Entrepreneurship Education and Political Change: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This study explores the extent to which entrepreneurship education (EE) impacts individual political attributes at the level of the individual student. The rationale here is EE’s alignment with an emancipatory principle that can also be found in Critical Pedagogy (CP). This emancipatory principle resonates with the individual recognizing their place within a socioeconomic system and subsequently seeking to change the system; i.e., they become politically engaged. Drawing on a sample of entrepreneurship students in Denmark, scores on a range of political measures were compared at the start and at the end of a semester in which students engaged in entrepreneurship education. The political measures comprised “political interest,” “political orientation,” “civic engagement,” and “sociopolitical control.” Overall, results indicate a shift toward more politically interested and engaged students. This exploratory study sets the scene for more research in this area that seeks to understand the potential inherent in EE for political change.