The Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on the Development of Students' Entrepreneurial Intentions and Competencies

ABSTRACT The objective of this article is to analyse the impact of entrepreneurship education on the development of entrepreneurial intentions and competencies among students in China. The study involved 274 students enrolled in entrepreneurship programs in the fields of ‘Economics’ and ‘Management’ at three universities in China. Statistical testing methods, including the t ‐test and discriminant analysis, were employed for the analysis. The results demonstrated that entrepreneurship education has a positive influence on the development of the entrepreneurial environment, self‐awareness, and competencies of students, thereby confirming the importance of adapting educational programs and supporting the proposed hypotheses. The findings revealed that the average score for the entrepreneurial environment was 5.74, whereas the score for the role of education in developing self‐awareness was 5.32, with numerous statistically significant differences ( p ‐value < 0.05) across various indicators. Furthermore, students' self‐assessment of their entrepreneurial competencies averaged 5.13, indicating a high level of confidence in their skills. Thus, the positive impact of entrepreneurship education on the development of change management competencies was identified. The effectiveness of the educational program in developing students' skills necessary for entrepreneurship was confirmed. Future research is planned to focus on the long‐term impact of entrepreneurship education, including tracking graduates' career trajectories and assessing how individual differences among students affect their business success, with results differentiated by gender and prior experience. Furthermore, it may be useful to study the influence of external factors, such as government support and the availability of startup infrastructure, on students' entrepreneurial intentions.