Entrepreneurial education through junior enterprises

Abstract

In the context of the entrepreneurial university, the Junior Enterprise movement emerged as a learning aid to increase entrepreneurship and improve the employment prospects of university students from all areas of knowledge. In Spain, however, it has only had limited success with low creation and duration rates. What are the reasons for this lack of consolidation? What creation and consolidation problems does a Junior Enterprise encounter?
By means of a general study of the Junior Enterprise movement, our research group analysed the case of a Junior Enterprise attached to the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM). The obtained results suggest that despite the unique characteristics of this type of firm, the problems are similar to those facing a small company created by a team of entrepreneurs in terms of its internal coordination, its ability to retain skilled personnel, or the difficult combination of technical and management skills that its members should have. It would be possible, however, to overcome the difficulties facing our students if the University were to play a more active role and act as a true enterprise incubator by providing specific training, for example.