Podjetništvo med potencialom in razvojnimi ambicijami: GEM Slovenija 2025

Authors

Karin Širec
University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4191-5170
Polona Tominc
University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7172-2316
Barbara Bradač Hojnik
University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1314-9088
Matej Rus
University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business
Katja Crnogaj
University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2344-3977
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18690/um.epf.4.2026

Keywords:

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, entrepreneurship, early-stage entrepreneurial activity, economic development, entrepreneurship ecosystem, entrepreneurship policy, sustainable business, digitalization, artificial intelligence

Synopsis

Entrepreneurship Between Potential and Development Ambitions: GEM Slovenia 2025. The GEM survey offers an in-depth analysis of the various social, cultural, political, and economic factors that impact the entrepreneurial landscape and activities, serving as a comprehensive framework for understanding national and entrepreneurial conditions. These factors play a crucial role in shaping individuals' entrepreneurial decisions and the success of starting and operating businesses. Survey delivers unparalleled insights into a nation's entrepreneurial characteristics, surpassing the information available from traditional statistical sources. The study also explores individuals' and societies' attitudes towards entrepreneurship, alongside the aspirations and qualifications of people at different entrepreneurial stages. By examining these aspects across countries, GEM identifies key drivers and obstacles for entrepreneurship, enabling a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem. Current edition highlights the gaps between entrepreneurial potential, the quality of entrepreneurial activity, and the effectiveness of the ecosystem in supporting transitions toward growth-oriented and innovation-driven entrepreneurship.

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Author Biographies

Karin Širec, University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business

Karin Širec, PhD. is a full professor of entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor and head of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Business Economics. She is a member of the research group of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management and participates in two longitudinal studies, the Slovenian Entrepreneurship Observatory and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, of which she has been the leader since 2022. She is also the Slovenian representative of the international DIANA research group on women's entrepreneurship and a member of the research programme Entrepreneurship for an Innovative Society. She is an OECD expert advisor on inclusive entrepreneurship and an expert in the field of higher education at the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education of the Republic of Slovenia, SQAA. Prior to joining the university, she worked in industry.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: karin.sirec@um.si

Polona Tominc, University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business

Dr. Polona Tominc is a full professor in the field of quantitative methods in business sciences and dean at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor. She is a member of the research group of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor research, a member of the international research group for research on women's entrepreneurship DIANA and the head of the research program Entrepreneurship for an Innovative Society at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor. Her research focuses on quantitative methodological support in the field of entrepreneurship, management, gender equality, and in the field of research and quality assurance in higher education and higher education teaching. She is an expert in the field of higher education at the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education of the Republic of Slovenia, NAKVIS. She has participated in numerous scientific and professional foreign and domestic conferences, is the author or co-author of scientific monographs and chapters in scientific monographs published by international and national publishing houses, and scientific and professional articles published in established foreign and domestic scientific journals.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: polona.tominc@um.si

Barbara Bradač Hojnik, University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business

Barbara Bradač Hojnik is a full professor of entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Economics and Business ta University of Maribor. She participated in numerous domestic and international research projects. She is the leader of the Slovenian Entrepreneurship Observatory project and a member of the project team the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Slovenia and the longitudinal research program Entrepreneurship for an Innovative Society. She was an expert in the SME Performance Review project for Slovenia in 2021 and 2022 and in the Statistics through Eastern partnership project for the European Commission. Her main research areas are startup-, sustainabe-, digital-, corporate- and international entrepreneurship. She is the author or co-author of several scientific articles, scientific monographs, chapters in scientific monographs and contributions at international scientific conferences.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: barbara.bradac@um.si

Matej Rus, University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business

Mag. Matej Rus is a higher education lecturer in entrepreneurship. He focuses his energies on his teaching and research career, which he began in 1996 at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Maribor, and on consulting activities in entrepreneurial practice, where he advises entrepreneurs on building startup companies and established companies on promoting innovation activities. In 2001, he co-founded the Entrepreneurship Factory, which is one of the key elements of the supportive environment for entrepreneurship at the University of Maribor. He transfers his successful entrepreneurial, research and consulting experiences into his teaching work and thus contributes to increasing the practical value of the knowledge acquired during his studies. As the director of the Entrepreneurship Factory, he realizes the outlined vision of the very successful entrepreneurial incubator of the University of Maribor today. The Entrepreneurship Factory is not only a university incubator, but also the holder of the national platform Start:up Slovenia and the organizer of the international entrepreneurial conference PODIM. He is also the head of the INNOVUM support environment within the established consortium of the University of Maribor, the representative of Slovenia in ESNA - The European Startup Nations Alliance, and the Startup Europe ambassador in Slovenia.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: matej.rus@um.si

Katja Crnogaj, University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business

Katja Crnogaj, PhD is an associate professor of Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor. She is actively involved in teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Additionally, she serves as the head of the Entrepreneurship study field, a member of the Faculty Committee for Student Affairs, and a member of the Council of the interdisciplinary study program »Industrial Engineering«. As a researcher at the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, she is a member of the international research team of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and the Slovenian Entrepreneurship Observatory and has been actively involved in the longitudinal research programme "Entrepreneurship for an Innovative Society". She is an expert consultant for the OECD in the Inclusive Entrepreneurship project.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: katja.crnogaj@um.si

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May 8, 2026

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Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Slovenia / Globalni podjetniški monitor Slovenija

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2026-05-08

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K, KJ, KJH

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2026-05-08

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How to Cite

Širec, K., Tominc, P., Bradač Hojnik, B., Rus, M., & Crnogaj, K. (2026). Podjetništvo med potencialom in razvojnimi ambicijami: GEM Slovenija 2025 (Vols. 2025). University of Maribor Press. https://doi.org/10.18690/um.epf.4.2026