Chapter 4: Contextualizing Entrepreneurship: Perceptions of the Context of Entrepreneurship in Poland

In recent years, the contextualization of entrepreneurship has been an important tendency in entrepreneurship research. First and foremost, individual elements of the context, or entrepreneurship ecosystems, are analyzed, that is, economic factors, capital and financial markets, culture, institutions, public policy, or educational systems. The influence of these elements on the form and scale of entrepreneurial activities in different countries and regions are also subject to investigation.

In this chapter, I take a slightly different stance and concentrate on the perception of the context of entrepreneurship in Poland. As a result of systemic changes that took place in 1989, Poland’s accession to the EU in 2005, and several other economic trends, the context of entrepreneurship has significantly changed. I argue that not only the context (and its changes), but also its interpretation and perception by different stakeholders (entrepreneur and other economic actors) have a bearing on decisions made by the latter: career choices, trust building, cooperation, and so on.

I employ qualitative methods to investigate shifts in these perceptions (2005 vs. 2018), as well as their consequences for the general culture of entrepreneurship. I base my study on a single group of actors—students whose knowledge about economy, management, and entrepreneurship is relatively thorough. The study shows that perceptions of the context change, yet in many dimensions not as fast as the context itself (which is consistent with cultural change theories). Also, perception changes are not always coherent with the changes of context.