دور الجامعات الفلسطينية في التعليم الريادي وعلاقته بدورها في التنمية الاقتصادية
This study aimed to identify the role of Palestinian universities in entrepreneurial education and its relationship to their role in economic development. The researcher adopted the descriptive analytical approach, and the study sample consisted of (266) faculty members at Islamic University of Gaza and Al-Aqsa University, who represented (34.6%) of the study population. The participants were chosen using the stratified random method, and the study tools were two questionnaires: the first questionnaire dealt with "the role of Palestinian universities in entrepreneurial education," and the second questionnaire addressed "the degree of Palestinian universities’ practice of economic development." The study reached several results, the most important of which are the following : 1) The study sample’s estimate of the role of Palestinian universities in entrepreneurial education obtained (74.56%), that is, to a large degree; all fields received a large degree, in a descending order as follows: the field of "the role of faculty members in supporting entrepreneurial education", followed by "university leadership’s adoption of entrepreneurial education", and then "the inclusion of entrepreneurial education in educational curricula”. 2) There are no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α≤0.05) between the averages of the study sample's scores for the role of Palestinian universities in entrepreneurial education, due to the study variables. 3) The estimate of the study sample of the degree that Palestinian universities practice their role in economic development reached a relative weight of (73.88%), which is a large degree. All fields received a large degree, in a descending order as follows: the field of “preparing qualified manpower,” followed by “training and continuing education,” then “scientific research and development,” and finally “consultation and provision of expertise”. 4) There are no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α≤0.05) between the averages of the study sample’s scores of the degree of Palestinian universities’ practice of their role in economic development due to the study variables (university, academic rank, years of service, college in which they study). 5) The presence of a statistically significant positive correlation between the averages of the sample’s estimates of the role of Palestinian universities in entrepreneurial education and the degree of their practice of their role in economic development, at the level of (0.779). Among the most important recommendations of the study are the following: 1) Coordination by universities with the government sector and local community institutions to cooperate in adopting and providing the necessary financial support, and to transform ideas and innovations into projects and businesses. 2) Increasing the budget allocated in the Palestinian universities for research and development in the field of economic development. 3) Establishing an economic research center in the Palestinian universities. (Author’s abstract)