Educating engineers: A postgraduate entrepreneurship and innovation perspective

The aim of this paper is to clarify the educational methods that effectively educate and develop engineers in entrepreneurship in specific postgraduate programs. The purpose is to provide a framework by which entrepreneurship educators may develop and implement programs that are unique to engineers and postgraduate entrepreneurship education programs. The paper integrates two prominent frameworks and a strand of recent literature on entrepreneurship education to develop a conceptual model for engineers in a postgraduate entrepreneurship education setting. Findings include unique theoretical and applied initiatives in all dimensions of postgraduate entrepreneurship education programs, including the addition of a new dimension: community and outreach. The result is a conceptual framework, highlighting components and initiatives within the context of ontology, learning, audience, objectives, outcomes, assessment, content, pedagogy, community and outreach. The predominant theoretical implication is the need to consider entrepreneurship education in a postgraduate context targeted at engineers. We add to the body of knowledge by identifying education insights unique to this context. Limitations include applicability to the contextual scenario provided. The main practical implications concern program developers, educators, teachers and trainers in postgraduate entrepreneurship education for engineers. The paper sheds new light on the design and implementation of such programs. A conceptual framework is proposed for postgraduate entrepreneurship and engineering education, adding to the body of knowledge in scant literature in this domain. Dimensions of entrepreneurship education programs are demystified within the context provided. © 2014 TEMPUS Publications.