University of the postcovid era: Reflections on entrepreneurial education and socio-digital skills

Abstract

Institutions of Higher Education (IES) and Universities around the world are experiencing a series of adjustments derived from the COVID-19 health crisis, especially in the adaptation of face-to-face programs to virtualization and has revealed in some cases, the lack of entrepreneurial skills, such as the capacity for autonomy, innovation and adaptation of both professors and university students; added to the latent need to continue in constant training in the use of technological platforms and techniques of emotional management, since the social distancing that this crisis has generated causes a series of complex scenarios in the emotional public health of the affected population, in the case of Universities, students, as well as their professors. The objective of this research is to describe the context for developing entrepreneurial skills in students, the importance of the school and family context to develop them, as well as the socio-digital skills that the university students of the University of Guanajuato have put to the test in this virtual scenario forced by the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss the possible consequences in the short, medium, and long terms in the programs and study plans. For this, an online survey was carried out, collecting 129 instruments aimed at the student population. Structural Equations by Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM) were used to verify the model. The results detect key areas of opportunity to promote entrepreneurship and new socio-digital skills to face labor and planetary challenges with a greater relationship with the environment and key actors in the region.