Entrepreneurship Education: Substance and Challenges

Abstract

Role of entrepreneurship and enterprise development in economic development and nation building is well accepted fact and does not need any debate. Further, ‘Born vs. Made or ‘Nature vs. Nurture’ themes of entrepreneurship, is also a well-researched and well-discussed topic in the academic world. States and governments have appreciated and accepted the importance of enterprise development, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial mindset in the development of nations. Based on the realization that entrepreneurship works as a catalyst to the social, economic and national development; governments initiated many activities, interventions and programs to promote entrepreneurship and foster entrepreneurial endeavors. Simultaneously, educational institutions and universities worldwide conceived, designed and started delivering structured long duration programs targeted at young undergraduate and post graduate students. Parallel to this movement, many young educated students also started embracing entrepreneurship as career option. Business schools and management institutes from across the world offer an array of entrepreneurship and small business modules and programs. Some of the business schools started entrepreneurship first as an elective course, added by more courses, and later on as specialization / concentration or major; and finally as a long duration program Even, degree programs from non-business disciplines like engineering, science, fashion technology, design and media have also included entrepreneurship as a course or concentration. Similarly in the Indian context, entrepreneurship education programs leading to a qualification are being offered. However, by nature, entrepreneurship education is considered as complex area of teaching and education due to its multi-disciplinary approach as well as issues and challenges of the curriculum design, delivery and evaluation pattern. Adding to these, issues and challenges of pedagogical tools and innovative instructional methods are another area of concern. Dearth of entrepreneurship educators further aggravates the problem. With the proliferation of the number of institutes, business schools, universities offering entrepreneurship education at both undergraduate and post graduate levels, current challenges confronting entrepreneurship education need to be examined. This paper endeavors to identify and classify some of the challenges and issues of entrepreneurship education, themes of entrepreneurship education, and different models of entrepreneurship education. The paper also attempts to look at the current practices of leading institutions and universities and suggest some of the ways to address challenges and issues of entrepreneurship education.