Detecting General Individual Competences for Independent Digital Entrepreneur Behavior, in a Sample of Portuguese Students

Recent studies on digital entrepreneurship (DE) have highlighted the importance of explaining a profile that identifies with the concept. However, few studies are found that lead to a consistent and informed scientific understanding of the competences to digital entrepreneurs. This article was developed within the student community and its main objective was to create a process for identifying and detecting general individual competences that lead to independent DE behaviors. 37 students from different Universities in northern Portugal were assessed, using an instrument for self-identification of entrepreneurial competences, developed from theoretical approaches by Cooley [1], Spencer and Spencer [2], Dornelas [3] and integrated by Lenzi et al., [4]. The results point the possibility of establishing a pattern of general competences more associated with independent DE behaviors in the community of higher education students, which, in view of the insufficient sample and merely descriptive analysis, will have to be deepened and reconfirmed.