Needs for Entrepreneurship Education Among the Veterinary Medicine Students in Finland

Abstract

This thesis aimed to investigate the entrepreneurial intentions of veterinary medicine students and whether entrepreneurship education can influence these intentions. The researcher investigated the current status of the veterinary medicine industry in Finland, the entrepreneurial intentions of the students and the background reasons for these intentions, and the entrepreneurship education needs and preferences of the students. The theoretical framework of the thesis consisted of the veterinary medicine industry in Finland, entrepreneurial intentions based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, entrepreneurship education and its applications in STEM fields and veterinary medicine, and entrepreneurship education’s relativity on entrepreneurial intentions. The data collection method was qualitative interviews. The sample for this research was selected from veterinary medicine students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with these students.The key finding of this research was that students’ entrepreneurial intentions are not settled. The interviewees saw the corporatization within the industry as discouraging for an entrepreneurial career, and they thought that they lacked the self-efficacy to achieve a successful entrepreneurship journey in Finland. Therefore, the students thought that entrepreneurship education should either be included in veterinary medicine studies or elective studies for those seeking an entrepreneurship career. The results indicated that students needed both sensibilizations for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education to increase their awareness and motivation towards entrepreneurship and competencies to become an entrepreneur.