Makerspaces as Learning Sites at the Intersection of Engineering and Entrepreneurship Education

Makerspaces have become an important intersection between engineering and entrepreneurship. Drawing from data on a team-based engineering entrepreneurship program that included peer-reviews and faculty/advisor assessments, we examine how prototyping in combination with team process and composition variables affect entrepreneurial performance. Using a three-step hierarchical regression model, we found that team compositional variables such as gender, entrepreneurial and prototyping experience, had a positive effect on entrepreneurial performance. We also found that team process variables such as prototyping efficacy and communication frequency were positively linked with entrepreneurial performance. We conclude our study with a discussion of the implications of our findings for engineering entrepreneurship education.