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Session # 2560

Teaching Entrepreneurship to Engineering Students

Bethany S. Oberst, Ph.D. United Arab Emirates University (UAE)

Russel C. Jones, Ph.D., P.E. World Expertise LLC (USA)

Ion Tiginyanu, Ph.D. Technical University of Moldova (MD)

Abstract

In 2003 the Technical University of Moldova successfully piloted an ambitious entrepreneurship program for a group of its students, consisting of formal instruction and an internship with a successful Moldovan entrepreneur. This paper describes the project and the place of the program within the framework of the new International Center for Entrepreneurship in Moldova. The authors present this report with reference to the challenges of teaching entrepreneurship in a former soviet socialist republic, one which today is struggling to find its feet in the fast moving global economy.

Introduction: The Republic of Moldova

Entrepreneurship education has taken on a new role in the past several years, as the international development community has begun to realize its importance in rebuilding and reorienting countries whose economies need to be recast, revised, rebuilt or revitalized. While large scale, globally financed projects are often required to rebuild a country’s essential infrastructure, individuals must begin to believe that there is a place for them in the new economy, and that they have the capacity and skills to control a part of their destiny. Capacity building requires both individual and collective initiative if it is to succeed and result in real economic benefits. Teaching people how to be entrepreneurial within the context of their own evolving economies is a working link between large-scale international efforts and the destiny of the individual.

The Republic of Moldova is located in the Black Sea region of Eastern Europe, north of Turkey, east of Romania, sharing a border with Ukraine. Today 4.5 million Moldovans live in an area slightly larger than the US state of Maryland, 80 % of them with income below the poverty line, and most of them in rural areas. The predominant language is Romanian. The second traditionally used language is Russian.

At the end of World War II, the land that is today Moldova became the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova, but on August 27, 1991, it gained its independence from the Soviet Union. Since independence, Moldova quickly moved to reform its economy, privatizing its industries, seeking to enter into the global markets, and achieving some success. However, Moldova’s economic rebuilding was Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

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Jones, R. (2005, June), Teaching Entrepreneurship To Engineering Students Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--15363