German Universities as Business Incubators : The Influence of Entrepreneurship Education on Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions

Universities increasingly offer entrepreneurship education, in order to sensitize and qualify students for entrepreneurship as a career option and, ultimately, to raise the number of academic start-ups. However, to date we have relatively little evidence on the effectiveness of such offers. Drawing on data from 2.621 students at 63 university departments in Germany, we examine the influence of university entrepreneurship education on students’ entrepreneurial intentions, after controlling for individual influences. Hierarchical linear regressions reveal that only active modes of entrepreneurship education are effective and that this effect is limited to men. Similarly, individual influences differ for women and men