Perceptions of Social Microentrepreneurs as Innovative Role Models for University Students

Abstract

With an exploratory survey administered to 101 alumni who voluntarily and anonymously participated, since its inception in 1999, in the social service program at the Yunus Center, at the Mexican public Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC), five core dimensions of entrepreneurship were assessed: learning, entrepreneurial intention, skill development, inspiration and confidence, and opportunity recognition. The findings indicate that engagement with social microentrepreneurs (marginalized and impoverished) during social service served as a facility for developing entrepreneurial skills and intentions. Over 87% reported increased inspiration, motivation, and confidence, and more than 88% identified entrepreneurial opportunities through their participation. That suggests that interaction with necessity-driven microentrepreneurs as role models can create an innovative, inclusive learning environment among university students, and a possible low-cost method approach for fostering social and economic entrepreneurship, according to the UN’s sustainable development goals SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

1. Introduction

The international reconfiguration of economic realities has contributed to the emergence of a competitive environment in which the acquisition of knowledge is increasingly viewed as a central strategy for businesses, regions, and countries to successfully integrate into national and international trade flows, as well as to address the social challenges associated with economic transformations. In this context, many countries have promoted educational models that aim to develop professionals with the knowledge, skills, abilities, and qualities demanded by societies, thereby assigning a strategic role to Higher Education Systems (HESs) in response to economic and social challenges through their graduates. One of the challenges that has gained prominence in recent years is the role of universities in fostering education for citizenship as a means of addressing persistent social gaps through entrepreneurship. As a result, educational models have increasingly incorporated activities oriented towards entrepreneurship.

For over two decades, there has been a recognized need to coordinate efforts for more meaningful student learning through the strengthening of relationships among academic bodies, microentrepreneurs, and government sectors to conduct activities that enhance knowledge and have significant impacts in a more inclusive business dynamic. Part of the challenge is oriented towards the university’s capabilities to impact the social spectrum outside the classroom through academic practices and social service. The main challenge is how to place students in real scenarios where they can participate in solving problems across various sectors aiming at social welfare [1].

Some individuals choose to start businesses out of necessity, while others do so based on opportunity. Necessity arises from dissatisfaction with employment conditions and low-income levels, whereas opportunity is often based on entrepreneurial models of reference guided by higher education programs, which allow students to enhance empirical knowledge acquired either within their family nucleus or social circle. With a different perspective on labor market conditions, students or graduates may feel motivated to create their own jobs, that is, their opportunity-based ventures [2,3].

The significance of this learning model, which provides on-site technical assistance to marginalized microenterprises, enabled students to apply their knowledge and supported processes of continuous improvement in each microenterprise, while also using these experiences as reference points for future business behaviors. This vision of linkage as a strategy for developing entrepreneurial skills through service to impoverished microenterprises is distinct from those where academics and entrepreneurs interact to perform mutually beneficial actions to stimulate the competitiveness of different-sized innovative enterprises.

The primary objective of this study is to analyze how participation in the PIADMYPE social service program at the UABC Yunus Center influences university students’ entrepreneurial development. Specifically, the study examines how direct interaction with necessity-driven microentrepreneurs contributes to students’ entrepreneurial intention, skill development, inspiration, confidence, and opportunity recognition.

To address this objective that encourages sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial commitment, an exploratory survey was administered to 101 random alumni at the individual level who participated in the Research, Assistance and Teaching Program for Micro and Small Enterprises (PIADMYPE) program over time. Thus, this study contributes to SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

2. Literature Review

Entrepreneurship is generally understood as the introduction of a new good or substantial improvements in the quality of goods, the introduction of a new production method, the development of new markets, or the emergence of a new form of industrial organization [4]. It also refers to the innovative process that depends on the entrepreneur and is vital for introducing new methods into the production process [5,6]; moreover, it involves the creation of new fresh ideas for the development of business models across various markets.

Specific perspectives attribute business creation to individual-specific traits, emphasizing psychological characteristics, individual qualities, human capital, social capital, labor market experience, family background, and reference models, among other factors [7]. Others are associated with the macroeconomic environment, socioeconomic characteristics, institutional context, and the level of economic development among countries and regions [8].

The literature presents two significant hypotheses: entrepreneurship by necessity (the push effect) and entrepreneurship by opportunity (the pull effect). On the one hand, the push effect occurs in response to adverse economic circumstances, either due to unemployment or labor market rigidity. On the other hand, the pull effect links entrepreneurship to seizing market opportunities arising from new economic growth dynamics, where capabilities and human capital play a crucial role [9,10].

The social discussion has led to the development of strategies and public policies in social innovation through entrepreneurship. Some of these strategies arise from various organizations, such as the European Commission. With its Europe 2020 strategy, it recognizes the importance of entrepreneurship and self-employment in achieving sustainable and integrated growth. In Latin America, the Inter-American Development Bank analyzes and compares institutional and operational aspects of innovation and entrepreneurship [11], while the International Labour Organization (ILO), in line with the 2030 Development Agenda, has launched several projects committed to entrepreneurship as an opportunity for labor insertion and inclusion for developing individual and organizational capacities [12].

According to the SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth, Universities are playing a significant role in training professionals with the capabilities, aptitudes, and skills to develop entrepreneurship projects and strategies, enabling them to confront the realities of a constantly changing global economy. This has challenged the role that universities play in economic development, seeking to position education and research as value-generating elements through the creation of human capital as a strategic element to boost entrepreneurship as a relevant activity to address the economic needs of a country.

The Mexican stabilization program from the late 1980s until the second decade of this century was marked by trade liberalization, government spending adjustments, and the privatization of large public enterprises. The economy faced the challenge that the more it opened externally, the more the macroeconomy permeated the realm of businesses. This shift in the economic model led to growing economic uncertainty as the opening progressed. For large enterprises accustomed to this, the new context posed no problem. However, for microenterprises, with less than ten workers, the benefits of trade liberalization were from minimal to non-existent, as their production volumes are not large enough to enter global market value chains, and their owners lack the necessary preparation and management capacity to reach larger markets [13]. In this reality, some university programs like the Program of Teaching, Support and Research on Microenterprises (PIADMYPE) at the UABC Yunus Center have played an important role in providing these types of economic units with knowledge support that would be difficult or impossible to acquire through other means [14].

In Mexico, it has been traditional consider microenterprises are marginal economic units in the development process due to their limited ability to generate added value. However, the early 21st century has seen a reevaluation of the smaller scale for its benefits in contributing to the reorganization of production, and notably, for its highlighted impact on employment and equity. Despite the low quality of jobs, they became the primary source of labor that medium and large enterprises failed to absorb. Indeed, before 1980, micro and small enterprises (MSEs) experienced a significant decline in their employment share, attributed to the strengthening of medium and large enterprises. However, this trend was reversed in subsequent periods with a resurgence of MSEs’ weight in the industrial composition. In fact, from 1999 to 2023, between 98% and 95% of economic units in Mexico were microenterprises, and together with small businesses, they constituted 99% of the total Mexican business base [1].

The dynamism of microenterprises in terms of establishments has been favored by the adverse effects of low economic growth observed over the last few decades, mainly due to the high number of workers seeking their source of income for subsistence through the creation of family microenterprises. However, despite representing 95.4% of establishments and contributing 41.4% of employed personnel, they only generate 16.0% of the total Gross Value. In this context of industrial organization, the interest that has arisen in recent years in business behavior models highlights that the propensity to undertake entrepreneurship is more frequently observed among individuals who grew up in an environment influenced by business knowledge from family, friends, teachers, and acquaintances at the time of forming entrepreneurial intentions and attitudes [15]. This is primarily observed in young individuals [16], who often link the development of their entrepreneurial spirit to a reference model, such as that of their parents and peers [17,18,19].

Role models can serve as sources of social capital. Indeed, this term has been widely accepted and empirically proven to refer to the social networks and individual weaves to later extract benefits from them [20,21]. For [22], role models are a good opportunity to learn by example and through support, where both types of learning can flourish in a social context where individuals observe, identify, and generate a bidirectional dynamic of support, advice, and detection of entrepreneurial opportunities through social networks [23].

From an entrepreneurial intention’s perspective, that includes contextual, motivational and cognitive aspects [24], role models are based on social learning, stemming from the influence of parents and a preference for an entrepreneurial career, which is associated with a specific activity that has generated favorable experiences. As a result of this learning process, expectations lead to a self-evaluation process to determine whether they possess the skills necessary to perform in such an activity [25]. Thus, the role model can motivate the development of skills that will enable them to become entrepreneurs, as participation is the best opportunity to gain knowledge and self-confidence. The presence of other entrepreneurs legitimizes entrepreneurial aspirations [26].

There are determinants of entrepreneurship that have been widely studied and discussed in the context of role models [27]. Among these factors, those related to personality, risk attitude [28], family background, and self-confidence stand out. These factors play a significant role when one wishes to become an entrepreneur, and although the individual may not possess the necessary business knowledge, they can acquire it through direct transfer by identifying with a reference model to follow [29]. Consequently, a role model becomes a tangible certainty in achievable objectives and enhances self-confidence to participate in entrepreneurial activities [30].

Since 1942, the Mexican Constitution has included social service as a requirement for higher education students seeking a professional degree in all disciplines. Social services have been a strategy that contributes to combating urban and rural poverty, as well as extending the benefits of scientific and technological development to disadvantaged sectors of Mexican society [31]. This fact, linked to economic development, justifies creating a dynamic that allows students to apply their knowledge and have the opportunity to participate in entrepreneurial activities, influenced by the behavior, demonstrations, and examples provided by others involved in entrepreneurship [32,33], such as social-based microentrepreneurs.

The microentrepreneur with whom the student interacted during social service is usually an individual who provides an example for the development of the young provider’s entrepreneurial spirit, stimulating specific entrepreneurial behavior, style, and attributes [34]. Beyond technical assistance, the added value of PIADMYPE in training future entrepreneurs is linked to the connection with microentrepreneurs that influence young people when they embark on entrepreneurship themselves [35], thanks to inspiration, motivation, and increased confidence [36]. Inspiration allows social service students to try to imitate microentrepreneurs’ behavior driven by their necessity. Motivation encourages individuals, in this case, students, to start some entrepreneurial activity and the increase in confidence. As the act of entrepreneurship depends on self-confidence in their skill development, this becomes a key factor in increasing learning, opportunity recognition, and the likelihood that an individual will develop an entrepreneurial intention [37].

To learn by example, role models offer a great opportunity to gain experience by observing an entrepreneur, as knowledge is acquired through concrete experience. On the other hand, learning by doing, executing a job, or a series of activities related to providing social service to microentrepreneurs leads the student to apply learned knowledge and strengthens their confidence and entrepreneurial spirit.

Gibson defines role models as cognitive constructions based on individuals like oneself [38]. Therefore, by connecting and constructing their ideal based on their own needs, individuals are capable of learning, motivating themselves, and clarifying their self-perception. Generally, individuals are attracted to behavior models they perceive as similar in terms of characteristics, behavior, and goals, from which they can learn certain skills, aptitudes, and abilities [22,39]. This creates a psychological match between the cognitive abilities and behavior patterns of a reference person and an observing individual [40]. While the model aspects determine who can learn certain skills and develop them, role identification can give space to an adaptation and identification of an individual’s preferences for following certain behavior, if it is rewarding [41].

From the perspective of social learning, individuals have the personal capacity to organize and execute a job or various tasks when they are attracted to role models that can help them to develop further new tasks and skills. This type of learning can be nuanced by the trait related to learning through support [42,43]. Therefore, while reference models provide individuals with inspiration, support, and guidance, they also highlight their entrepreneurial impact by contributing to the development of four interrelated functions: inspiration and confidence, learning by example and by doing, increased opportunity recognition, and increased entrepreneurial intention.

3. Materials and Methods

PIADMYPE was established as a university community service program in 1999 to provide students of economics and management with the skills and knowledge necessary to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. This program allowed participating students to aid microentrepreneurs over a 12-week period, developing a process of data collection, processing, and analysis that culminates in a report on the performance of the microenterprises. In addition to providing on-site assistance and supporting specific problems of the microentrepreneur, students engage with them, transferring knowledge but also building knowledge through their example, and developing their entrepreneurial spirit. Thus, by providing their social service and relating to the example of an entrepreneurial microentrepreneur, they learn by doing and build entrepreneurial intentions and attitudes.

Beyond the economic and social impacts previously reported by [1], the present study seeks to explore the educational outcomes of the program for students more than twenty years after its creation. Based on the literature on entrepreneurship education and service learning, a field study with an exploratory approach was conducted in 2023. The purpose of the study was to explore how the participation of university students in a service-learning program (PSS) oriented toward supporting microenterprises contributes to the development of entrepreneurial attitudes, skills, and intentions.

To achieve this objective, a brief exploratory questionnaire was randomly administered to graduates of several generations who had previously completed their social service as participants in the PIADMYPE program, which links university students with microentrepreneurs located in socially disadvantaged contexts. The questionnaire was designed to capture self-reported perceptions regarding participants’ experiences related to entrepreneurial learning during their social service participation.

The instrument was structured around five dimensions commonly addressed in the entrepreneurship education literature: (1) entrepreneurial learning; (2) perceived probability of becoming an entrepreneur; (3) development of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills; (4) inspiration, motivation, and self-confidence associated with entrepreneurship; and (5) the ability to identify entrepreneurial opportunities. The items were measured using a five-point Likert scale ranging from “definitely no” to “definitely yes.”

The survey was randomly distributed electronically to graduates of the program, of whom 101 agreed to participate voluntarily and anonymously. The final sample included participants aged between 22 and 42 years (mean age = 28; standard deviation = 4). Women represented the majority of respondents (60.4%), and participants reported entrepreneurial experience ranging from one to six years.

The data were exported from the online platform, organized in a Microsoft Excel database, and analyzed using SPSS statistical software version 29.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Given the exploratory nature of the study, the analysis is entirely descriptive and does not aim to establish causal relationships. Instead, it seeks to identify patterns in participants’ perceptions and entrepreneurial experiences over time. These findings will provide useful insights into the future development and operation of the PIADMYPE program.

4. Results and Discussion

According to the respondents, 73.3% reported being single, 21.8% married, and 4.8% living in a relationship. The predominant birthplace reported by participants is Tijuana, although regions in the center of the republic, such as Mexico City, Guadalajara, and the southeast, including Oaxaca and Acapulco, are also represented. Other cities from the northwest of Mexico, such as Culiacán and Hermosillo, were also mentioned as places of origin, reflecting the mobility of students who once studied at UABC and later returned to their places of origin.

Among all respondents, female participants reported a preference for programs with a greater community impact. In terms of occupation, although 63.4% reported being employed and 16.8% identified themselves as entrepreneurs, 19.8% are both employees and entrepreneurs, which show that entrepreneurship can be a side activity to employment and a source of extra income. This indicates that engaging in both activities is related to the skills, competencies, finance, or logistical resources obtained as an employee, which influences entrepreneurial activity [44].

A total of 55.4% of respondents are or have been involved in some form of entrepreneurship, while the remaining 34.7% answered that they have not. This is important because social stigma towards failure is a factor that delays or inhibits the undertaking of entrepreneurial intentions, as it deters people from starting businesses [45]. Moreover, 62.4% of respondents indicated intentions to engage in some entrepreneurship-related activity, while 23.8% answered maybe (

Table 1. Entrepreneurial background and intention.

Item	No (%)	Maybe (%)	Yes (%)
Q1. Have you engaged in entrepreneurial activities?	34.7	9.9	55.4
Q2. Do you plan to engage in entrepreneurial activities in the future?	12.9	23.8	62.4
Q3. Did learning during your social service increase your work activity?	10.9	18.8	70.3
Q8. Did you develop inspiration, motivation, and increased confidence?	5.0	16.8	78.2

).

Previous research on experiences of linkage between higher education and social entrepreneurs has argued that PSS participants in these types of activities can develop and learn new skills that can later be applied in the development of an enterprise or in the community. This suggests a new perspective on the impact of student participation in social service [46]. Indeed, 70.3% of respondents stated that the learning acquired during their social service in PIADMYPE helped increase their activity at work.

One of the benefits of PIADMYPE is that during their social service, students analyze information, process data, and examine methodologies applied to the reality of the impoverished microentrepreneurs they serve. Thus, participants in service-learning activities apply their knowledge to critically learn, evaluating what is important and what is not, according to the prevailing context.

Based on respondents’ self-reports, the experience as a PSS was perceived as being associated with a greater inclination toward engaging in entrepreneurial activities (

Table 2. Perceived entrepreneurial learning outcomes from the PIADMYPE experience (%).

Item	Definitely No	Probably No	Not Sure	Probably Yes	Definitely Yes
Q4. Experience increased probability of entrepreneurship	-	5.9	5.9	47.5	40.6
Q5. Knowledge and entrepreneurial skills acquisition	1.0	5.9	5.9	42.6	44.6
Q6. Training program provided business management tools	3.0	2.0	13.9	32.7	48.5
Q7. Positive emotions advising microentrepreneurs	1.0	4.0	3.0	40.6	51.5
Q9. Learning to detect business opportunities	1.0	2.0	8.9	41.6	46.5
Q10. Strengthened entrepreneurial preference	-	5.9	11.9	40.6	41.6

). 40.6% of respondents answered positively, while 47.5% answered probably yes because of their involvement in supportive activities with social microenterprises. This positive response speaks about the relationship between the university’s entrepreneurial spirit and the social microentrepreneurs as reference models. The pedagogical dynamics of PSS in the PIADMYPE program allow students to acquire new knowledge and skills, as well as develop and acquire other tools that later increase the likelihood of developing entrepreneurial intentions. This provides access to a logic where students are influenced by behavior, demonstration, and examples provided by the microentrepreneurs with whom they interact through PSS.

The fact that 44.6% answered definitely yes and 42.6% probably yes shows the perceptions of the students about the influence of the microentrepreneurs with whom they interact as reference models for knowledge acquisition. The relative strength of a role model shapes entrepreneurial intentions and simultaneously develops motivation to engage in entrepreneurship. A role model can be so influential on a PSS student that it generates a formative process in which the entrepreneurial event materializes [47]. It also serves as examples that others can emulate, stimulating, inspiring, and primarily motivating young people to achieve specific goals and make decisions [48]. The social service model for supporting microenterprises, based on the idea that university junior and senior students are in a formative stage, equipped them with the basic tools to subsequently advise and assist microenterprises over a 12-week period. This process involves developing a data collection, processing, and analysis framework that culminates in a report on their performance. This enables both personal relationships and qualified advice for microentrepreneurs. The synergy of support and learning between the microentrepreneur and the PSS student is the most significant value of the methodology offered by PIADMYPE.

Regarding training, the courses provide essential tools for business analysis. By creating a dynamic service learning, information difficult to obtain through other sources is generated, enabling economic analysis. The training is oriented towards topics including macroeconomic environment, microenterprise development, institutions and local development, market strategies, production and costs analysis, economic and financial evaluation, and social responsibility. Respondents indicated that the training was definitely useful to them in 48.5% and probably valuable for 32.7%, showing that the program equipped them with the necessary tools and knowledge to develop and fulfill the tasks of advising a microentrepreneur. Part of the information generated by PSS students was used to consolidate a database of microenterprise indicators, and another part to improve themselves as micro-consultants based on the knowledge of these economic units. The educational and pedagogical character of the program enables the performance of microenterprises to be agilely evaluated based on the processing and systematization of information by the PSS.

As in other extensively studied experiences in empirical research on entrepreneurship, the viability of initiating entrepreneurial activities is influenced by positive feelings of self-efficacy, which are enhanced by the confidence of associating with reference models [49,50,51,52]. Notably, 51.1% of the respondents reported that their experience as PSS developed positive feelings, and therefore impacted the learning that enables students to distinguish between effective and ineffective behaviors [53]. In this case, the role models in the PSS students had a significant impact, as they worked with microentrepreneurs whom they knew personally and who provided a highly influential positive experience.

It is worth noting that these qualities, such as inspiration, motivation, and increased confidence in entrepreneurial knowledge, are not only part of an individual’s personality, but can also be translated into a special ability for future activities [54], thereby playing a crucial role with strong psychological nuances that stimulate individuals with sustainable entrepreneurial intentions [55].

Most respondents indicated that their experience as PSS students increased their inspiration, motivation, and confidence during their time in the social service program for microenterprises. Therefore, if strengthening self-confidence encourages motivation and inspiration for forming entrepreneurial intentions, social service with microentrepreneurs generates that self-confidence but with sustainable bases. On the contrary, it is worth noting that a study by [56] on a group of typical business alumni revealed that risk, the need for independence, and potential income are the significant factors influencing their decision to undertake entrepreneurship.

For those PSS students who intertwine motivation and intentions to outline goals, strategies, and projects that allow for the detection of new opportunities and the development of business projects, many of the microentrepreneurs with whom they serve social services operate under adverse economic conditions, with production functions experiencing diminishing returns, low profit rates, little human capital, and scarce technology applied in their processes. This situation is more than conducive to applying the knowledge received during training, improving the microentrepreneurs’ economic situation as was reported by [57], and generating a synergy of learning through the social support provided. In addition to opportunities to apply knowledge, it is also possible to find niches for the development of business activities by the PSS respondents who indicated that they definitely and probably identified entrepreneurial opportunities with 46.5% and 41.6%, respectively.

The PSS student who interacts with the microentrepreneur applies their knowledge in a different social context than they normally operate in. By participating in this activity, the PSS student, through learning from the activities performed by the microentrepreneur, helps to strengthen the identification of opportunities based on the example of the microentrepreneur as a reference model. On one hand, learning by example and doing becomes an opportunity to gain experience through coexistence with a microentrepreneur as role models, and on the other hand, learning by supporting allows the PSS student to apply knowledge that ultimately influences the strengthening of their entrepreneurial spirit and a clear preference for entrepreneurial activity. The fact that 41.6% of respondents answered that they definitely would and 40.6% probably would, reveals the importance of the program in encouraging a preference for entrepreneurial activity. The synergy between learning by doing and learning by supporting undoubtedly generated entrepreneurial learning intentions during the support period provided by the PSS students.

Among the most relevant entrepreneurial activities mentioned are those related to the services sector; personnel recruitment; auto parts distribution management, trading activities, restaurants and bars, recycling, waste management for organic product production, production of artisanal bread, online sales, financial advisory, consultancy in insurance and bonds, financial consulting, real estate rentals and sales, private transport business, family farm, household product sales, grocery sales, fast food sales, cafeterias, stationeries, and rental of recreational spaces, among others.

Several respondents indicated having entrepreneurial projects in the pipeline, although many of them had not yet materialized, either due to low economic solvency to start the project, personal issues, or because they are still in the preparation phase of the project to undertake. The most influential criteria for deciding when to undertake range from the experience gained from their social service to securing an extra income.

5. Conclusions

The analysis of role models as a factor influencing the formation of entrepreneurial intentions and attitudes has been highly useful for examining how those young students who engaged in social service within the PIADMYPE with microentrepreneurs develop unexpected abilities and attitudes to become entrepreneurs. The results from the survey analysis indicate that the students who engaged in social service acquired skills, knowledge, and developed an entrepreneurial mindset with stronger entrepreneurial intentions. While the study does not employ inferential statistical techniques, its strength lies in providing rich descriptive evidence derived from a long-standing service-learning program with more than two decades of institutional continuity.

It can be concluded that over time, PIADMYPE has played a crucial role in enabling PSS students to acquire skills and knowledge when supporting disadvantaged microenterprises, becoming an innovative tool to foster real and inclusive entrepreneurship education. The obtained information vindicates the value of social service as an instrument of social policy, to include all those entrepreneurial microentrepreneurs who are in marginalized conditions, receiving quality business advice, which would be impossible to access through other means.

The results suggest two innovative aspects. One is that being in constant proximity with a microentrepreneur increases the likelihood of the student engaging in future entrepreneurial activities. The second point to note is that students who went through the microenterprise assistance program have, in the long term, been more likely to start business projects. As they were in a continual educational process, they developed positive feelings, inspiration, and increased confidence, key elements that stimulate students’ entrepreneurial intentions, according to the UN’s sustainable development goals of quality education, which by 2030 drives a substantial increase in the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

Finally, it can be stated that the experience of providing social service in PIADMYPE has been an enriching task that, by allowing interaction between students and microentrepreneurs, has generated a sustainable business role model through university social service, with a positive and significant effect that has enabled the formation of entrepreneurs and has become an innovative and inclusive model of learning through university social service.

Despite its contributions, this study has some limitations. First, the research is exploratory and based primarily on descriptive evidence from a specific university social service program, which, although it is useful, the generalizability of the findings to other institutional or national contexts may be carefully analyzed. Second, the study relies on self-reported perceptions from former participants and does not employ inferential statistical techniques to establish causal relationships between participants in the program and entrepreneurial outcomes.

Future research could incorporate longitudinal and comparative approaches to examine the long-term impact of service-learning entrepreneurship models across different universities and socioeconomic contexts. Additionally, future studies may apply inferential and mixed-method designs to further analyze how interaction with necessity-driven microentrepreneurs influences entrepreneurial intention, business creation, and professional development among students.