Conceptualization of the entrepreneurial spirit and identification of factors for its development at the university.

Summary This thesis is devoted on the one hand to the conceptualization of the entrepreneurial mindset and on the other hand to the identification of the factors of its development at the university. The theoretical study led us to consider the entrepreneurial spirit as a mental process composed of a set of attitudes and feelings of competence favorable to an entrepreneurial orientation. The university, along with other socialization factors, could develop it. And this by evolving towards an entrepreneurial university through the adoption of an entrepreneurial orientation. As a result, it is led to adopt entrepreneurial practices both in its internal and external environment. We conducted a preliminary investigation through semi-structured interviews with 24 Tunisian university officials in order to explore, identify and determine the factors of development of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial spirit in the Tunisian university. Moreover, the hypothetical-inductive approach allowed us to superimpose the theoretical propositions from the literature with the main results of the survey. This allowed us to refine and enrich the conceptual model through the addition of new variables: - The type of university influences the development of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial spirit. - The importance of the role of the university leader in the development of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial spirit at the university: he or she is called upon to become an entrepreneur. - The importance of redesigning the study plan. - At the level of teaching entrepreneurship: importance of original and playful pedagogies and those based on ICT and the training of trainers in entrepreneurship. - Integration of communication with and between students and motivation of the latter. - Importance of establishing university/university partnerships and more contact with society. The proposed conceptual model refined by the exploratory study can serve as a reference or starting point for further research aimed at studying the factors of development of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial spirit at the university. It can also serve as a tool for universities wishing to initiate and implement a policy to promote entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial spirit within their institutions. The originality of this thesis is to offer a new conception of entrepreneurship: a state of mind, a field of teaching and education and a possible career option. Thus, its value is to contribute to the conceptualization of the entrepreneurial spirit, to feed the reflection around the factors of development of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial spirit at the university and to approach new concepts: entrepreneurial university and entrepreneurial orientation of the university. Keywords: University, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial spirit, conceptualization, entrepreneurship education, development factors, entrepreneurial orientation.