The concept and essence of entrepreneurial culture as the most significant result of the educational process in vocational education institutions

The article reveals the main theoretical approaches to defining entrepreneurial culture in the social and humanitarian sciences as a whole, as well as analyzes the concepts of entrepreneurial culture proposed by domestic representatives of pedagogical science. In addition, the work justifies the need for the formation of entrepreneurial culture in vocational educational institutions, both in connection with state needs and in response to the demand from the students themselves. The empirical basis of the research includes regulatory legal acts, statistical data, as well as the results of sociological surveys. The aim of this research is to formulate an author's definition of the concept of entrepreneurial culture and to determine the main criteria for its formation within the framework of a vocational educational institution, which will subsequently allow for the implementation of a pedagogical experiment on the formation of entrepreneurial culture and the formulation of recommendations. In conducting the research, the authors employed general scientific methods such as comparison, which allowed them to identify the specifics of approaches to understanding entrepreneurial culture, as well as the method of generalization. The novelty of the research presented in the article lies in the formulation of a personal definition of entrepreneurial culture within vocational educational institutions based on the generalization of existing theoretical and methodological approaches to understanding this phenomenon. The authors propose a definition of entrepreneurial culture as a combination of motivation, readiness, and developed practical skills that enable a college or technical school graduate to realize themselves in entrepreneurial activity. Furthermore, based on the analyzed approaches, the authors identified the main criteria for the formation of entrepreneurial culture, which include: rational awareness of the opportunities that entrepreneurial activity can provide, as well as its limitations; the desire and readiness to start one's own business during or after the completion of studies; knowledge of the legal, economic, and managerial aspects of entrepreneurial activity.