Students’ Self-assessment of Entrepreneurship Competence in The Study Process – Latvian Case Study

Competences are instruments to handle inconsistency and dynamic, fast changing personal and professional context people live in which is mainly caused by globalization. In the European Higher Education Area, competences are described as the skills, knowledge, and attitudes acquired in one situation or field that can be used in other situations, areas, or types of occupations and include communication skills, self-control skills, and problem-solving skills. One of the competences which has been highlighted due to the labour market demands is entrepreneurship competence, it involves shift from big corporations to smaller companies where intrapreneurial employees are expected. Entrepreneurial skills are recognised as the key to the development and fulfilment of the individual, active citizenship, social inclusion, and employability in the knowledge society they support individuals’ abilities to manage their strength and opportunities, take a risk, attract resources, to create added value for personal or professional growth as well as work in a team, effectively communicate, think critically, and make a decision based on a long-term strategic vision.

Both within and outside the European community, policies on education and life-long learning emphasize the importance of stimulating entrepreneurial behaviour, the report on the European Higher Education Area in 2012 (hereinafter EHEA) emphasizes that in order to meet the demands of society and the labour market, graduates need generic skills combined with modern, thematic knowledge. Entrepreneurship competence is one of the competences that a graduate need to be able to fit in and compete in the changing labour market, as well as to maintain lifelong employment.
The aim of the study is to research students’ self – assessment of entrepreneurship competence in the study process from diverse Latvian universities, disciplines, and levels of degree. The research would be a foundation for a discussion according to competence-based learning approach in the higher education field.