DOI: 10.2478/cplbu-2020-0050 9 th Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education and 12 th International Conference on Engineering and Business Education Sibiu, Romania, October, 2019 416 Comparison of Entrepreneurial Attitudes – a Polish and Ukrainian Case Study Joanna MAŁECKA Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland joanna.malecka@put.poznan.pl Yevhen REVTIUK Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland yevhen.revtiuk@put.poznan.pl ABSTRACT The definition of entrepreneurship is interdisciplinary. Its attitude-describing component alone incorporates many areas, including, primarily, social sciences such as psychology and sociology, followed by economics and law, while taking into account local institutional and legislative environment. Its multi-faceted nature is, however, not only about attitudes but, above all, measurable behaviours, the effects of which can be illustrated in the form of measurable results and balance sheets of enterprises. One of its most important aspects is the fact of influencing the economic environment and economic conditions of countries. Hence, any research in the field of entrepreneurship of social groups, or even nations, should focus on diagnosing the forms of economic activity and describing those environmental elements which will enable certain alleviation of the barriers to development, or even their complete elimination, which, in turn, will contribute to the growth of entire socio-economic systems. The article attempts to investigate the conditions that affect the willingness to carry on economic activity by analysing the entrepreneurial attitudes of Polish and Ukrainian citizens whose common denominators are: (1) having an engineering degree, (2) being professionally active, and (3) willingness to keep improving their qualifications. JEL classification codes: L26, L25, L11, F02, F13 Keywords: entrepreneurship, internationalisation, market management, entrepreneurial attitude INTRODUCTION The definition of entrepreneurship is interdisciplinary. Its attitude-describing component alone incorporates many fields, including, primarily, social sciences such as psychology and sociology, followed by economics and law, while taking into account local institutional and legislative environment. The multi-faceted nature of entrepreneurship is, however, not only about attitudes but, above all, quantifiable behaviours, the effects of which can be illustrated in the form of measurable results and balance sheets of enterprises. One of its most important aspects is the ability to influence the economic environment and economic conditions of countries. Until 1950s there had been a conviction that large enterprises played a predominantly important role in that respect. The crisis in 1970s, however, verified this view, with focus shifting again to the role and importance of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Turbulent economic environment had led to an approach in which the idea of business risk has been significantly expanded – it is no longer a question of