2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper reports on findings from a multi-cohort, multi-year evaluation of a semester-long technology commercialization course designed for graduate student researchers at a large research university. Aggregate pre- and post-course survey data were collected from 324 and 209 students, respectively, over a 12-year period. Participants included master's and doctoral students primarily from science and engineering disciplines. Results show substantial increases in entrepreneurial self-efficacy across venture development tasks, along with gains in perceived entrepreneurial competence and comfort with uncertainty. At the same time, short-term entrepreneurial intentions became more tempered following course participation, while long-term aspirations remained strong. This pattern suggests that exposure to the complexities of technology commercialization may prompt a more realistic appraisal of near-term venture creation without diminishing longer-term interest. Because surveys were not matched at the individual level, findings reflect cohort-level patterns. Results support evaluating academic entrepreneurship programs using broader capacity-building metrics beyond startup creation.