ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question of what type of people participate in entrepreneurship programmes and determines whether such individuals, that is aspiring entrepreneurs, actually possess the particular characteristics deemed in the literature to be critical for entrepreneurial success. It is noted that four of the 102 respondents had reached set-up stage with their businesses prior to joining the entrepreneurship programmes. The chapter describes the actual survey groups and examines the social, psychological and behavioural characteristics of the group participants. The survey group comprised the 35 individuals from programme A, each of whom completed the questionnaire as requested, and thus a 100 per cent response rate was achieved. These individuals were participating in an all-Ireland, industry sponsored entrepreneurship programme during 1996/1997. The chapter concludes that a wide range of individuals participate in entrepreneurship training programmes but that many of them share certain characteristics.
