Entrepreneurship education and training in Canada: a critical assessment

Abstract

Management training is constantly seen as an effective way of providing small‐medium size enterprises with the management expertise they require in order to develop and grow. The SME sector in Canada plays a prominent and essential role in the growth and expansion of the domestic economy through its contribution to the domestic output and job creation. However, this sector suffers from a considerably high failure rate that is largely attributed to the lack of management skills and planning, which can potentially be improved by providing training and education in different business areas. This paper assesses the entrepreneurship education and training efforts in Canada and identifies the common challenges that face this process.

A Systematic Framework for Entrepreneurship Education within a University Context

“…The findings in the previous studies were partial and tended to focus on students and institution only. There are several studies which focused on such inputs as the importance of students' selection (Dhliwayo, 2008); the importance of entrepreneurial traits, competence, and managerial skills to promote successful entrepreneurs (Ibrahim & Soufani, 2002); and the importance of internal motivation of the students (Gelderen, 2010). Most studies are conducted on mapping entrepreneurship education.…”

“…They stated that "only the students with the right entrepreneurial attitude that will be successfully processed or graduate into an entrepreneur". Another research conducted by Ibrahim and Soufani (2002) focused on a model of entrepreneurship training. They argued the importance of entrepreneurial traits, competence, and managerial skills to promote successful entrepreneurs.…”

“…Some studies only focused on teaching methods such as entrepreneurial-directed approach (Heinonen & Poikkijoki, 2006) and problem-based learning approach (Tan & Ng, 2006). There are also some other studies focusing on students such as their psychological aspects (Ibrahim & Soufani, 2002;Gelderen, 2010) and the importance of selection process of students (Dhliwayo, 2008). It can be concluded that most of these current research are unsystematic and tend to focus on students and all facilities from institutions.…”

Validating the Instrument to Measure Entrepreneurial Traits

“…Moreover, the construct could be defined as the ability of entrepreneurs to deal with ambiguity and act in an optimistic and challenging way while recognizing ambiguous circumstances wherein ambiguity refers to the lack of complete and definitive information (Ibrahim & Soufani, 2002). Although the absence of information instills entrepreneurs with risk, the same condition simultaneously defines opportunities, thereby associating ambiguity or uncertainty with decision outcomes as a primary source of perceived risks in entrepreneurial decision making situations (Sitkin & Pablo, 1992).…”

The Importance of Cross-Cultural Capabilities for Chinese Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Australia

“…Successful entrepreneurship is closely relevant to entrepreneurs' capabilities (Hartog et al, 2010;Ibrahim & Soufani, 2002;Marshall, 1982;Zhang, Wang, Jiao, ogilvie, & Cui, 2010). To date, much research has been undertaken on entrepreneurs'…”