The long-term effects of active entrepreneurial training on business school students' and graduates' attitudes towards entrepreneurship

At Laurentian University (Ontario, Canada), all second-year Business students complete an entrepreneurial active learning experience by preparing a comprehensive business plan over six months. Students develop an original business idea, perform a market research, and prepare a detailed business plan. This activity involves active, collaborative, and small group learning, and 'learning by doing'. This research verified whether Personal Objectives, Attitude towards Risk, Internality and Perceptions on Tutoring variables were associated with a high Entrepreneurial Orientation and whether highly entrepreneurial students had attitudes similar to those of self-employed graduates. Results showed that personal attitudes of students towards the business plan project related to the strength of their entrepreneurial orientation. Laurentian graduates high rate of self-employment was over 20%.