Lecturer Perspectives on the Relevance of Skills and Credentials in the Teaching of Entrepreneurship

Abstract

This paper analyses lecturer perspectives about skills and credentials relevant in the teaching of entrepreneurship in a university-based business school/department. The theoretical approach of this paper observes Myles Mace’s profile dating from 1947 at Harvard Business School as one of the first pioneers in the teaching entrepreneurship at university. In addition, other profiles, and theoretical frames of teaching entrepreneurship in business schools are engaged. The research employs a case study design to answer a research question: What skills and credentials are relevant in teaching entrepreneurship, successfully, in an unequal society and within a business school? Seven (7) in-depth semi-structured interviews with academics at a university-based business-school and in the business management department were conducted. Different perspectives were documented. These fresh perspectives depart from the externalist agency views that tend to apply in determining the desirable skills and credentials of an entrepreneurship lecturer. The findings in this study show that experience in years of teaching plays a key role in the lecturers’ abilities to teach the subject dynamically, confidently, and critically. The study concludes that the lecturer’s academic qualification and experience enhance the relevance of their teaching and enable them to explore societal issues such as inequality in relation to entrepreneurship. The range of qualifications amongst interviewees in this study show no evidence that specific qualifications and credentials are more relevant than others, rather displays that lecturers in entrepreneurship find their unique voice and areas of interest. This research contributes to scholarly debates about what it takes to be a credible “teacher” in entrepreneurship. The practical implications of this study propose better support for entrepreneurship lecturers through focused development programmes, affiliation in progressive entrepreneurship networks and capacity building beyond KPIs. Future research must tackle lecturer capabilities to teach entrepreneurship in a context of an increasingly inequitable society.