Abstract
Orientation: The relatively high number of unemployed graduates in South Africa is a major cause for concern. Entrepreneurial start-ups have been heralded as the panacea to the unemployment challenge.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to ascertain how entrepreneurship education, at traditional South African universities, measured against existing entrepreneurship education frameworks.Motivation for the study: Despite a plethora of entrepreneurship education initiatives, the South African higher education system fails to produce sufficient entrepreneurs; hence, the need to explore how entrepreneurship education is structured.Research design, approach and method: The research design was exploratory and both quantitative and qualitative in nature. The population comprised the eleven traditional universities in South Africa and all of them were included in the study. Secondary data was obtained from the respective universities’ websites. The search sequence in the websites were as follows: Faculty of commerce/Management Sciences, Year/handbook, undergraduate/postgraduate programmes. The word ‘entrepreneurship’ was also used as a keyword to search within the university website.Main findings: The findings revealed some entrepreneurship modules, with low total credit value in relation to total programme credit value, at the undergraduate level and specialisation at the postgraduate level with some form of centre or incubator initiatives. It was also found that little attention is given to the development of entrepreneurial skills such as perseverance, resilience and self-efficacy.Practical/managerial implications: The significance of this article lies in its potential to guide the reconceptualisation of entrepreneurship education at South African universities.Contribution/value-add: This study integrates an existing framework and model to reconceptualise the undergraduate entrepreneurship programme. The reconceptualised structure entails a programme where modules from other disciplines are integrated into an entrepreneurship programme as opposed to the current structure where entrepreneurship modules are integrated into other career-focussed programmes.
Highlights
South Africa’s unemployment rate stands at 26.7% (Statistics South Africa 2017), which is rather distant from the 14% target espoused in the National Development Plan for 2020 and even further from the 6% targeted for 2030 (National Planning Commission 2012)
The findings with respect to the configuration of entrepreneurship education are summarised in Table 4 and are listed in order of the QS University World Ranking system
The aim of this article was to explore how entrepreneurship education is structured in traditional universities in South Africa
Summary
South Africa’s unemployment rate stands at 26.7% (Statistics South Africa 2017), which is rather distant from the 14% target espoused in the National Development Plan for 2020 and even further from the 6% targeted for 2030 (National Planning Commission 2012). Neither the public sector nor the private sector has the capacity to absorb graduates (Fatoki 2010) and, entrepreneurial start-ups have been encouraged as the panacea to the unemployment challenge in South Africa (Chimucheka 2014; Kabonga & Okpara 2010). Collet (2013) contends that entrepreneurship education should enhance entrepreneurial intentions to influence individuals to start a business. A relatively recent study involving 400 South African final year http://www.actacommercii.co.za. A case at one university of technology in South Africa’, China-USA Business Review 10(1), 53–64. & Holt, D., 2018, ‘Social entrepreneurship in South Africa: Exploring the influence of environment’, Business and Society 57(3), 525–561. & Kuratko, D.F., 2014, ‘Building university 21st century entrepreneurship programs that empower and transform’, in S.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
