Title: Mini-companies and school performance in four European countries

Authors: Vegard Johansen

Addresses: Department of Education and Lifelong Learning, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway

Abstract: Mini-companies combine practical and theoretical learning; the company program (CP) was the most participated mini-company scheme in Europe. This article assessed whether participation in CP influenced school performance in secondary schools in Belgium, Finland, Italy and Latvia. The study compared students with high CP activity (100 hours or more), low CP activity (25-99 hours), and no CP activity. The investigation used a pre-test post-test design, and it found that students with high CP activity had a higher grade point average (GPA) than non-participants. Thus, the CP seemed to be a well-adapted working method for the improvement of learning in various subject areas. However, the correlation between CP and GPA differed among the countries. 2,789 students in 20 secondary schools (16-19 years of age) participated in the study. Multivariate analyses were used to control for competing factors relevant to GPA.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education; mini companies; the company program; school performance; grade point average; GPA; Europe; secondary schools; students; Belgium; Finland; Italy; Latvia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2022.126353

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2022 Vol.47 No.1, pp.128 - 140

Received: 26 Feb 2019
Accepted: 13 Dec 2019
Published online: 24 Oct 2022 *

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