Entrepreneurship Education Around the World: A Study on Member Universities of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

Abstract

It has long been debated whether people are born entrepreneurs or if it is a combination of skills and knowledge that can be acquired through education and training. While there are passionate scholars on both sides of the debate, the increasing number of studies and programs focusing on training people on how to become entrepreneurs perhaps shows that the balance is shifting in favour of the latter side. The purpose of this study is to examine how universities are performing the task of teaching entrepreneurship by focusing on member institutions of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). A total of 461 out of 1794 institutions that are members of the AACSB member directory were examined for the study. First, descriptive statistics were used to determine the number of bachelor's and master's degree programs that focus directly on entrepreneurship education along with lower-level programs such as minors and certificates. This was supplemented by examining additional entrepreneurship-related best practices employed by these institutions, such as entrepreneurship centres or certificate programs. All analyses were bifurcated by examining results based on criteria such as educational level, geographical location, and AACSB accreditation. The results show that although almost all business schools have included some form of entrepreneurship courses in their curricula, the number of programs or degrees directly dedicated to entrepreneurship remains a minority. In addition to classroom teachings, some of these institutions offer innovative practices related to entrepreneurship, such as entrepreneurship scorecards, entrepreneurship competitions, and certificate programs. All data collected and analysed were used to develop an overview of undergraduate and graduate level entrepreneurship education to encourage institutions and individuals to develop entrepreneurship programs that cover all theoretical and applied aspects of entrepreneurship education to support aspiring entrepreneurs along their journey.