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Guidance supporting Europe’s aspiring entrepreneurs
                                                                Policy and practice to harness future potential





                     in the late 1990s and the majority of these were primarily linked to  business
                     schools. Entrepreneurship learning is still a relatively new phenomenon in many
                     European countries, particularly in Eastern European. A report by  the  OECD
                     commenting on entrepreneurship education in  Europe,  noted  that,
                     ‘entrepreneurship education is still in its infancy’ (Potter, 2008).
                         Over the past decade, nevertheless, there has been an exponential rise in
                     the number of higher education institutions (HEIs)  offering  entrepreneurial
                     learning opportunities. As Wilson (2004) identifies, out of the  70  (approx.)
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                     entrepreneurship centres ( ) in Europe, the majority were established between
                     2000 and 2005. In Germany, for example, the  number  of  chairs  in
                     entrepreneurship rose from 1 in 1998 to 58 in 2008 (Achleitner et al., 2007;
                     European Commission, 2008a). Similarly, entrepreneurship  education  has
                     significantly grown between 2005 and 2008 in  Ireland;  some  26  HEIs  deliver
                     approximately 400 modules relating to entrepreneurship and a further 22 Centres
                     for Enterprise and/or Innovation are also involved in such activities (Cooney and
                     Murray, 2008). In more general terms, the European Commission (DG Enterprise
                     and Industry) study confirmed the position of Germany and  the  UK  as  strong
                     performers in entrepreneurship education, with the situation being much weaker
                     in countries like Czech Republic, Estonia and  Latvia  (European  Commission,
                     2008a).
                         Significant for this study is that more than half of Europe’s HE students do
                     not have access to entrepreneurship education, indicating that there is scope to
                     extend it further within HEIs across Europe. The study states that, despite the
                     growing number of initiatives on entrepreneurship in Europe, more than half of
                     Europe’s students in HEIs still do not have access to entrepreneurship education.
                     This means that approximately 11 out of the 21 million HE students in Europe do
                     not have the opportunity to engage in curricular or extra-curricular activities in this
                     field.  The  same survey suggested that in those institutions where
                     entrepreneurship education is available, approximately half of the students were
                     engaged  in  some  kind  of entrepreneurial education activity. This implies that
                     approximately  five  million  students in Europe are engaged in entrepreneurship
                     education.
                         Interviews  carried  out  for  this study with national entrepreneurship experts
                     revealed that while some HE qualifications in entrepreneurship are available in
                     most  European  countries,  the  quantity and availability of these qualifications
                     varies widely between countries. For example, Romania  only  has  two  degrees


                     15
                     ( ) For the purpose of that study entrepreneurship centres were defined as the centres offering
                        dedicated entrepreneurship research, teaching programmes or other activities (i.e. not student
                        or alumni groups, etc.).






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