Backpack Bootstrapping: Social Entrepreneurship Education Through Experiential Learning

Social entrepreneurship education: changemaker training at the university

“…Students face real-world challenges, linking theoretical reflection to a transaction experienced in the environment (Awaysheh and Bonfiglio, 2017;Boyatzis and Kolb, 1991;Wu and Martin, 2018). Traditional classroom methodology is regularly incorporated, adding peer discussions, case methods, project-based learning, action research, service-learning and situated learning, among other active methodologies (Castro-Spila et al, 2018;Joos and Leaman, 2014;Mueller et al, 2015;Thomsen et al, 2019).…”

“…The literature suggests to investigate the change of attitudes toward entrepreneurship with a pre-test and post-test in quasi-experimental studies (Entrialgo and Iglesias, 2016;Thomsen et al, 2019). Similarly, research is suggested for diverse contexts and environments (Joos and Leaman, 2014;Kummitha and Majumdar, 2015).…”

“…This study sought to explore the results of incorporating the development of SEC in various courses at an HEI, not limited to courses and students enrolled in a business school. Following the recommendations of previous studies (Entrialgo and Iglesias, 2016;Thomsen et al, 2019), we carried out a quasi-experiment in three case studies in which we analyzed the differences in the students' perceived SEC mastery before and after a training experience. As mentioned in the previous sections, these cases were courses focused on social entrepreneurship (Case A), courses focused on general entrepreneurship (Case B) and courses not focused on (social) entrepreneurship (Case C).…”

The political ecology of university-based social entrepreneurship ecosystems

“…One-time projects, or even charismatic change makers, are not always sustainable (Gebert et al, 2016), as they often crumble due to a lack of support or the change maker moves on. HEIs can only develop U-BSEEs if they create sustainable longterm (Social) Entrepreneurship Education Programs (S)EEPs (Sánchez, 2013;Thomsen et al, 2017). This approach overcomes customary criticism of charismatic leadership (Yukl, 1999), and provides an opportunity to build a campus branded program that students are aware of, and even seek out.…”

“…By providing students an outlet to take ownership of their own-learning, they can mature more quickly and better prepare themselves for life post-university (Thomsen et al, 2017). Neck and Corbett (2018) posit that entrepreneurship education (EE) should move beyond the "teaching of children" in pedagogical approaches where learning is centered on the educator as a traditional lecturer, students receive information passively and the ultimate goal is subject (EE) awareness.…”