Student perception of their knowledge of social entrepreneurship: gender gap and disciplinary analysis of an Ashoka Changemaker campus in Latin America

Abstract

PurposeThe objective of the study was to analyze the perception of knowledge and experience development in social entrepreneurship in students of a university certified by Ashoka as a Changemaker campus and to identify data that argue for equitable training among all students regardless of gender and discipline studied.Design/methodology/approachThe authors evaluated the perception of knowledge about social entrepreneurship of a group of students from a university certified as Ashoka Changemaker Campus to check if there are differences by gender and disciplinary area. The population was 140 students, to whom a validated instrument was applied.FindingsThe results shed light on the few differences among students in the business, engineering and health sciences disciplines compared to those enrolled in the humanities and social sciences concerning knowledge and experience in social entrepreneurship. The findings also indicate gender equality in the perception of knowledge and experience of innovation and social entrepreneurship.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size in the different disciplinary areas is a limitation of this research. However, the findings are valuable in terms of gender and the study being conducted in the first university certified as a Changemaker Campus in Latin America.Practical implicationsUnderlying the statistics and the hypotheses is important in improving students' experience and expanding their equitable opportunities to learn about and implement innovative proposals for social entrepreneurship projects.Social implicationsTraining in equality and inclusion contributes to an equitable and socially just society, especially when this training aims to bring new possibilities to society. This study links with those that have been conducted in other institutions, where conscious efforts have been made to reduce the gender gap or differences by disciplinary area when undertaking social entrepreneurship projects that connect sectors for social benefit. This research also argues for the need to identify the impact of other cultural elements, in addition to the knowledge provided by universities, that reduce the gap among their students.Originality/valueThis study is original because of its hypotheses about university students' social entrepreneurship projects, being conducted in a special environment (Ashoka Changemaker campus) in Latin America. The data were analyzed under hypothesis testing, contrasting the empirical evidence with the theoretical assumptions.