Budding entrepreneurs. The role of University in spreading early entrepreneurial mindset in school kids

Purpose of the paper: In a society facing epochal challenges, all educational levels are called to propose new answers and strategies. This paper suggests the collaboration between Universities and Primary Schools as a means to spread entrepreneurial mindsets in children and to conceive useful answers to social challenges. Methodology: This research is based on an in-depth analysis of an ongoing project that engages one University and three Primary Schools, involving 175 children aged from 6 to 10 years. To evaluate the project’s efficacy, families and teachers were invited to fill out a questionnaire, and a statistical analysis has been done. Results: Findings show the fficacy of the project in terms of the improvement of social orientation, creativity, self-registered within the educational context and the social life of children, underlining a positive effect on society. Research limitations: The main drawbacks refer to two distinct sides: the study and the evaluation of the project’s efficacy. Regarding the study, focusing on a single project inhibits the possibility of generalizing results. Further studies can consider enlarging the sample, by analyzing similar projects oriented to primary schools, or propose comparative studies focused on different school levels, to deepen the knowledge of the best age to launch entrepreneurial projects. Concerning the evaluation of the project’s efficacy, as it has been done in the short term, results could be affected by the initial enthusiastic appreciation of the proposed activities. However, to assess the long-term efficacy, further studies can replicate the analysis to observe the project’s effects on the children’s life, jointly considering school and family. Academic and practical implications: Theoretically, this study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial education in primary schools by introducing the influential role of University. For practitioners, this research offers best practices to inspire other successful cases to spread an early entrepreneurial mindset. Originality of the paper: The study elucidates the relevance of the early entrepreneurial mindset as a means to face the current social challenges and suggests developing that entrepreneurial mindset by building a bridge between University and Primary schools. Specifically, through the in-depth analysis of a project, this study spotlights how Universities can support primary schools in overcoming difficulties due to resources constraint and lack of adequate entrepreneurial and managerial competencies by promoting extracurricular projects managed by researchers in Management and Entrepreneurship.