The EICAA Pilot Round implementation within MCI

MCI is responsible for establishing the EICAA Competence Development Kit (CDK). The CDK foresees the establishment of a catalogue of teaching and training materials of single modules that can be used as micro-credentials for extra-curricular activities and content for higher education institutions and for business employees training (in-house or external). The aim of the CDK is to foster entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial skill development of students and employees by providing suitable teaching and training materials to be used and implemented in existing or new courses. The flexible and individual application and combination of modules enables teachers and business trainers to specifically address the students’ and employees’ needs in the field of entrepreneurship skills development and to strengthen their entrepreneurial thinking and acting. The CDK will be embedded in the EICAA Digital Platform where it can be used stand alone or combined with the Competence Monitor.

Implementation Of The Pilot Round

When planning the pilot round at MCI, we reached out to colleagues personally asking for permission to conduct the EICAA Pilot Round during their lessons. In addition, Anita Zehrer and Gundula Glowka presented EICAA as well as the EICAA CDK and the EICAA Pilot Round as part of their courses and asked their students to fill out the self-assessment.

The EICAA Pilot Round at MCI among its students took place between March 21, 2023 and May 4, 2023. The target group were Bachelor as well as Master students. At MCI, 96 students (52 Bachelor students and 44 Master students) completed the EICAA Pilot Round, coming from Austria, Germany, and Italy.

The total results of the self-assessments of the participants shows that mainly the competences “Design validation”, “Valuing ideas”, “Vision”, “Enterprise literacy”, “Coping with uncertainty, ambiguity and risk”, and “Mobilizing (financial) resources” are the competences in which participants lack knowledge and need most support.

In contrast, the participants indicate in their self-assessment that the competences “Taking the initiative”, “Learning through experience”, “Motivation and perseverance”, “Working with others”, and “Self-awareness and self-efficacy” are those competencies where they feel their strengths.

The aim of the Competence Development Kit is to foster entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial skill development of students and employees by providing suitable teaching and training materials to be used and implemented in existing or new courses.

The EICAA Pilot Round at MCI showed that the participants are interested in entrepreneurship education and are curious about which competence areas they are good at.

Regarding the competence areas, “Into Action” is the one in which the participants see their strengths, followed by “Ideas and Opportunities” and “Resources”.

After completing the EICAA Pilot Round among students, we are about to start the EICAA Pilot Round among employees. We will contact companies in our network and ask them to forward the questionnaire to their employees. In a first step, we will contact them via email and ask for their consent. Secondly, we would also meet with the responsible people or call them. Eventually, a company visit might also be arranged.

EICAA Competence Monitor has for example also been used as didactical tool by explicitly integrating it into teaching and enabling students themselves to work with it by reflecting on their entrepreneurial skills and linking them to real-world contexts.”

EXPERIENCES, FINDINGS AND OUTCOMES

The findings of the EICAA Pilot Round at MCI were largely as expected. They showed that the participants are interested in entrepreneurship education and are curious about which competence areas they are good at.

Reflecting the EICAA Pilot Round at MCI, Anita Zehrer, Head Research & Development Unit Management & Society, Head Family Business Center states: “The EICAA Competence Monitor has for example also been used as didactical tool by explicitly integrating it into teaching and enabling students themselves to work with it by reflecting on their entrepreneurial skills and linking them to real-world contexts. This goes beyond the intended purpose of the EICAA Competence Monitor, which has been designed for educators in the first place and shows the feasibility, applicability and usability of this instrument across different contexts and for different purposes.”

Gundula Glowka, Lecturer at the Department Management, Communication & IT, emphasizes about her experiences after conducting the pilot round at the MCI: “Entrepreneurial competences play a vital role in preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the business world. After using the EICAA Competence Monitor, competences and topics emerged later in class. This shows that using the self-assessment tool indirectly contributed to raising awareness of relevant competences.”

Since there are always various surveys and questionnaires in which the students should take part, it was necessary to specifically point out the relevance of the EICAA Pilot Round and to send reminders.

Using The Results

The EICAA Pilot Round showed that the EICAA Competence Monitor is a useful tool not only for educators monitoring their students’ entrepreneurial skills, but also for students themselves to assess and reflect on their skills. The EICAA Competence Monitor can be easily integrated in existing or new courses.

The EICAA Pilot Round revealed that the EICAA Competence Monitor not only helps students to identify which competences they are good at and in which they lack experience, but also supports educators and trainers with suitable teaching and learning interventions, that can be easily implemented in existing or new courses.

The EICAA Pilot Round also showed that the EICAA Competence Monitor is a useful tool not only for educators monitoring their students’ entrepreneurial skills, but also for students themselves to assess and reflect on their skills