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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1474584
This article is part of the Research Topic Empowerment Through Education Innovative Interventions for Higher Education Students View all articles

An Education Model to Empower Women in Tech Entrepreneurship

Provisionally accepted
Teresa Paiva Teresa Paiva 1,2*Teresa Felgueira Teresa Felgueira 3Catarina Alves Catarina Alves 4,5Natalia Gomes Natalia Gomes 6Sofia Salgado Sofia Salgado 7Marcelo Salaberri Marcelo Salaberri 7
  • 1 BRIDGES - Biotechnology Research, Innovation and Design for Health Products, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Guarda, Portugal
  • 2 NECE - Research Center in Business Science, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal
  • 3 School of Technology and Management, CITUR – Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Guarda, Portugal
  • 4 School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Guarda, Portugal
  • 5 CICF, School of Management, IPCA, Barcelos, Portugal
  • 6 Technological and Management School, CI&DEI, Guarda Polytechnic Institute, Guarda, Portugal
  • 7 INOVA+, Innovation Services S.A., Matosinhos, Portugal

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study analyses how to address the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship through an education model proposal. This proposal was grounded in Self-Determination Theory, which helps to identify the intrinsic motivation constructs needed to design an education proposal. To characterize the gender gap and especially to understand the basic needs of female students that determine their intrinsic motivation, a quantitative methodology was followed in five higher education institutions in Europe. The data collected allowed a statistical analysis focused on its description, an exploratory factor analysis, and a structural equation modelling. The results confirmed the need to explore and potentiate the intrinsic motivation of female students, particularly in their autonomy need, not forgetting the competencies and competencies. By doing so, it is possible to empower female students in their capacity to decide and choose professional paths, potentiating entrepreneurship as a relevant opportunity. By the expose, this research encompasses the Frontiers Education scope and, in particular, the scope of the Higher Education section since it contributes to improving the HEI education system in an inclusive and entrepreneurial approach.

    Keywords: Catarina Alves: Methodology, resources, Writing -review & editing. Marcelo Salaberri: Formal Analysis, investigation, Writingreview & editing. Natalia Gomes: Methodology, Writing -review & editing. Sofia Salgado: Formal Analysis, Writing -review & editing. Teresa Felgueira: Methodology, Writing -review & editing. Teresa Paiva: Conceptualization

    Received: 01 Aug 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Paiva, Felgueira, Alves, Gomes, Salgado and Salaberri. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Teresa Paiva, BRIDGES - Biotechnology Research, Innovation and Design for Health Products, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Guarda, Portugal

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.