Search Results (227)

This study examines outcomes associated with a short-term intensive pedagogical experience aimed at developing social entrepreneurship competencies among university students at an Ashoka U–affiliated institution in Mexico. The program, Semana Tec de Agencia de Cambio, is a five-day experiential learning experience grounded in the SEL4C (Social Entrepreneurship Learning for Complexity) framework and designed to promote changemaking through interdisciplinary collaboration, reflection, and action. Using a quantitative quasi-experimental pre–post design (n = 210), data were collected through the validated Social Entrepreneur Profile (SEP), which assesses four dimensions: self-control, leadership, social awareness and social value, and social innovation and financial sustainability. Paired-samples t-tests indicated statistically significant increases (p < 0.001) across all dimensions, with small to medium effect sizes (Cohen’s d = 0.40–0.63). Multiple regression analysis showed that changes in social awareness and social value (β = 0.33, p < 0.001), leadership (β = 0.27, p = 0.004), and innovation and sustainability (β = 0.24, p = 0.006) were most strongly associated with overall changes in self-perceived competencies, explaining 58% of the variance (R² = 0.58). Overall, the findings suggest that short-term intensive educational experiences grounded in active and interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches may contribute to measurable changes in students’ self-perceived social entrepreneurship competencies. Rather than evidencing consolidated transformation, the results are best interpreted as early indicators of competency activation within changemaker-oriented learning environments. The study contributes empirical insight into the use of intensive formats in social entrepreneurship education and situates the SEL4C framework as a coherent pedagogical reference within the Ashoka U context, without implying causal validation. Full article

Problem: Entrepreneurship education continues to expand, yet it remains fragmented across disciplines and loosely connected to the knowledge, innovation, and venture ecosystems that shape entrepreneurial success. At the same time, AI is transforming research, collaboration, and venture development, but its use in education is typically limited to narrow, task-specific applications rather than ecosystem-level integration. Objective: This paper seeks to develop a comprehensive conceptual model for integrating AI into entrepreneurship education by positioning AI as a connective infrastructure that links and activates the knowledge, innovation, and venture ecosystems. Methods: The model is derived through an integrative synthesis of literature, programs, and activities on entrepreneurship education, ecosystem-based learning, and AI-enabled research and innovation practices, combined with an analysis of gaps in current educational approaches. Key Findings: The proposed model defines a progressive learning pathway consisting of (1) AI competency training that builds foundational capacities in critical judgment, responsible application, and creative adaptation; (2) AI praxis labs that use AI-curated ecosystem data to support iterative, project-based learning; and (3) venture studios where students scale outputs into innovations and ventures through structured ecosystem engagement. This pathway demonstrates how AI can function as a structural mediator of problem definition, research design, experimentation, analysis, and narrative translation. Contributions: This paper reframes entrepreneurship education as an iterative, inclusive, and ecosystem-connected process enabled by AI infrastructure. It offers a new theoretical lens for understanding AI’s educational role and provides actionable implications for curriculum design, institutional readiness, and policy development while identifying avenues for future research on competency development and ecosystem impacts. Full article

This study analyzes how Entrepreneurship Education Programs (EEPs) are discussed in the scientific literature, focusing on their relationship with social entrepreneurship, socioeconomic inclusion, sustainable development, and economic growth. The study adopts a narrative literature review with an analytical approach, drawing from nationally and internationally recognized databases. Additionally, this study distinguishes entrepreneurship education from social entrepreneurship, recognizing that while both share core values, they require distinct educational strategies and institutional support. The results were categorized into seven analytical dimensions, allowing a comprehensive evaluation of the relevance, challenges, best practices, and future perspectives of EEPs in higher education. Good practices were identified, as well as the importance of strengthening community networks and adopting active methodologies and emerging technologies as strategies to expand the programs’ impact. Practical recommendations were organized by target audiences—including educators, policymakers, institutional managers, and researchers—to support more inclusive and context-sensitive, and growth-oriented implementation of EEPs. This study reinforces the relevance of EEPs as instruments of social transformation and sustainable development, and recommends further investigation into the impacts of EEP on vulnerable communities, and developing more effective inclusion strategies. Full article

Engineering education must prepare graduates to transform technological knowledge into sustainable innovation. Technopreneurship represents a combination of technology and entrepreneurship that focuses on creating and growing businesses based on technological innovation. It involves identifying opportunities from technological advances, developing innovative tech-based products or services, and establishing viable business models to commercialize them. However, technopreneurship education in engineering programs often remains fragmented and poorly connected to real innovation ecosystems. This review synthesizes recent research on four pedagogical approaches that can strengthen sustainable technopreneurial competencies: Project-Based Learning, Technology-Enhanced Learning, Jigsaw collaborative learning, and international or interdisciplinary teamwork. A structured narrative synthesis examined how each approach supports four core competency domains: innovation and creativity, sustainability and impact orientation, entrepreneurial and strategic skills, and collaboration and global awareness. Findings indicate that while each pedagogy develops valuable capabilities, none alone provides comprehensive preparation for sustainable venture creation. Persistent gaps include limited integration of sustainability, weak pedagogical synergy, and insufficient ecosystem alignment. The paper therefore establishes the conceptual foundation for a future integrated approach, the Innovation and Technopreneurship Education Model, which will be developed and evaluated in subsequent research stages. Full article

In this study, we propose the Integrated Developmental Entrepreneurship Resiliency Framework (IDERF), a conceptual model positioning universities as orchestrators of stakeholder networks for entrepreneurial resilience and sustainability. Review and analysis of historical and contemporary research revealed gaps in existing approaches to sustainable entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship education has evolved from isolated curricula to formal programs that incorporate experiential learning and multilateral institutional access, which appreciably enhance entrepreneurial resilience and venture longevity. The integration of resilience theory with entrepreneurship research has identified multi-level sustainment factors across the disciplines of psychology, organizational theory, and structural economic development. The IDERF addresses this limitation by adapting the triple helix model to a quadruple helix framework that encompasses academia, government, industry, and community stakeholders. Our proposed conceptual framework was developed through conceptual synthesis based on a structured literature review of 212 publications on university-led entrepreneurship programs and entrepreneur sustainability and resilience since 1940. Our findings revealed the need for more resiliency-focused entrepreneurship program designs, synthesis between resilience and sustainability education, analysis of educational program impacts on business development sustainability, and practical entrepreneur training in real-world economic contexts. The resulting IDERF encompasses five dimensions of adaptive entrepreneurial capacity, stakeholder governance, economic transformation, social–environmental integration, and institutional reform as novel components of entrepreneurial resilience and sustainability. We propose an integrated mixed-methods research agenda that includes proposed research questions to instigate the development of measurement frameworks and cross-cultural validation to empirically test the IDERF’s effectiveness in fostering entrepreneurial resilience across diverse contexts and economic regions. Full article

This article explores experts’ perspectives on the most important soft skills for entrepreneurial success in the Western Balkans (WB) and identifies effective educational and workplace practices to foster these skills. Using a qualitative Delphi study supported by a literature review, the research gathered and synthesized opinions from 20 experts representing Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Findings show that communication, adaptability, flexibility, teamwork, and critical thinking are essential for business success, while leadership, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, and teamwork are considered most vital for future entrepreneurs. Experts emphasized that group projects, specialized courses, and blended learning approaches are effective in educational settings, while workplace skill development benefits from training programs, mentoring, active communication, and openness to feedback. This study provides region-specific insights into skill-building strategies for young entrepreneurs, addressing a key research gap. By integrating expert consensus with evidence-based practices, the article offers a framework for educators, policymakers, institutions, and businesses to strengthen entrepreneurship education and workforce readiness across the WB region. Full article

Background/Objectives: Despite its benefits for both nurses and patients, entrepreneurship among nurses remains uncommon. Specifically, impact entrepreneurship has rarely been applied in nursing. Impact entrepreneurship promotes solutions to health, social, and environmental challenges using business models committed to measurable social impact and return on investment. Beginning in 2020, an impact entrepreneurship course was introduced as a mandatory component of the master’s and nurse practitioner programs in geriatrics and palliative care at an Israeli college. This article examines the perceptions of the nurses who completed the course and explores how the course affected them and their professional practice. Methods: This mixed-methods study employed a convergent design and included self-administered questionnaires sent to all graduates of two cohorts, along with a qualitative thematic analysis of students’ reflective essays written during the course. Results: Students reported that the course empowered them to be innovators and contributed to their professional and personal development. They also explained that studying impact entrepreneurship could increase their earning potential and enable them to make a substantial difference for patients. Throughout the course, participants shifted their view of entrepreneurship and realized that, given nurses’ closeness with patients, they can and should be entrepreneurs. Before the course, students were reluctant to engage in entrepreneurship; afterward, students demonstrated marked interest in pursuing entrepreneurial pathways. Conclusions: Exposure to impact entrepreneurship can help nurses identify and implement creative and cost-effective solutions to workplace challenges. The professional characteristics of nurses position them as potential leaders of impact entrepreneurship in healthcare. Educational institutions worldwide should incorporate the subject of impact entrepreneurship into curricula and practice to realize that potential. Full article

This study aims to develop an entrepreneurial literacy model for mompreneurs that contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 (poverty reduction) and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 (decent work and economic growth), focusing on how entrepreneurial literacy transforms into financial behavior and fosters innovation in micro-business management. A qualitative case study was conducted in several districts of Makassar City, Indonesia. Participants were selected based on their status as mompreneurs and their type of business. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observations, and documentation, then analyzed using a thematic spiral model. Entrepreneurial literacy, obtained through formal and informal education, translates into financial behaviors such as basic planning, financial management, and reporting. Innovation emerges through improved creativity, marketing, customer relationships, product development, and service enhancement. This study proposes a conceptual model linking entrepreneurial literacy, financial behavior, and innovation, offering insights for developing training programs that empower women in entrepreneurship. The scope of this study is limited to mompreneurs operating micro-scale businesses in Makassar City; therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to different socio-economic contexts. Nevertheless, the results provide theoretical implications for enriching entrepreneurial literacy models from an accounting perspective and practical implications for policymakers to design gender-responsive entrepreneurship and financial literacy programs. Full article

Using a balanced provincial panel of 31 Chinese regions (2014–2022), this study examines how Digital Inclusive Finance (DIF) and Rural E-Commerce (RE) jointly shape the urban–rural income gap. Two-way fixed effects and instrumental-variable estimators mitigate confounding. Both DIF and RE are associated with narrower gaps, and the interaction term is negative and robust across specifications. Mechanism evidence indicates that the coupling operates through higher Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity, expanded rural credit supply, and stronger entrepreneurship. Effects are larger in Central/Western provinces and are most pronounced when DIF’s usage-depth and digital-support components are salient. For policymakers and managers, the findings support bundled investments in digital rails, platform logistics, and e-commerce–linked credit, with priority to lagging regions and programs that deepen usage. Overall, the results provide a tractable systems approach to aligning finance and markets for inclusive rural transformation. Full article

University social incubators have been emerging as relevant instruments within the Third Mission of higher education institutions, as they contribute not only to entrepreneurship and innovation but also to the promotion of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). While the literature on technological and business incubators is extensive, limited attention has been devoted to university social incubators and their role in strengthening SSE initiatives. This article presents partial results of a broader international research project, focusing specifically on the survey data collected in Argentina and Brazil. The comparative analysis highlights that, in both countries, university social incubators are more numerous than in many European contexts. In Brazil, the institutionalization of public programs such as PRONINC and ITCP has enabled universities to consolidate their engagement with SSE, while in Argentina experiences are more fragmented and less supported by stable policy frameworks. The findings show that university social incubators play a distinctive role in supporting cooperative projects, social enterprises, and community-based initiatives. They act as bridges between universities and local territories, fostering inclusive and sustainable development. Finally, the article discusses the managerial implications for incubator managers, universities, and SSE actors, as well as policy recommendations for decision-makers seeking to integrate SSE into innovation and development strategies. In doing so, the study contributes to the international debate on university incubators by moving beyond technology-oriented models and emphasizing their social transformative potential. Full article

The integration of emerging technologies is reshaping the teaching skills required in the 21st century, yet little evidence exists on how contextualized training supports rural teachers in adopting active methodologies and critically incorporating AI into entrepreneurship education. This study evaluated the impact of a 40-h professional development program implemented in Educational District 15D01 in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Thirty-nine secondary school teachers participated (mean age = 43.1 years); 36% lacked prior entrepreneurship training, and 44% had not recently mentored student projects. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed. The quantitative phase employed a 22-item questionnaire that addressed four dimensions: entrepreneurial knowledge, competencies, methodological strategies, and AI integration. Significant pre–post improvements were found (p < 0.001), with large effects for knowledge (d = 1.43), methodologies (d = 1.39), and AI integration (d = 1.30), and a moderate effect for competences (d = 0.66). The qualitative phase analyzed 312 open-ended responses, highlighting greater openness to innovation, enhanced teacher agency, and favorable perceptions of AI as a resource for ideation, prototyping, and evaluation. Overall, the findings suggest that situated, contextually aligned training can strengthen digital equity policies, foster pedagogical innovation, and empower educators in underserved rural communities, contributing to sustainable pathways for teacher professional development. Full article

Makerspaces are increasingly integrated into educational activities in both formal and nonformal contexts, from primary to higher education, particularly as interdisciplinary learning spaces that foster creativity and the “do-it-yourself” approach. Their hands-on approach stimulates agency, critical thinking, and innovation—competences closely tied to the entrepreneurship competence. However, empirical studies exploring the relationship between makerspaces and the development of entrepreneurship competence remain limited, often addressing only specific types of makerspaces or partial aspects of entrepreneurial competence. The aim of this study is to identify, based on a systematic literature review, if/how makerspaces contribute to developing entrepreneurial competences of students in secondary education. In total, 35 articles published in the last 10 years, indexed in ERIC, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, selected according to the PRISMA guidelines, met the inclusion criteria. The selected databases ensure both quality and broad coverage. The studies were analyzed using a structured framework based on four thematic categories: identity (makerspace as learning space influencing entrepreneurial competences), competence (focus on entrepreneurial competences), program (educational initiatives fostering entrepreneurial competences), environment (contextual factors shaping entrepreneurial competences in makerspaces). The findings reveal that the identity of makerspaces, characterized by values such as collaboration, valuing ideas, and hands-on learning, converges with the intentional design of learning environments and the structure of educational programs to foster entrepreneurial competences. Makerspaces were found to cultivate dimensions such as creativity, problem-solving, teamwork, initiative, and ethical thinking, all of which are listed as units of the entrepreneurial competence by EntreComp. The study concludes that makerspaces can act as effective pedagogical means for supporting entrepreneurial competence development. The results provide valuable insights and examples that can inform the design of future educational strategies and programs to promote entrepreneurship education and develop entrepreneurial competences in nonformal and formal learning settings acting as makerspaces. Full article

In recent years, the field of European funds for business development has generated significant interest in the academic literature, stimulated by European Union (EU) regulations and the implementation of business financing programs. This context has led to an increase in research on the impact and use of European funds, particularly in terms of support for economic development and infrastructure. This paper presents a bibliometric analysis, using topic modeling, to examine academic publications on the use and absorption of European funds and how they influence the business environment. Using a dataset of 74 publications indexed in the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science Core Collection, covering the period 2005–2024, the present study aims to identify the main authors, institutions, journals, and collaboration networks involved. It also analyzes research trends, dominant themes, and the countries with the largest contributions in this field, using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and BERTopic analysis as a complement to the classical bibliometric approach. The thematic analysis reveals a thematic cohesion around entrepreneurship, EU structural funds, regional development, and innovation. In addition, there has been a significant annual increase in publications in this field, and through the use of thematic maps, word clouds, and collaboration networks, this study provides an overview of the evolution of research on the absorption of European funds and its impact on the business environment. These findings contribute both to deepening academic knowledge and to formulating more effective European policies for optimizing fund absorption and supporting the sustainable development of the business environment. Full article

Digital Entrepreneurial Capability (DEC) is the integrated and learnable capacity that equips individuals, or founding teams, to sense, evaluate, and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities within digitally intermediated, platform-centric markets. The construct synthesises four interlocking elements. First, it requires technical dexterity: mastery of data engineering, AI-driven analytics, low-code development, cloud orchestration, and cybersecurity safeguards. Second, it draws on accumulated human capital—formal education, sector experience, and tacit managerial know-how that ground vision in operational reality. Third, DEC hinges on an opportunity-seeking mindset characterised by cognitive alertness, creative problem framing, a high need for achievement, and autonomous motivation. Finally, it depends on calculated risk tolerance, encompassing the ability to price and mitigate economic, technical, algorithmic, and competitive uncertainties endemic to platform economies. When these pillars operate synergistically, entrepreneurs translate digital affordances into scalable, resilient business models; when one pillar is weak, capability bottlenecks arise and ventures falter. Because each pillar can be intentionally developed through education, deliberate practice, and ecosystem support, DEC serves as a practical roadmap for stakeholders. It now informs scholarship across entrepreneurship, information systems, innovation management, and public-policy disciplines, and guides interventions ranging from curriculum design and accelerator programming to due-diligence heuristics and national digital literacy initiatives. Full article

Women entrepreneurs in rural South Africa face structural and socio-cultural barriers in accessing funding. This study investigated how existing financial structures and support programs influence the sustainability and growth of female-owned businesses in rural areas. Using bibliometric analysis and sentiment mapping with ATLAS.ti, 36 documents were analyzed from a screened pool of 613, focusing on keywords, titles, and abstracts. Results reveal that over 65% of documents reflect themes of discrimination and systemic financial exclusion. Findings show that while government initiatives and non-governmental organizations’ (NGOs) efforts (e.g., Department of Small Business Development (DSBD Women’s Development Business, (WDB) are making strides, challenges, such as collateral requirements, limited financial literacy, and infrastructure gaps, persist. The originality of this research lies in its hybrid methodological approach and the emphasis on rural-centric funding misalignments. The study contributes to policy dialogues by recommending tailored financial products co-designed with rural women, improved outreach programs, and integration of gender-sensitive financing mechanisms. It also lays a foundation for further empirical studies on institutional responses to female entrepreneurship in marginal communities. This study applied a novel hybrid method, combining bibliometric analysis with sentiment mapping using ATLAS.ti to uncover both systemic patterns and discursive trends. Its policy relevance lies in offering evidence-based recommendations that align with G20 strategies on gender equity and financial inclusion. Full article