On the Worth of Entrepreneurship Education: Entrepreneurship beyond Entrepreneurship?

Abstract

Decades of research at the nexus of economics, management, and public policy suggest that entrepreneurship spurs innovation (Acs & Audretsch 1990; Baumol, 2002), creates jobs (Davidsson, Delmar, & Wiklund, 2006), and drives economic growth (Malecki, 2018). Given the importance of entrepreneurship, it is no surprise that over the past decades, academic institutions worldwide have invested extensive resources in developing an array of entrepreneurship offerings (Katz, 2003). Despite the growing popularity of entrepreneurship education, some continue to question whether entrepreneurship can be taught in a formal educational setting, particularly given the traditional structure of higher education vis-à-vis the fluid needs of aspiring entrepreneurs (Aronsson 2004; Bhatia & Levina, 2020; Fiet, 2000). In addition, there remains a paucity of evidence supporting the link between entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial outcomes, and most notably, the creation of new ventures (Pittaway & Cope, 2007). As a result, the relationship between entrepreneurship education and new business formation remains inconclusive (Patzelt, Williams, & Shepherd, 2014). In this symposium, we bring together an international group of entrepreneurship education scholars who will lead us in discussion to explore the value of entrepreneurship education and consider pedagogies and approaches that best support the learning of students aspiring to engage in entrepreneurship. These questions are particularly pertinent to the 2020 AOM Theme of “Creating a Better World Together” as entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education have an important role to play in building new organizations that are poised to partner to address societal challenges, environmental degradation, and build a “new normal.”