A Framework for Entrepreneurial Mindsets and Behaviors in Undergraduate Engineering Students: Operationalizing the Kern Family Foundation’s “3Cs”

The increasing interest in cultivating the entrepreneurial mindset among engineering students necessitates a shared language around what this looks like in terms of attitudes and behaviors, and frameworks provide this. A framework was developed to characterize the entrepreneurial mindset in light of the Kern Family Foundation’s 3C’s: curiosity, connections, and creating value. The framework was developed based on three rounds of reviewing the literature for relevant frameworks and assessment tools. The resulting framework that is presented in this paper includes twelve attitudes and seventeen behaviors that map to the 3Cs. This framework can serve as the basis for assessments and experiences designed to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among engineering students.