Entrepreneurship Mentoring for Women at Universities

Abstract

Universities can affect students’ entrepreneurial ambitions positively. On the one hand, the increasing number of universities with business and management programmes reflects the growing level of entrepreneurial ambition among students. On the other hand, there are visible differences in terms of the proportion of male to female founding students. Based on the peer-mentoring method, action-based research was carried out with a sample of 20 female students aimed at examining whether and how formal mentorship can stimulate female students’ entrepreneurial ambitions. In the findings, further explanations are provided that highlight the need for mentorship in influencing learning outcomes and entrepreneurial propensity, alongside its integration into higher education. The results indicate that priority support plays an important role in the early stage of entrepreneurial ideas, in which trust is created through openness, motivation, and commitment. These results provide sufficient evidence for mentoring programmes as viable pedagogical methods in entrepreneurship education.