Entrepreneurship as a Career Path for PhD Holders in Slovakia?
Entrepreneurship as a Career Path for PhD Holders in Slovakia?

Author(s): Janka Kottulová, Andrea Jaseňová
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Economy
Published by: Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze
Keywords: Researcher career; career development of researchers; academic entrepreneurs; doctoral entrepreneurs
Summary/Abstract: Purpose: The main goal of this paper is to explore entrepreneurship as one of the possiblecareer choices for doctorate holders in Slovakia. The paper also aims to identify the relevantresearch questions and contribute to the creation of future research agenda in the field of bothacademic entrepreneurship research and research focusing on career development ofresearchers. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses the exploratory approach. We started with thereview of literature covering two focus areas, entrepreneurship as a career option for researchersand academic entrepreneurship, to identify the main concepts linked to the topic. In the nextstep, we selected set of factors related to various aspects of research environment andresearchers’ labour market in Slovakia and discussed their possible impact on the career andentrepreneurship opportunities of researchers. Finally, we focused on the empirical studiesaddressing entrepreneurship of researchers in the Visegrad region. Based on the all collectedsources we suggested the set of questions to be addressed by further empirical research. Findings: Research on entrepreneurship of researchers in Slovakia and Visegrad region ismostly limited to papers addressing “academic entrepreneurship”. Nevertheless, it offersinteresting insights into the motivation of researchers to become entrepreneurs in theenvironment which is not particularly supportive to research- and innovation-basedentrepreneurial activities. Research/practical implications: The paper provides the basic conceptual framework forfurther research on the topic of entrepreneurship as a possible career path for PhD holders inSlovakia. Originality/value: The paper delivers interesting research findings from the perspective ofpost-communist economy.

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