At the beginning of our “Entrepreneurial Spirit” course, we ask students if they are here to start their own business or if they plan to fill a C-level position in an existing company. One middle-aged student in the front row, graduated from two other majors, expressed the opinion at the beginning that he would definitely pursue a corporate career, as he thought little of self-employment and did not have enough courage to commit to it. About 8 weeks after this statement, at the end of the course, the student, together with his wife, started his own project with full conviction and motivation. The reason was that he was so inspired by the course "Entrepreneurial Spirit" that he had the courage to start his own company called "SmartPD". Furthermore, he mentioned that his newly developed entrepreneurial mindset is also useful for other areas of life as well. In 2021, SmartPD was nominated in the category: Ingenious Research and Development for one of the most prestigious idea and founder awards in Austria.

The feedback from the students on the course was confirmation for us that we have designed the lessons correctly and prepared them didactically well. The combination of theory and practice, according to the students, is terrific and motivates even critics of self-employment to drive themselves and take the first step towards forming their own company.

First, I was impressed by myself because I intuitively knew when it was time to step into the background and clear the stage for other experts (for example lectures and practitioners of sustainability and digitalization) and for the students. Due to the high personal development of the students I very often switched to the role of facilitator and promoted an intensive exchange of experiences among the students. I always tried to give our students sufficient room for experience/self-expression. I was surprised that the handing over of responsibility to our students led to their high activation and involvement, which also relieved me as a teacher.

Secondly, I was overwhelmed by the impact of the students’ exchanges about very personal topics such as past failures, fears and challenges (and how they identified new ways to deal with it). What surprised me was the feedback that the students’ newly-developed entrepreneurial mindset can as well be transferred to other areas of life and used as a support mechanism (e.g. finding solutions in difficult life situations).

I also have to mention that I was a bit surprised about the impact of discussion rounds. I have always known how important it is to reveal different perspectives, especially in the interdisciplinary field of entrepreneurship. But I was impressed that the experiences shared were so rich and resonant, and again can be felt in other areas of life.

Last but not least is the positive impact of gamification. Although playing games can be seen by some as childish, a childlike curiosity about experimentation is essential for creative up-and-coming entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs

As we have recognized that entrepreneurial learning success can be evaluated by a specific entrepreneurial mindset rather than by the number of startups, we want to focus on entrepreneurial mindset development. That not only includes entrepreneurship but also intrapreneurship issues in research and education. Therefore the Institute of Entrepreneurship & Innovation will forge closer links with the Institute for Personal Skills Development. Furthermore, entrepreneurial courses should be offered also in other study programs, like in technology and health programs.

The majority of the young Generation Z prefer employment to starting their own business. We therefore feel it important to also pass on the entrepreneurial mindset (which includes entrepreneurial thinking, acting and feeling) to employees. Additionally, contemporary topics as well as teaching formats need to be continuously evaluated and developed.

In addition, an interdisciplinary research project with the Institute for Entrepreneurship at the Johannes Keppler University Linz is planned, in which we (Sahra Schnekker and Mario Kwas) will examine how entrepreneurial education impacts the intrapreneurial mindset. And of course, we will still maintain the strong in-house cooperation within the study programs, the Institute and the Startup Center.