Could higher education programmes, culture and structure stifle the entrepreneurial intentions of students?

Purpose – This paper aims to explore and analyse the impact of higher education programmes, structures and culture on students' entrepreneurship intentions and attitudes. It investigates the relationships between education and entrepreneurship using a case study research approach. Design/methodology/approach – During the academic year 2008‐2009, a questionnaire survey was distributed to a sample of 603 first‐year and final‐year students studying business and management studies at two public HEIs in Greece. Furthermore a series of in‐depth and semi‐structured interviews was conducted with students in order to capture the integral aspects of the phenomena under investigation (i.e. a more comprehensive understanding of the students' adverse intentions towards entrepreneurship), and with faculty members in order to enter their perspective on entrepreneurship and education, as well as unveil the structure (rules and regulations) and the culture (shared beliefs and attitudes) of HEIs. Findings – The findings suggest that students' entrepreneurial intentions and aspirations deteriorate during their four‐year studies in universities, and that faculty members lack the mentality towards entrepreneurship education. Furthermore, the research data reveal that the structure and regulations of universities in Greece prohibit the commercialisation of knowledge, technology transfers, spin‐off enterprises and industry‐university collaborations. Originality/value – Although the benefits of entrepreneurship education have been much extolled by researchers and policy makers in the advanced economies of the world, the impact that non‐entrepreneurial higher education programmes and cultures have on students' entrepreneurial intentions has never been tested before in the less developed regions of Europe. This study addresses this issue.