Abstract
Entrepreneurship has the potential to reduce poverty, stimulate economic growth and boost innovation, in addition to enhancing social and environmental sustainability. In accordance with the human capital theory and previous empirical studies, it is assumed that entrepreneurship education and training (EET) directly correlates with positive entrepreneurial outcomes and therefore sustainable development. Although several scholars have attempted to review and analyze EET literature over the past decade, none of these reviews directly links EET with sustainable development or focuses on the role and status of EET (research) in less-stable areas of the world. This systematic review thus attempts to analyze recent literature to identify the extent to which EET research addresses Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The review identifies several gaps in research and practice that potentially hinder EET from adequately advancing sustainable development, including a dearth of research on fragile states and demographic diversity, limited EET access to non-university students and a general lack of focus on educational technology, progressive education approaches, and innovation in fragile countries compared to stable ones. The review also identifies challenges pertaining to EET resource constraints in fragile contexts. The paper concludes by offering insights on how educational technology could mitigate EET challenges in fragile environments to ultimately ease some barriers towards SDG advancement and provides recommendations for future research directions.
Highlights
Two billion people currently live in countries impacted by fragility, conflict and violence, with the percentage of individuals living in extreme poverty in conflict-affected areas expected to rise to more than 60% by 2030 [1]
Though the review revealed adequate emphasis on outcomes pertaining to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8, several gaps in research and practice are identified that potentially hinder entrepreneurship education and training (EET) from advancing other SDGs, including a dearth of research on fragile states and demographic diversity, limited EET access to non-university students and a general lack of focus on educational technology, progressive education approaches and innovation in fragile countries compared to stable ones
The majority of analyzed studies appear to be of an empirical nature, with a focus on EET programs within higher education institutions
Summary
Two billion people currently live in countries impacted by fragility, conflict and violence, with the percentage of individuals living in extreme poverty in conflict-affected areas expected to rise to more than 60% by 2030 [1]. Despite recent advancements in the EET research field and the publication of several literature reviews and meta-analyses in the area [8,9,17,18], little research connects the EET literature with sustainable development and, to my knowledge, none has been found that directly analyzes EET’s relationship to SDGs. Realizing EET’s vital role in enhancing entrepreneurship in advancement of (at least) six SDGs, it is important to understand the target beneficiaries, approaches, outcomes and tools employed by current EET initiatives and their representation in highly reputable entrepreneurship journals. Though the review revealed adequate emphasis on outcomes pertaining to SDG 8, several gaps in research and practice are identified that potentially hinder EET from advancing other SDGs, including a dearth of research on fragile states and demographic diversity, limited EET access to non-university students and a general lack of focus on educational technology, progressive education approaches and innovation in fragile countries compared to stable ones. Educational technology, ITS, is proposed as mitigation to those challenges grounded by examples of successful implementations in various fields of education across several developing-country contexts
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