientific aim of the article is to assess the perception of risk in business by young people – potential entrepreneurs. The analysis of the literature on the subject and the ...results of research on the con sequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for the Polish economy prompted the authors to attempt to examine attitudes towards entrepreneurship, which may significantly determine the development of the SME sector in Poland in the near future. PROBLEM AND RESEARCH METHODS: Risk is an inherent part of running a business that cannot be eliminated or avoided. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost all areas of human life. The theoretical part uses a critical analysis of the literature on the subject. In the empirical part, the method of online surveys of students from a private university with an economic profile was used. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The first part describes the definition of risk, and then the research methods used in the article. The second part describes the theoretical problems related to: the general understanding of the meaning of risk, the concept of risk in business and classification of its sources, the experience of the entrepreneur’s uncertainty, the relationship between risk and threat, human attitudes towards risk in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The next part presents the results of empirical research on the perception of risk by potential entrepreneurs. The last part of the article is a summary of the analysis of the literature on the subject and own research, as well as the proposed directions of future research. RESEARCH RESULTS: The results of empirical research proved that a relatively large group of respondents, as much as 48.8%, was interested in running their own business. In addition, as many as 60.9% of respondents said that the pandemic did not affect their plans to start their own business. Importantly, over 70% of respondents assessed running their own business as risky, and yet they plan to take such a risk consciously. CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors believe that it is worth strengthening the entrepreneurial attitudes of young people. An appropriate recommendation for the creators of education programs in this area seems to be the need to emphasize the topic of risk in the economic education of students. The results of the research conducted give hope that thanks to the work of young people who have the ability to adequately respond to difficult external conditions, the SME sector has a chance to overcome the negative effects of the pandemic.
Over the last twenty years a growing number of researchers have been interested in female entrepreneurship. Every third business venture in the world is run by a woman. Brief Women business owners ...face substantial risks and uncertainty. Women tend to take entrepreneurial risks if provided with various forms of support that increase their sense of psychological safety and work comfort. The below study findings identify the most useful support methods. The subject of the survey was to determine on a scale of five the usefulness of individual forms of business support. Respondents answered, how useful is listed form of business support. Support should be tailored to the demographic characteristics of women. In depending on the stage of life and life situation women need different support. The barriers to women entrepreneurship result not as much from difficulties in obtaining funding but rather from the frustration resulting from unfulfilled social needs. Access to support from the state, social organizations and family members increases the sense of psychological safety and work comfort in women, leading to a greater propensity to take risks and start and run businesses.
The article presents selected theoretical aspects of determinants of women’s entrepreneurship and the results of the author’s studies in the field. In today’s society, female entrepreneurship is ...becoming more and more important. The aim of the article is to characterize, based on literature studies, the determinants of entrepreneurship and to determine the meaning of the opinions of potential owners of companies, especially women. The empirical study shows that students are strongly motivated to engage in enterprises. The study also enabled the identification of barriers obstructing at the students entrepreneurial attitudes. Young men and women do not differ in terms of assessing barriers to entrepreneurship. Such barriers may appear at later stages of life and will result from a diverse involvement in the upbringing of children.