Principal investigator: Viviane Pires Ribeiro
Article title: THE IMPACT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION: A STUDY OF IRANIAN STUDENTS'
ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS AND OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION
Article authors: Saeid Karimi, Harm JA Biemans, Thomas Lans, Mohammad Chizari, and Martin Mulder
Location of the intervention: Iran
Sample size: 205 participants
Sector: Education
Type of Intervention: Assessment of the impacts of education
about entrepreneurship
Primary variable of interest: Education
Entrepreneur
Evaluation method: Others – Theory of Planned Behavior
Evaluation Context
Most empirical studies indicate that entrepreneurship, or at least some of its aspects, can be taught and that education can be considered one of the main instruments for fostering entrepreneurial attitudes, intentions, and skills. This view has led to a significant increase in the number of Entrepreneurial Education Programs (EEPs) in colleges and universities, thus increasing the amount of investment in these programs.
Many developing countries, including Iran, have been facing economic problems, in particular, the excessive number of university graduates who are unable to find job opportunities in the public or private sector. In recent years, Iran has expressed growing interest in various fields of entrepreneurship (in higher education and policymaking settings) as a key solution to the problem of unemployment and economic improvement.
To promote and stimulate entrepreneurship and innovation, the Iranian government established a comprehensive entrepreneurship development program in universities in 2000, called KARAD, as part of the Third Economic and Social Development Program. The main objectives of KARAD were to foster entrepreneurial spirit and culture within academic communities and to familiarize students with entrepreneurship, aiming to encourage and prepare them to develop a business plan. To achieve this goal, several programs and strategies were considered, including the establishment of entrepreneurship centers and the introduction of entrepreneurship courses as "fundamentals of entrepreneurship" in undergraduate programs.
Intervention Details
Given the lack of studies on the impacts of Entrepreneurship Education Programs in Iranian universities, Karimi et al. (2016) seek to reduce theoretical and methodological gaps and make four contributions to the existing literature. First, the authors use an intention model to assess the impact of EEPs. Second, they study the effects of mandatory and elective entrepreneurship courses in different universities. The third contribution is the use of a pre-test and post-test design to study these effects. And the fourth contribution is to evaluate the effect of entrepreneurship education on non-entrepreneurial university students in a developing country, Iran.
Based on the theory of planned behavior, an ex-ante and ex-post study was used to evaluate the impacts of elective and mandatory entrepreneurial training programs on students' entrepreneurial intention and opportunity identification. Data were collected through questionnaires over a period of approximately four months (2010-2011 academic year), totaling a sample of 205 participants from "fundamentals of entrepreneurship" courses at 6 Iranian universities.
The "Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship" course, either mandatory or optional, was offered to students in their final two years of undergraduate studies at various colleges. The course aimed to increase university graduates' knowledge of entrepreneurship, influencing their entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions, and encouraging them to be job creators rather than job seekers.
Methodology Details
Karimi et al. (2016) used a quantitative method, including a questionnaire that was distributed at the beginning of the first session of the courses (t1) and at the end of the last session (t2). Undergraduate students enrolled in entrepreneurship courses at six Iranian public universities served as the sample for the study (n = 320). In the first survey (t1), 275 students participated (response rate of 86%) and in the second survey (t2), 240 students participated (response rate of 75%). It was possible to combine the two questionnaires (t1 and t2) for 205 students, representing 64% of the total enrollments in entrepreneurship courses at the selected universities. The sample consisted of 86 male students (42%) and 119 female students (58%), with ages ranging from 19 to 31, with a mean age of 22,08 years.
There was a higher proportion of women in the sample because more women than men enroll in the courses for which the data were collected. Only students participating in the courses answered both questionnaires. In general terms, the distribution of the sample according to the higher education course was as follows: Agricultural Sciences (49,8%), Engineering Sciences (21,5%), Humanities (21,5%), and Basic Sciences (7,2%).
All items (except demographic characteristics) were measured using a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Several control variables were used in the study: age, sex (coded as 1 = male and 0 = female), university ranking (coded as 3 = high ranking, 2 = intermediate ranking, and 1 = low ranking), university (categorical variable for the six selected universities), and academic specialization (categorical variable for the four academic degrees).
As a first step, the authors performed an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) of the items. The remaining items after this filtering exercise were selected to construct each of the constructs used in Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in the second step. This modeling was employed to define the relationship between Entrepreneurial Intentions and their antecedents and to test the relationships between Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC), Attitude Toward Entrepreneurship, Perceived Opportunity Identification, and Entrepreneurial Intentions. Furthermore, the paired-samples t-test was used to test the impact of the programs on students' entrepreneurial attitudes, perceived opportunity identification, and entrepreneurial intentions. Finally, the independent-samples t-test was used to compare the effects of elective and mandatory courses.
Results
The results indicate that Entrepreneurship Education Programs significantly influence subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, but that these programs did not have a significant impact on students' attitudes towards entrepreneurship and their perceptions of opportunity identification. The study also showed that optional programs significantly increased students' entrepreneurial intentions, but that this increase was not significant for mandatory Entrepreneurship Education Programs.
In particular, the results suggest that universities can develop students' entrepreneurial intentions through elective, rather than mandatory, PEE courses. That is, educators should differentiate between mandatory courses offered to all students and elective courses offered to students interested in entrepreneurship. In the first case, after completing the PEE, some students will realize that they are suited for entrepreneurship and will be strengthened in their decision to become entrepreneurs, while others will realize that they are not. In elective courses, on the other hand, self-selection will lead to a higher level of entrepreneurial intentions and increase the likelihood of participants becoming entrepreneurs.
Lessons in Public Policy
The study conducted by Karimi et al. (2016) provides important information for those who formulate, deliver, and evaluate educational programs aimed at increasing students' entrepreneurial intentions. The results indicate that Perceived Behavioral Control is the strongest predictor of entrepreneurial intentions, and PBC can be promoted through PEE. Therefore, educators should focus on using appropriate teaching methods to enhance students' Perceived Behavioral Control more effectively. The analysis suggests that participation in elective and mandatory PEE can positively influence students' PBC or self-efficacy, confirming that universities can shape and promote entrepreneurial self-efficacy through these programs.
Educational activities that provide “real-world” or “virtual reality” experiences in the classroom, including the use of role-playing, case studies, and business simulations, facilitate the development of decision-making skills and strengthen entrepreneurial self-confidence through mastery experiences or repeated performance achievements. Vicarious learning (learning derived from indirect sources, such as observation) can be enhanced through educational activities, with successful entrepreneurs as guest speakers, case studies, internships, and participation in business plan competitions. Encouraging comments, positive feedback and praise, and persuasive discussions with teachers and professionals in educational programs can increase self-efficacy through social persuasion.
Policymakers and university faculty should recognize the differential effects of various types of entrepreneurial education programs (EEPs) and that the effects will not be the same across all programs. While it is not possible to recommend a specific type of program, policymakers and instructors who wish to train more and better entrepreneurs, although subject to cost constraints, should bear in mind that elective programs may produce better results than mandatory programs. Policymakers and educators should also be aware that cultural context and values play an important role in EEPs. Therefore, policymakers and educators should develop EEPs that accommodate these different cultural values.
Reference
KARIMI, Saeid et al. The impact of entrepreneurship education: A study of Iranian students' entrepreneurial intentions and opportunity identification. Journal of Small Business Management, vol. 54, n. 1, p. 187-209, 2016.
