Abstract

The creation of new firms and businesses is seen as a key factor in reaching economic goals at the regional and national levels. Universities can support entrepreneurial dynamics by increasing the motivation and competence of their graduates to become individuals involved in innovative and entrepreneurial activity. Many initiatives and educational programs on entrepreneurship are increasingly becoming more action-oriented, emphasizing the aspect of learning by doing. The aim of this paper is to assess the effects and the outcomes of an Italian educational program about entrepreneurship named Contamination Lab (clab), which has been implemented so far in several Italian universities. We specifically consider the clab experience at one medium-sized University, Università Politecnica delle Marche (upm), which was launched in 2014. Considering the newness of the investigated phenomena, this is a qualitative study that takes an exploratory approach. The reference population for the study comprises 450 students who took part in the clab at upm between 2014 and 2020. Data were collected through an e-mail survey carried out in 2020. The results show that the participation in the program improved the entrepreneurial intention of students, and some of them were supported in starting a new business. Although the number of entrepreneurial programs at the university level has grown considerably over the past two decades, the effects and contributions of such entrepreneurial educational initiatives in Italy are still not completely clear. This paper represents a first attempt to evaluate the first effect (perceived by students) and the first outcomes of a clab program (in terms of number of start-ups and gestation activities carried out by students).