Impact of Entrepreneurial Competence on Education for Sustainable Development in the 21st Century

Abstract

Entrepreneurial competence is a key element in education for fostering innovative and sustainable learning, enabling teachers and students to address 21st-century challenges. Through a validated questionnaire, this quantitative observational study examines the perceptions of 623 education professionals regarding their abilities and attitudes to develop entrepreneurial competence across key dimensions, such as organizing, leadership, communication, evaluation, team coordination, initiative, independence, and motivation. The results show that women (compared to men), professionals with managerial roles (compared to classroom teachers), and older teachers with more experience (compared to younger teachers with less experience) perceive themselves as being more competent in the skills that make up entrepreneurial competence. However, this study also identifies a widespread lack of entrepreneurial training across all demographic and professional groups, highlighting a systemic gap in teacher training for entrepreneurial education. These findings highlight the urgent need to design and implement teacher training programs that address entrepreneurship as a key competence closely linked to sustainable education. This study also recommends promoting educational policies that foster interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation among teachers to create more inclusive, transformative, and sustainable learning environments.

Keywords

• entrepreneurial competence
• entrepreneurial education
• education for sustainable development
• teacher perception
• teacher training
• teacher entrepreneurs