| dc.description.abstract | This thesis explores the assessment of entrepreneurship education at the university level. The development of entrepreneurship education has led to the introduction of new and progressive designs in which action-based learning, experienced-focused activities and real-life involvement are central. Moreover, since entrepreneurial competencies have been accepted as useful and applicable for many disciplines and in a number of situations, entrepreneurship has expanded out of business schools and into many other university departments worldwide. However, while there have been significant developments in entrepreneurship education itself, its assessment methods have seen less development during the same period.
Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the assessment of entrepreneurship education. The focus is especially placed on educational design, where student involvement, in addition to real-world interaction, stand central because both factors are expected to influence student learning. These factors and influences are also expected to affect the assessment of entrepreneurship education, depending on the specific objectives of various educational programmes and the assessment methods applied.
The aims of this thesis are investigated through four articles, three of which are empirically based and where one is a literature review. In the theoretical framework of the cover essay, experiential learning and situated learning theories are central and are applied in the analysis of the findings obtained from the studies conducted in these four different papers. The results of the analysis and the revised conceptual framework are used to discuss the assessment literature of entrepreneurship education. Furthermore, the thesis’ uses mixed methods to answer the research questions, including both qualitative and quantitative methods.
The first paper presents an entrepreneurship education literature review. The purpose of this paper is to systematise entrepreneurship education so that future assessment research could compare and use the results of different studies more easily. A total of 122 articles were included in the review, resulting in an investigation of 42 educational programmes presented in 41 articles. The results of this paper show a typology of entrepreneurship education, discriminating on the learning approach, but also on the outcome impact of an educational programme—whether it is influencing the students only or whether the context is also influenced.
The second paper builds on the findings of the first one and investigates the designs of various entrepreneurship-education programmes through empirical case studies. In total, 10 Nordic universities were visited and 32 interviews with faculty members were conducted. The interviews, together with information from the universities’ web sites, provided insights into and knowledge about the education offered by different institutions, which was the basis for a taxonomy of entrepreneurship education. The analysis identified two axes in the taxonomy—the first labelled educational approaches. This span—from teacher-directed through participatory to self-directed learning—is semi-hierarchically organised, meaning that it is necessary to achieve a balance of different approaches in an educational setting. Additionally, regarding the second axis, the education is here classified with respect to its action realness, which indicates to what extent it is imitating or interacting with the real world.
The third paper investigates a specific venture creation programme during which students develop their own start-ups. Here, the primary focus is on the learning process of those students working in their own start-ups in comparison to those who do not. By applying the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) as a method, this paper is able to dig deep into the different students’ perceptions about their education and to create mindmaps that illustrate differences between the two groups of students. The main finding of this paper is that the students’ learning process is influenced by their start-up activities, regardless of whether they have a start-up or not. The social milieu and culture are shaped by the start-up activities and, whereas the milieu and culture are viewed as facilitating the start-up activities of those students in start-ups, the start-ups are viewed as facilitating the milieu and culture for the students without start-ups. Thus, the social milieu and culture create a complex learning situation and influence students differently.
The fourth and last paper investigates the outcomes of the same venture creation programme that is discussed in the third paper. The focus here is placed on the influence of the programme on its alumni’s entrepreneurial careers. By collecting information about 178 students (108 programme graduates and 70 non-programme graduates) using LinkedIn, telephone interviews and survey responses, their entrepreneurial careers were mapped. The potential-outcome models of these graduates, in terms of multiplicity, duration and emergence, were explored and the programme enrolment process was controlled for by applying ‘Wooldridge’s double-robust’ estimator to the model. The findings show that graduates from the programme, on average, involved themselves in several simultaneous entrepreneurial activities (multiplicity) and were engaged in their start-ups for a longer duration. The investigation of graduates’ reasons for entering into entrepreneurship gave inconclusive results.
This thesis contributes to entrepreneurship education assessment literature with knowledge about the potential influences of educational design and contextual influences on the assessment results. It also contributes with knowledge and insights on how education in entrepreneurship and its assessment should be designed with respect to student involvement and real-world interaction. Regarding student involvement, the thesis argues for a balance in educational design and discusses the influence of the timing of the different educational approaches in light of assessment. Furthermore, the thesis finds that uncertainty resulting from interaction with the real world is a source for authentic and real experiences, important for student learning; however, the inherent uncertainty might inhibit student learning, as well as influence the students’ emotional characteristics, both of which pose issues for assessment practices. Finally, in terms of educational programmes that are more student-driven, with student-centred designs and much real-world interaction, such open-endedness makes the assessment of these educational programmes more challenging.
Furthermore, the thesis has implication for entrepreneurship education design, where the question of time is central and a balance between educational approaches and action realness is required. The thesis has also implications for researchers, stressing the importance of a balance in assessment methods and outcome measures with respect to the design and objective of the educational programmes being assessed. Regarding policy is the thesis clear that assessment of educational programmes based on single outcome measures might fail to grasp the actual situation of programmes. As education in entrepreneurship become more open-ended, policymakers should support and seek new assessment methods and approaches to obtain insights in the educational effects. | |
