Abstract
Despite its widespread occurrence, the topic of failure is barely addressed in entrepreneurship education. Consequently, students are given an incomplete and unrealistic picture of the complexity of being entrepreneurs. This study explores the pedagogical potential of introducing vicarious learning about failure in educational programs rather than focusing solely on starting, growing and success. Taking a qualitative approach, this study examined students’ reflective reports written after an interview with an entrepreneur on their experience of failure. Using concepts emerging from these reports and theoretical constructs, it was established whether and how students drew lessons and reflections from the failure stories. The findings show that interviewing and reflecting about the experiences of entrepreneurs allow for vicarious learning from failure, yet without students having to experience it themselves. The lessons learned and the reflections feed each other in a continuous loop. Students recognized that entrepreneurship involves trial and error instead of one straight road. Important lessons include the importance of adaptable behavior, access to key resources, insights in business development and the benefits of networking. Hence, this article contributes to the pedagogy of entrepreneurial education and provides initial suggestions for educators to introduce vicarious learning about failure as a topic in their programs.
Highlights
Entrepreneurship education (EE) has become an increasingly prevalent global phenomenon across higher education institutions (HEIs)
To date, few studies have looked at entrepreneurial failures (Ucbasaran et al 2013), and even less attention has been paid to applying the relevant findings to EE
To bring failure into EE, we explore the impact of using vicarious learning as a learning method for students in HEIs
Summary
Entrepreneurship education (EE) has become an increasingly prevalent global phenomenon across higher education institutions (HEIs). Its association with economic growth, changes in the labor market and the increased (sometimes rock-star-like) popularity of contemporary entrepreneurs has contributed to the rapid growth in supply of and demand for EE in HEIs. Conspicuously, EE generally focuses on aspects of entrepreneurship related to the fostering of startups, growth and success. When students do not address the issue of failure in EE, they are prevented from developing a realistic and balanced perspective of entrepreneurship. Without understanding the prevalence of failure (as well as how to prevent it or mitigate the ensuing consequences), students are sub-optimally prepared for an entrepreneurial career (Bolinger and Brown 2015). Learning how to prepare for and deal with adversity and failure is likely to reduce psychological, social and economic losses, and enable entrepreneurs to recover faster and re-embark on their entrepreneurial path (Shepherd 2004)
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