2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineering education increasingly emphasizes the development of an entrepreneurial mindset as a core competency for graduates who must navigate complex, uncertain, and interdisciplinary problem environments. The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) framework—defined through the constructs of Curiosity, Connections, and Creating Value—has become a widely adopted model for cultivating entrepreneurial thinking in engineering programs. However, KEEN currently lacks a validated psychometric assessment instrument capable of quantitatively measuring entrepreneurial mindset development. The Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile (EMP), a validated instrument grounded in extensive psychological and entrepreneurship research, offers a potential foundation for such measurement.
This study explores the theoretical and empirical alignment between the EMP’s fourteen constructs and the KEEN framework, extended with Action Orientation and Self-Awareness as complementary developmental dimensions emphasized in recent KEEN faculty initiatives. Using EMP assessment data from 121 undergraduate students, KEEN composite constructs were analytically derived from theoretically aligned EMP scales. Pearson correlation analyses were conducted to examine relationships between the fourteen EMP dimensions and the five KEEN composites.
Results indicate meaningful conceptual alignment between several EMP constructs and KEEN dimensions. In particular, Idea Generation, Future Focus, Execution, Persistence, and Need to Achieve demonstrate moderate to strong relationships with the KEEN constructs of Curiosity and Creating Value, supporting theoretical expectations from both entrepreneurship and engineering education literature. Conversely, Independence and Preference for Limited Structure exhibit consistently weak correlations with KEEN constructs, consistent with empirical research suggesting that successful entrepreneurs rely more heavily on collaboration, structured decision processes, and coordinated action as ventures mature.
These findings provide preliminary empirical support for the feasibility of using EMP-derived constructs as indicators of KEEN-aligned entrepreneurial mindset development. By bridging a validated entrepreneurial psychology instrument with a widely adopted engineering education framework, this work contributes toward the development of a scalable and empirically grounded assessment approach for entrepreneurial mindset in engineering programs.