Mid Sweden University

Many researchers, and policy makers, across Europe emphasise entrepreneurship education as the way to a future new welfare society. Why? The aim of this article is to discuss critically entrepreneurship education, starting in contemporary European research on entrepreneurship. Earlier research defines entrepreneurship as a temporary process of innovation, only possible in capitalistic societies. In more recent research entrepreneurship is located within the entrepreneur, to a limited number of traits typical for the entrepreneurial personality despite its surroundings. Environmental or cultural factors are treated as either to promote or inhibit entrepreneurial behaviour/personality. The locus to specific traits of the individual is the logic behind the, normative and quite naïve, favouring of entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurship education, characterised by learning by doing, practice-orientation, and so on, is viewed as the way to foster the right kind of individuals; individuals with the specific traits who form a kind of inner resources that can be profitable on the global market. In this perspective, entrepreneurship education seems to be a part of the ongoing neo liberal oriented restructuring process, which is sweeping through Europe, and the writings on entrepreneurship education can be understood as a specific political/ideological activity. I

Many researchers, and policy makers, across Europe emphasise entrepreneurship education as the way to a future new welfare society. Why? The aim of this paper is to discuss critically entrepreneurship education, starting in contemporary European research on entrepreneurship. Earlier research defines entrepreneurship as a temporary process of innovation, only possible in capitalistic societies. In more recent research entrepreneurship is located within the entrepreneur, to a limited number of traits typical for the entrepreneurial personality despite its surroundings. Environmental or cultural factors are treated as either to promote or inhibit entrepreneurial behaviour/personality. The locus to specific traits of the individual is the logic behind the, normative and quite naïve, favouring of entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurship education, characterised by learning by doing, practice-orientation, and so on, is viewed as the way to foster the right kind of individuals; individuals with the specific traits who form a kind of inner resources that can be profitable on the global market. In this perspective, entrepreneurship education seems to be a part of the ongoing neo liberal oriented restructuring process, which is sweeping through Europe, and the writings on entrepreneurship education can be understood as a specific political/ideological activity.