Denmark

We accept the goals of key competence 7: sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, presented by the European Parliament and, as described earlier, we link the definition to key constructs used in contemporary career theory. As examples, we link the attitudes initiative, pro-activity and independence with the constructs self-efficacy and self-agency and the objectives to enhance the student’s determination to meet objectives and follow personal goals, with the long history of career counselling, which, among other, has been targeted towards helping individuals to develop their personal career- and action plans.

Due to a lack of Danish research and empirical evidence that could support the use of different methodological approaches, we are missing the linkage between theory and practise. Relevant questions seem to be:

What is the connection between various topics taught through careers education and/or guidance, and the student’s actual career behaviour?
What teaching and learning strategies promote entrepreneurial behaviour?
How can we assess the individuals learning needs and/or how can we evaluate the outcome of careers education?

When addressing these questions we also find a need to discuss in more general terms, the connection between the actual teaching and the possible learning outcomes. Many different constructs are being used by theorists to describe career behaviour and the specific attitudes related hereto. As an example, the term ‘empowerment’ are often being described as a vehicle for bettering peoples performances and/or to enable them to take advantage of given conditions or situations. But, as Bandura put it, empowerment it not something you can just decide to ‘infuse’ in people – e.g. through teaching. In accordance with his social cognitive theory, the sense of initiative or personal agency, as he defines it, is being fostered through a number of different individual experiences and through the interplay between both individual and contextual factors (Bandura, 2000).

Many factors operate in everyday life to undermine efficacious use of the knowledge and skills that people actually possess and, as a result, they do not always exercise the control that is fully within their capabilities (Super, 1990, Kolb & Boyatzis, 2000). Subsequently, we believe that careers education and the fostering of entrepreneurial spirit amongst youngsters, not only needs to be aimed towards the development of specific individual competences and/or attitudes, but also towards the environment (school and society in general) in which personal agency are to be exercised.

Finally, we find a need to discuss the interplay between individual competencies and attitudes and measureable entrepreneurial behaviour. Following Bandura, it is not experience or skills per se but the belief of personal efficacy constructed from those experiences that shape academic performance and career choice (Bandura, 2000). This calls for a broader discussion about the task of working with subjective ‘attitudes’ - like entrepreneurial spirit and self-concepts - and which methodological issues this task implies.