Attitudes To Enterprise (ATE) test

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The ATE test was developed by Rosemary Athayde of the Small Business Research Centre, Kingston University. The ATE test is a robust evaluation tool designed to support enterprise and entrepreneurship education, which can be used in a variety of ways.

Administered pre- and post-programme, the test can be used to measure the efficacy of individual enterprise education programmes around the world. The impact of a programme on different demographic and ethnic groups can therefore be assessed. The test also enables international comparisons of enterprise potential in young people, and of enterprise education provision in different countries.

The ATE test measures young people's attitudes towards enterprise and enterprising behaviour. Static trait theories, such as Eysenck's model of personality and McClelland's need for achievement theory, have been shown to be inadequate explanations for entrepreneurial behaviours.

Unlike the trait approach, social cognitive theory is a dynamic approach which posits that a person's characteristics such as attitudes, beliefs, values, and intentions are constantly moulded throughout life. The ATE test, therefore, is grounded in social cognitive theory and attitude theory, and has been rigorously validated through a series of national and international studies. A copy of the initial pilot studies is available via the British Library.