Entrepreneurship education in sub‐Saharan African universities

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate entrepreneurship course offerings in business administration/management curricula in sub‐Saharan higher education institutions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a survey of online course catalogs to analyze entrepreneurship course offerings.FindingsThe results of the study demonstrate that most higher education institutions in the sample offer courses in entrepreneurship and/or small business management but few offer specialization in the area. Newly created institutions are more likely to offer entrepreneurship courses and specializations than traditional ones while a few operate university‐based entrepreneurship centers. The study findings are consistent with the environmental school of entrepreneurial thought.Research limitations/implicationsThe study depended exclusively on online data. Several institutions were excluded from the sample because their web sites were unavailable. Future research should use a larger sample.Practical implicationsThe paper will assist researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders in higher education in strengthening the discussion about enterprise and entrepreneurship education in sub‐Saharan business programmes.Originality/valueThis is the first study on the content of entrepreneurship courses in sub‐Saharan African Universities.