PurposeUnderstanding the construction of individual entrepreneurial identity for entrepreneurship education is an important but understudied issue. Prior studies indicate that entrepreneurship learning is associated with not only learning critical entrepreneurial skills and knowledge but also facilitating the construction of a personal entrepreneurial identity. However, educators are constantly challenged by the task of facilitating such an identity within students via learning-by-doing processes in the context of entrepreneurial teams. Additionally, while effective conflict management is essential to productive entrepreneurial learning in entrepreneurial teams, studies that investigate the relationships between interpersonal conflicts of entrepreneurial teams and the students' entrepreneurial identity are absent.Design/methodology/approachThe approach of an in-depth case study was adopted to achieve our research purpose.FindingsA conceptual model that describes the construction of the entrepreneurial identity of students of entrepreneurial teams in a learning-by-doing environment from the perspectives of conflicts and task characteristics are developed.Research limitations/implicationsThe research findings highlight the preliminary relationships between task characteristics (i.e. task interdependence, task uncertainty, resource competition and tension regarding responsibility allocation) and interpersonal conflicts of entrepreneurial teams, and their impacts on the entrepreneurial identity of team members.Originality/valueThis study is among the first group of studies that especially explores the relationships among task characteristics of entrepreneurship projects, interpersonal conflicts and the development of students' entrepreneurial identity.

Purpose While it is important for entrepreneurship educators to understand the dynamics behind the formation of an individual entrepreneurial identity, challenges remain if they are to facilitate this process. Furthermore, while managing conflicts in entrepreneurial teams is a key to effective entrepreneurial learning, very few studies have focused on the relationships between individual entrepreneurial characteristics, interpersonal conflicts and the construction of an individual entrepreneurial identity. The purpose of this paper is to explore these relationships in a learning-by-doing educational context. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts an in-depth dual case study design to explore the relationships between individual characteristics, interpersonal conflicts and the construction of individual entrepreneurial identity in a learning-by-doing entrepreneurship educational context. Findings A theoretical framework that addresses the construction of the entrepreneurial identity of entrepreneurial team members in a learning-by-doing environment from the perspectives of conflicts and entrepreneurial characteristics is developed. Research limitations/implications The research findings illustrate the influence of differences in individuals’ entrepreneurial characteristics on the occurrence of interpersonal task and relationship conflicts and, consequently, on individuals’ entrepreneurial identity. A number of intervening factors that mediate the relationships between entrepreneurial characteristics, interpersonal conflicts and entrepreneurial identity are also identified. Originality/value This study is among the first research efforts to connect individual entrepreneurial characteristics, interpersonal conflicts and the construction of the individual entrepreneurial identity.