Introduction: The impact of entrepreneurship training on the levels of compulsory education has been weak until now. Complementarily to the demand of greater effectiveness in entrepreneurship education, it is a priority to make scientifically verified instruments available to provide useful information about the achievement of the competences needed for the development of entrepreneurial capacities. Our research is focused on the design and assessment of entrepreneurship competency, tackling one the dimension concerning business skills or competences. Specifically, the aim of the study consists in the development, validation and reliability of an instrument, intended for secondary education, created with the purpose of detecting the strictly indispensable entrepreneurial competencies in the basic training of the business profile, the Basic Scale of Entrepreneurial Competencies (BSEC). Methods: The research was developed in three phases via qualitative and quantitative methods. In the development phase the items were generated and the dimensions and components of entrepreneurship competency were identified. Also, the content and face validity were carried out, where experts (n = 48) and students (n = 24) took part. In the recruitment phase a multi-stage sampling stratified by conglomerates was performed, obtaining a sample of 1440 students, aged between 11 and 17 years old (M = 14.6, SD = 1.597) and a composition by sex of 679 girls and 761 boys. Construct validity was evaluated in the assessment stage through factor analysis (EFA and CFA). Later, the reliability was studied via the Cronbach´s α coefficient and the stability and reproducibility over time with the test-restest technique. Finally, the convergent and divergent validity were evaluated through the average variance extracted (AVE), the composite reliability (CR) and the square root of the AVE. Results: 44 items were developed in the phase of generating items. After carrying out the validity of the content, there were 14 items with acceptable values in the Content Validity Ratio (CVR.89) and in the Content Validity Index (CVI.92). During the validation of the scale, the results of the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a first-order trifactorial structure and a second-order factor. The scale’s stability was appropriate, having an ICC = .92. The convergent validity results with Composite Reliability (CR) scores > 0.7 and the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) >. 0.50, along with the square root values of the AVE greater than the correlations between the other constructs show us important evidence of the validity of the Scale. The structure of the BSEC is made up of 13 items and three domains: Operations and Marketing Competencies (OMC), Competencies in Socio-Business and Legal Organization (CSBLO) and Economic-Financial Competencies (EFC). Conclusions: The results of the research reflect its validity and reliability. This Scale has an evident usefulness for the training and assessment of entrepreneurship competence. Specifically, it is efficient for the valuation of entrepreneurial competencies in adolescent students in the stage prior to their incorporation into the work environment or their integration into the itineraries leading to higher education levels.

In the current international context, entrepreneurship education claims a privileged place within educational systems, given that it contributes decisively to innovation and to the set of competences demanded in the new knowledge-based economy. The state of the research in this line highlights the existing formative deficiencies at these basic education levels, despite the fact that numerous initiatives of fostering business culture have already been developed. Among the currently existing gaps, conspicuous by its absence is the lack of instruments capable of efficiently measure the basic business knowledge, needed to progressively constitute a consistent business identity stands out. In this sense, we set ourselves the construction and validation of a basic business knowledge scale for the Secondary Education stage. This study was implemented in two phases. In the first phase, the dimensions and components of the Basic Business Knowledge Scale were identified via a systematic review of the literature following the PRISMA-P protocol and a qualitative study. In the second phase, the scale was developed and validated. On the one hand, a content validation was conducted through interviews of experts and students, studying the content validity (the Content Validity Ratio and the Content Validity Index) and the face validity (Think-aloud protocols). On the other hand, the construct validity was analyzed through an Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA) and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Then, the reliability was calculated with the Cronbach Alpha and the test stability with a test-retest. The convergent validity has been validated by the average variance extracted (AVE) and the discriminant validity between constructs was established through the AVE estimated for each construct with the squared interconstruct correlations associated with that factor. The sample was made up of 1440 students (679 girls and 761 boys) from age 11 to 17 (M = 14.6, SD = 1.597). The EFA and the CFA showed evidence of a first-order three-factor structure (Knowledge in Business Management (KBM), Legal Knowledge (LK) and Strategic Knowledge (SK)), and a second-order factor, Basic Business Knowledge. In the construct validity two items were eliminated due to their factor loadings being lower than .40. The results of the fit indices contributed acceptable values regarding the proposed model. The three subscales and the scale as a whole revealed a satisfactory internal consistency with Cronbach alphas over .75. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was above .90, showing an appropriate stability. The convergent validity offers values over .80 in the composite reliability (CR) and the average variance extracted (AVE) is greater than .50. Moreover, in the divergent validity, the values of the square root of the AVE are greater than the correlations with the other constructs. Finally, the Basic Business Knowledge Scale has 18 items. We find evidence concerning the validity and reliability of the Basic Business Knowledge Scale, tested with Spanish Secondary Education students within the compulsory stage of teaching. We believe that this Scale can contribute to a better understanding of the formation of indispensable basic culture to establish a genuine business spirit.

Siguiendo las directrices de la Unión Europea la educación emprendedora se ha incorporado a todas las etapas educativas, mediante una variedad de programas formativos basados en la creación de mini - empresas y en la incorporación de asignaturas específicas en la ESO, FP y Bachillerato. Las críticas sobre la incorporación al sistema educativo del emprendimiento con un marcado carácter economicista no se han hecho esperar. En nuestro caso, desde una perspectiva teórica, describiremos ciertas premisas que orienten una educación emprendedora más centrada en la persona y con menos reminiscencias económicas. Desde una visión más holística e integradora, entendemos la competencia emprendedora como iniciativa y autonomía personal. La construcción del ámbito emprendedor de la identidad personal se realiza mediante la narración de los recuerdos y razonamientos autobiográficos relacionados con experiencias emprendedoras. Por ello, sería conveniente que los educandos tuvieran experiencias educativas relacionadas con el emprendimiento desde edades tempranas. La reflexión sobre la educación emprendedora entendida como iniciativa y autonomía personal nos orienta hacia una mayor complejidad de sus elementos configuradores. La educación emprendedora no se ceñiría exclusivamente a la creación empresarial, sino a la ideación, creación y gestión de proyectos de vida. A este respecto, proyectos personales, perspectiva temporal y possible selves se configurarían como constructos básicos sobre los que sustentar las acciones educativas encaminadas al desarrollo de la educación emprendedora.

INTRODUCCIÓN. El potencial emprendedor (enterprise potential) constituye una compleja realidad, dinámica e inherente a los sujetos, vinculada a la acción de emprender en determinadoscontextos y situaciones. El desarrollo de la educación emprendedora ha generado interés por lacreación de instrumentos que midan el impacto de los programas formativos sobre el potencialemprendedor, aunque la población comprendida en edad escolar obligatoria aún no ha sido objeto de estudio. El Attitude Toward Enterprise Test (ATE) es una conocida prueba, ideada por Rosemary Athayde, que evalúa el potencial emprendedor. El propósito del estudio ha sido adaptar el ATE al español en una muestra de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, puesto que no existen pruebas de evaluación análogas en esta etapa de la enseñanza. MÉTODO. La adaptación del ATE-S se hizo con una muestra de 1.440 sujetos, donde un 52.8% fueron alumnos y un 47.2% alumnas, con una M=14.6 años. En primer orden, se realizó un estudio de la dimensionalidad de los 30 ítems mediante un análisis factorial exploratorio (AFE), encontrando una estructura factorial de cinco dimensiones con 22 ítems, a diferencia de la versión original del ATE. En segundo lugar, se efectuó un análisis factorial confirmatorio (AFC) mediante estimación de máxima verosimilitudrobusta. Por último, se estudiaron su fiabilidad y su validez. RESULTADOS. Se confirmó una estructura pentafactorial con un factor de segundo orden (potencial emprendedor). El modelo presenta un buen ajuste (GFI=.998; CFI=.994; TLI=.987; RMSEA=.069; SMRA=.08). La fiabilidad de las puntuaciones es mayor que la de la versión original y se ha demostrado su validez. DISCUSIÓN. Esta investigación ha aclarado la estructura factorial del ATE en su versión española con buenas propiedades psicométricas y una estructura factorial consolidada.

The development of entrepreneurial potential in the training of school-age pupils is relevant for carrying out projects of an innovative and transformative nature. Entrepreneurial training is enacted through Spanish educational regulations, in relation to the development of the key entrepreneurial competence. Thus, a training programme in entrepreneurial potential for school-age students, who are considered as agents of change, was evaluated under the approach of “enterprise education pedagogy”. For this purpose, an experimental research study, pre-test and post-test, with a control and experimental group, was designed. The sample consisted of 1036 participants from eight autonomous communities in Spain. The data analysis was carried out by means of a t-test to compare the mean before and after the application of the programme on the total number of participants, as well as on the subgroups with and without entrepreneurial intentions. The results show that the PEIEO programme had a positive effect on entrepreneurial potential. The experimental group, compared to the control group, significantly increased their total score in the t-test, as well as for each dimension of entrepreneurial potential. Similarly, the participants considered to have entrepreneurial intentions further increased their entrepreneurial potential compared to the group considered to have no entrepreneurial intentions. Consequently, the results indicate that entrepreneurship education, in a holistic sense, has a relevant impact on entrepreneurial potential in a programme aimed at training agents of change.

Over the last decade, various entrepreneurial school practices have proliferated, including the creation of mini-companies. In the Spanish context, the Empresa Joven Europea (EJE) program has been the most widely employed educative program in this respect. Empresa Joven Europea is an educational program that proposes that secondary education students create and manage their own mini-businesses, thereby taking the legal form of a cooperative society and facilitating the acquisition of all basic educational skills through the cultivation of entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, there is still a gap between the theory and the practice of entrepreneurship education which, together with the conceptual expansion experienced in recent years, increases the need to assess the effectiveness of this type of programs. By means of an explanatory and cross-sectional study, we evaluated the impact of the program on the configuration of the entrepreneurial potential of the participating adolescents ( N = 270). The analysis has been carried out utilizing PLS-SEM with SmartPLS software version 3.3.9 and SPSS version 25. None of the six hypotheses formulated have been confirmed, which means that the desired effects have not been achieved in any of the three variables under study: attitudes, knowledge, and entrepreneurial skills. Such results may be related to aspects of curricular organization, the type of experiences based on cooperatives, a certain structural and conceptual lack of definition of the pedagogical methodology used, and the development of skills linked to identity. Moreover, it is possible that, although it is not evident in the competencies acquired, the program has influenced the apperception of what it means to be an entrepreneur and of the creation of critical awareness, which is associated with entrepreneurial potential. Our study, in addition to opening suggestions for further research along the same lines, presents several implications related to administrative and organizational aspects, to the design of the different pedagogical elements of the programs and to the evaluative criterion adopted.