How does entrepreneurship education affect employability? Insights from UK higher education
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research
ISSN: 1355-2554
Article publication date: 29 March 2024
Issue publication date: 23 April 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the underexplored link between entrepreneurship education (EE) and graduate employability in the higher education (HE) sector in the United Kingdom (UK).
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on a thematic content analysis of semi-structured interviews with 45 professionals in UK HE, representing the “supply” side of EE.
Findings
The findings demonstrate a unidirectional link between EE and employability outcomes. This link is affected by societal, stakeholder-related, and teaching and learning-related factors.
Research limitations/implications
Although the value of universities’ initiatives connecting EE and employability for economic development is emphasized, the study does not provide direct empirical evidence for this effect. Macroeconomic research is needed.
Practical implications
EE and employability would benefit from knowledge exchange between universities’ stakeholders and a broader understanding of what constitutes a valuable graduate outcome.
Social implications
The study reveals the benefits of EE on a micro level. Participation in EE supports the connection between individual investments in HE and employability.
Originality/value
Based on human capital theory, many policymakers regard EE as a vehicle through which the relationship between investments in HE and career success on a micro level and economic growth on a macro level can be nurtured. Challenging this logic, the study highlights the potential of institutional theory to explain a contextualization of the link between EE and employability on a national level.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge seedcorn funding from The Open University's Scholarship Centre for Innovation in Online Legal and Business Education (SCiLAB). They are especially grateful to the research participants who generously gave their time and insights. The authors also thank the editor Dr Richard Tunstall for his guidance and two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments and suggestions.
Citation
Decker-Lange, C., Lange, K. and Walmsley, A. (2024), "How does entrepreneurship education affect employability? Insights from UK higher education", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 1249-1269. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-08-2023-0856
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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