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Characteristics and Attitude of Entrepreneurs: Development of

Entrepreneurship Education in Graduation Students in a Brazilian University

Chapter · January 2019

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-91334-6_157

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 Characteristics and Attitude Entrepreneurs:
Development of Entrepreneurship
Education in Graduation Students
in a Brazilian University

Italo F. Minello1, Cristiane Krüger1(&) , Denise A. Johann1 ,

and Rafaela E. Bürger2
1
Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil
cris.kruger@hotmail.com
2
Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil

Abstract. This article aims to present the Project Education and Entrepre-
neurial Attitude of a Brazilian University, the focus of the project is to stimulate
education and entrepreneurial attitude, initially, of the students of the Federal
University of Santa Maria (UFSM), aiming to develop a foundation for the
creation of a University Entrepreneur (UE). The first stage of the research, called
informal research, identified teachers who, in the students’ opinion, develop
singular activities in the classroom. For the quantitative approach two validated
questionnaires were applied. The results show actions carried out through the
project. The project has already included more than 8 mil students, distributed in
116 UFSM undergraduate courses. To date, 19 Entrepreneurial Attitude courses
have been created in courses not geared to the business world.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial education
Characteristics

Attitude and entrepreneurial intent
Undergraduate students

1 Introduction

In a society characterized by constant transformations there is an increasing depen-

dence on the capacity of intellectual assets to generate ideas that aim at economic and
social development [1]. Even in other times, rescuing Schumpeter [2], entrepreneurs
were already playing a relevant role in these fronts, since they were characterized as
possessing skills capable of driving such a development process.
These individuals, in McClelland’s [3] view, have a motivational structure differ-
entiated by the marked presence of the need for achievement, which encourages them
to pursue goals that involve challenging yet calculated-risk activities. Given the rele-
vance of entrepreneurs to society and, since attributes of entrepreneurial behavior can
be improved through learning processes [4, 5], universities are identified as main
influencers for the development of entrepreneurial individuals.
In this sense, teaching in undergraduate courses should provide knowledge that
broadens the basic higher education. They must also be in tune with the demands of
society, as well as with the generation of knowledge in the area of entrepreneurship,
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019
J. Machado et al. (Eds.): HELIX 2018, LNEE 505, pp. 1138–1145, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91334-6_157
 Characteristics and Attitude Entrepreneurs 1139

through scientific research. Because of this, the importance of universities is empha-

sized. Nothing more conducive than teaching and research institutions to act on this
front as fomenters of the entrepreneurial attitude in the students, which increases the
economic and social development, supported by the constitutional principle that aims
to guarantee the quality of teaching, in its different levels and modalities, established by
Art. 206 of the Federal Constitution [6], regulated by the National Education Guide-
lines and Bases Law [7]. In order to contribute to the commitment of those involved in
such actions and projects, to stimulate and develop entrepreneurship within the uni-
versity [8].
The university emerges as a propeller of the scientific development of knowledge
and stimulating its application in an experiential way, through its teaching, research and
extension triad, as well as the fourth element for the transformation and/or creation of an
entrepreneurial university, which is the quest for economic and social development [9].
From the foregoing, it can be seen that the actions promoting entrepreneurship,
within the universities, involve intense participation of the agents that interact in the
process, contributing to the development of the entrepreneurial mindset at all levels of
teaching, research and extension. In this way, [9] states that universities are currently
undergoing a “second revolution”, in which social and economic development is
incorporated as part of the university’s mission. Thus, the university integrating eco-
nomic and social development as an additional function has been called “Entrepre-
neurial University” [10]. For [11] universities should create internal structures to
promote and coordinate such actions, establishing strategies to articulate teaching,
research and extension with society.
The need for the university to play its role and to evolve in this field is strongly
emphasized. Thus, this article presents the reality of entrepreneurship in Brazilian
higher education institutions, addressing the UFSM context. For this, a project was
developed to stimulate entrepreneurial attitudes in UFSM undergraduate students
through activities and integrated actions among students, teachers and managers of the
institution, aiming to develop a foundation for the creation of an Entrepreneurial
University (UE). Faced with a context in which society yearns for professionals
increasingly able to modify the reality in which they find themselves, the objective of
this article is to present the Education and Entrepreneurial Attitude Project.

2 Entrepreneurial Education

Entrepreneurs are not born but developed, it becomes necessary to include in the
curricula the teaching of entrepreneurship. Thus, according to [5, 12], entrepreneurial
characteristics can be improved through entrepreneurial learning processes. In this
process of learning, the importance of entrepreneurial education in the curricula of
several courses of Higher Education Institutions [13] is observed, which, should play a
role of promoter, disseminating an entrepreneurial culture at all levels. Thus, entre-
preneurial education can allow the student to see and evaluate a given situation, taking
a proactive position in front of it, enabling him to elaborate and plan ways and
strategies to interact with what he came to realize.
1140 I. F. Minello et al.

The [14] presents a framework for entrepreneurship education in higher education

divided into three objectives: (a) developing entrepreneurship among students,
(b) training students to start a business and manage it, (c) develop entrepreneurial skills
necessary to identify and exploit business opportunities. This relationship is demon-
strated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Objectives of Teaching Entrepreneurship (Source: European Commission Enterprise and

Industry Directorate-General 2007).

3 Entrepreneurship

3.1 Entrepreneurial Behavioral Characteristics

The entrepreneurial individual manifests a series of characteristics that identifies him,
distinguishing him according to the skill set closest to his form, [15] affirms that the
entrepreneurial characteristics make with which the entrepreneur is a dynamic social
actor in behavioral issues. Given this, entrepreneurial characteristics are traits of per-
sonality that distinguish the detaining people and make them more susceptible to
adopting behavior and entrepreneurial attitudes.
For [3], whose premise is the confrontation of challenges and the perception of
opportunities of individuals, classified the society into two groups, those that are
predisposed to undertake a minority of the population, and those who would not be
willing to take such risks, which represent the majority of the population. [5] point out
that this profile is marked by entrepreneurial actions, and such actions reflect the
entrepreneurial behavior [3] segmented the entrepreneurial characteristics into three
sets of actions: achievement, planning and power. These sets point to a series of
competencies, characterized by the entrepreneurial behavior faced with the challenges
experienced in their daily lives. Such sets and characteristics are identified in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Entrepreneurial Behavioral Characteristics. Source: elaborated based on McClelland [16].

 Characteristics and Attitude Entrepreneurs 1141

These characteristics can help individuals to face the challenges of undertaking [3]
as well as the lack of them, can make the formation of a business unfeasible. In view of
the above, by identifying the entrepreneurial characteristics, the students are awakened
to actions that lead to entrepreneurial behaviors and attitudes. This is corroborated by
[17] when they affirm that when developing methodologies that help entrepreneurs in
the identification of entrepreneurial characteristics, initial conditions are created for
interventions that promote the development of the entrepreneurial potential. This
encourages the creation of new businesses, generating employment, income and pro-
moting economic and social development.
Therefore, the challenge and desire of an entrepreneur is to transform entrepre-
neurial characteristics into attitudes, so that this happens, needs to awaken to the
importance of their role, develop an entrepreneurial mindset, and acquire knowledge
that makes them capable of carrying out their activities. Entrepreneurial characteristics
can be developed, and learning proves to be of great importance in achieving this
process. The teaching of entrepreneurship becomes, at the same time, the role and goal
of the entrepreneurial university.

3.2 Entrepreneurial Attitude

The entrepreneurial attitude explained through Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior
[18], which defines this as an evaluation of an object of stimulus, influenced by beliefs.
According to [18] people’s attitudes spontaneously and consistently follow beliefs
accessible in memory and then guide the corresponding behavior.
Entrepreneurial attitude, according to [19], is defined as the “predisposition learned,
or not, to act in an innovative, autonomous, planned and creative way, establishing
social networks”. The entrepreneur is anchored in the ability of individuals to create
their own businesses, taking risks, capitalizing on results, and taking advantage of the
opportunities that arise.
The Entrepreneurial Action Measurement Instrument (IMAE) [19], was based on
four characteristics: Planning, Innovation, Realization and Power. With the exception
of the “Innovation” feature, the others were based on McClelland’s Entrepreneurial
Behavioral Characteristics [16], as explained above. In this perspective, the IMAE
grouped the entrepreneurial behavioral characteristics in two dimensions: Prospecting
and Innovation, and Management and Persistence, as can be seen in Table 1.

Table 1. Behavioral characteristics and dimensions.

Behavioral Characteristics Dimensions
Setting goals; Information search, Planning, monitoring Planning Prospecting and
Creativity; Innovation Innovation Innovation
Search for opportunities, Initiative, Persistence, Acceptance Realization Management and
of risks; Commitment Persistence
Persuasion; Establishment of contact networks; Leadership, Power
Independence; Self confidence
1142 I. F. Minello et al.

4 Methodology

The methodology presented refers to the Entrepreneurship Education and Attitude

Project. The project presents a qualitative and quantitative approach, of the descriptive
and exploratory type, based on theoretical-empirical research. The population of this
research is made up of 28.966 students, distributed in 267 UFSM undergraduate
courses, 1.942 professors, 2.764 administrative and education technicians.
Considering a sample error of 1%, the minimum sample is 6.477 students. Figure 3
shows the minimum samples, proportionally distributed among the UFSM teaching
units.

Fig. 3. Minimum population samples per UFSM teaching unit.

From Fig. 3, it can be observed that the university in question is divided into 14
(fourteen) centers, distributed evenly between the cities of Santa Maria, Silveira
Martins, Frederico Westphalen and Palmeira das Missões and Cachoeira do Sul,
located in southern of Brazil.
The first step in data collection is to conduct an informal interview between
researchers and students of each UFSM undergraduate course. In the informal survey,
information about students’ perceptions about the activities carried out by teachers,
suggestions and expectations about entrepreneurial activities is presented. This infor-
mation is analyzed qualitatively and are compared with the results of the instruments
applied in the formal research. The demands pointed out in the informal survey
together with the results of the formal research, form the basis for the creation of the
Entrepreneurial Attitude disciplines. In the formal collection, validated instruments are
applied [16, 19]. Qualitative data are analyzed by means of content analysis and
statistical tests are performed for the quantitative data.
 Characteristics and Attitude Entrepreneurs 1143

5 Analysis and Discussion of Results

To date, a series of activities have been carried out in order to develop the proposed
actions. From this perspective, the precursor action of the process was the presentation
of the project to the teaching community of each research unit. At this stage, meetings
were held to demonstrate the importance of developing students’ entrepreneurial atti-
tude, as well as a proposal to achieve this goal.
In addition, informal and formal data were considered among the undergraduate
students. To date, 4.681 students were contemplated in the informal phase and 4.126
students were contemplated in the formal stage. After analyzing the informal research,
the professors appointed as entrepreneurs in their respective teaching centers, were
gathered in order to discuss the creation of the college subjects of Entrepreneurial
Attitude and its didactic-pedagogic menus.
In the sequence, entrepreneurship disciplines were created. These disciplines were
structured based on three perspectives: (i) the behavioral needs evidenced in the students
from the data analysis of the formal collection, composed by the instruments [16, 19];
(ii) the demands perceived by the students about the activities carried out in the course of
their academic life; and (iii) the future professional practices of the respective course.
In this sense, the discipline aims to stimulate, in a practical way, the future pro-
fessionals to undertake in any environment that they choose. In addition, differing from
the conventional model of teaching, disciplines are taught by at least two teachers from
different areas. The results show actions carried out through the project. The project has
already included more than 8 mil students, distributed in 116 UFSM undergraduate
courses. To date, 19 Entrepreneurial Attitude courses have been created in courses not
geared to the business world.
In the discipline the student should develop an innovative project, based on
opportunities and gaps perceived by the students in their professional environment and
that could bring some benefit to the educational institution. At the end of the school
year, a meeting was held with the teachers participating in the disciplines and the
project, in order to exchange experiences and reports from the disciplines taught.
In summary, action was taken to encourage entrepreneurship, among them the use
in the classroom as didactic-pedagogical tools, the study blog, the creation of educa-
tional videos made by the students themselves for the community, the formation of
groups of research, exchange experiences with successful entrepreneurs, mini courses
adapted to the needs of each course/center, junior company, poker tournament, busi-
ness plan and integration events between the community, university and companies.
These actions break the traditional classroom, stimulating the development of
entrepreneurial characteristics, as [17], considering entrepreneurship education as a
driving force for creative thinking, for the generation of innovations and for the growth
of a sense of self-esteem and responsibility, which is seen as still more necessary in
higher education institutions.
1144 I. F. Minello et al.

6 Final Considerations

The objective of this article was contemplated, the education project and entrepre-
neurial attitude was presented. It was possible to verify a series of actions with the
objective of promoting and stimulating the education and entrepreneurial attitude.
Among these actions can mention: Disciplines of entrepreneurial attitude, teaching
capacities, entrepreneurial actions of undergraduate students and exchange of ideas
among the teachers.
As to the contribution of this study, it should be pointed out that the results already
obtained serve as the basis for a longitudinal study, goal of the Entrepreneurial Attitude
Project, which allows monitoring the evolution of the students who study the subjects
during the semesters, types of courses of the research institution and comparisons with
others. For further studies it is suggested the replication of the present research in
institutions of higher education and institutions of basic education in other cultures.

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