Sustainable entrepreneurship in universities and environmental values / Emprendimiento sostenible en la universidad y valores ambientales

• Published in: Psyecology Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 1 - 24
• Main Authors: Ruiz-Ruano, Ana-María, Puga, Jorge L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England Routledge 02.01.2016; SAGE Publications
• Subjects: actitudes; attitudes; emprendimiento; entrepreneurship; environmental values; sostenibilidad; sustainability; universidad; university; valores ambientales; environmental values; actitudes; university; attitudes; valores ambientales; entrepreneurship; universidad; sustainability; emprendimiento; sostenibilidad
• ISSN: 2171-1976; 1989-9386
• DOI: 10.1080/21711976.2015.1114218

The study of sustainable entrepreneurship is still in the very early stages, and many questions have been raised. The aim of this study is to shed light on the characteristics associated with entrepreneurs, and potential entrepreneurs, among university teaching and research staff, whose entrepreneurship is grounded in sustainability. A sample of 2,671 university faculty members (55.9% men and 35.6% women) aged between 24 and 77 (M = 44.45, SD = 9.60) responded to an electronic questionnaire about business start-ups that contained items designed to evaluate ecocentric and anthropocentric values and attitudes. The results support the hypothesis that ecocentrism is chiefly associated with the desire to set up a sustainable company. The findings of this study are useful from a theoretical (to elucidate the characteristics of the sustainable entrepreneur) and practical standpoint (to guide the implementation of curricular innovations in university) with a view to optimizing the presence of sustainability within the university sphere.