Entrepreneurial Competence in Higher Education Faculty: Crafting and Validating a Survey Instrument
Keywords:
Entrepreneurial competencies, Faculty members, Higher Education InstitutionsAbstract
The entrepreneurial competencies of Higher Education faculty members are significantly important to fostering innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurial thinking within academic institutions. This study aimed to develop and validate a survey questionnaire designed to assess the entrepreneurial competencies of faculty members at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), focusing on fostering creativity and innovation in the teaching-learning process. Guided by the Entre Comp framework, the survey explores competencies across three major dimensions—Ideas and Opportunities, Resources, and Into Action—encompassing 15 sub-competencies. A five-point Likert scale was employed to measure these competencies among 385 faculty members from public sector institutions in Rawalpindi/Islamabad. The content validity of the survey was ensured through consultation with 15 specialists across various disciplines and the use of the Item-level Content Validity Index (I-CVI) for systematic refinement. Construct validity was established through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), with results indicating a strong factorial structure and model fit (KMO = 0.866; CMIN/DF = 1.520; CFI = 0.912; RMSEA = 0.037). The validated tool offers a comprehensive measure of entrepreneurial competencies, enabling targeted professional development for HEI faculty. While the study provides a robust foundation, future research should aim to generalize findings across diverse educational contexts and explore the longitudinal development of these competencies. This study significantly contributes to entrepreneurship education by providing a reliable tool for enhancing the entrepreneurial capacity of educators.
References
Barba-Sáncheza, V.; Atienza-Sahuquillo, C. (2018). Entrepreneurial intention among engineering students: The role of entrepreneurship education. Eur. Res. Manag. Bus. Econ. 24, 53–61
Bacigalupo, M., Kampylis, P., Punie, Y., & Van den Brande, G. (2016). EntreComp: The Entrepreneur-ship Competence Framework. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union
Browne, M. W., Cudeck R., Tateneni K., & Mels G. (2010). CEFA: Comprehensive exploratory factor analysis. Retrieved from http://faculty.psy.ohio-state.edu/browne/download.htm
Byrne, B. M. (2001). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Cooper, D.R. & Schindler, P.S. (2006) Business Research Methods. 9th Edition, McGraw-Hill, USA.
Gonzalez-Lopez, M.J., Perez-Lopez, M.C. & Rodríguez-Ariza, L. (2018), “Clearing the hurdles in the entrepreneurial race: the role of resilience in entrepreneurship education”, The Academy of Management Learning and Education, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 457-483, doi: 10.5465/amle.2016.0377.
Hair, F. J., Black, W., Babin., J. B. & Anderson, E. R. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis: A Global Perspective. Edition: Seventh Edition Publisher: Pearson ISBN: 0135153093
Hu, L. & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6 (1), 1-55
Kyndt, E. & Baert, H. (2015), “Entrepreneurial competencies: assessment and predictive value for entrepreneurship”, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 90, pp. 13-25.
Khalil, A. M., Khalil, K. M., & Khalil, R. (2021). Passive but defiant: the role of innovative capabilities in knowledge management and corporate entrepreneurship. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies
Kaiser H. F. (1974). An index of factorial simplicity. Psychometrika, 39, 31-36.
Kline, B.R. (2015). Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, Fourth Edition
Lee, Y., Kreiser, P.M. and Wrede, A.H. (2018), “University-based education and the formation of entrepreneurial capabilities”, Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, Vol. 1 No. 4, pp. 304-329.
Morris, H. M., Webb, W. J. & Singhal, F.J. (2013). A Competency-Based Perspective on Entrepreneurship Education: Conceptual and Empirical Insights. Journal of Small Business Management 2013 51(3), pp. 352–369
Moreno, G.A.,Munoz, L.L., &Morote, P. R. (2019). The Role of Higher Education in Development of Entrepreneurial Competencies: Some Insights from Castilla-La Mancha University in Spain. Adm. Sci. 2019, 9, 16; doi:10.3390/admsci9010016 www.mdpi.com/journal/admsci
O'Connor, A. (2013). A conceptual framework for entrepreneurship education policy: Meeting government and economic purposes. Journal of Business Venturing, 4(28), 546-563
Obschonka, M. K. H., Lonka, K., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2016). Entrepreneurship as a twenty-first century skill:entrepreneurial alertness and intention in the transition to adult hood. Springer Science+Business Media New York. DOI 10.1007/s11187-016-9798-6
Peterman, E.N., & Kennedy, J. (2003). Enterprise Education: Influencing Students’ Perceptions of Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Sage Journal
Porter AL,. Roessner, J. D, Oliver, S., & Johnson, D. (2006). A systems model of innovation processes in university STEM education. J Eng Educ 95, 13-24
Polit, D. F, Beck, C.T, & Owen, S.V (2007). Is the CVI an acceptable indicator of content validity? Appraisal and recommendations. Research in Nursing & Health. 30(4):459–67. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.2019
Peltonen K (2015) How can teachers’ entrepreneurial competences be developed? A collaborative learning perspective. Education + Training 57(5): 492–511.
Stuetzer, M., Audretsch, D., & Potter, J. (2018). Entrepreneurship culture, knowledge spillovers and the growth of regions. Economics, Business Regional Studies. DOI:10.1080/00343404.2017.1294251
Souitarisa, V., Zerbinatib, S. & Laham, A. A. (2007). Do entrepreneurship programmes raise entrepreneurial intention of science and engineering students? The effect of learning, inspiration and resources. Journal of Business Venturing 22 (2007) 566 –59
Taber, S. K. (2017). The Use of Cronbach’s Alpha When Developing and Reporting Research Instruments in Science Education. Volume 48, pages 1273–1296, (2018)
World Bank Report (2021). Entrepreneurship, innovation and growth (English)https:// documents.worldbank. org/en /publication/documents-reports/ document detail/ 602941468779441306/entrepreneurship-innovation-and-growth
Yusoff, M. S. B. (2019). ABC of content validation and content validity index calculation. Education in Medicine Journal. 2019;11(2):49–54. https://doi.org/10.21315/eimj2019.11.2.6.
ZHANG, S. L., & ZHENG, X. Q. (2017). Separation and Integration of Professional Education, Innovation Education and Entrepreneurship Education——Based on the Perspective of “Triple Helix” Theory. Heilongjiang Researches on Higher Education, 06.
