
Exploring the Role of Entrepreneurship Education in Boosting Innovation among Students – A Case Study of Two KwaZulu-Natal Universities
Issue: Vol.5 No. 10 December 2024 Article 13 pp. 542 – 556
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.202451013 | Published online 30th December, 2024.
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The South African unemployment rate currently is at 32.9%. The labour market is struggling to create opportunities and failing to counteract unemployment with relevant skills. The covid-19 pandemic resulted in more people losing jobs which then contributed to the increase in unemployment. There have been calls for the government to implement strategies that would reduce poverty which include developing innovative entrepreneurs at the tertiary level. The article therefore focused on how to expand entrepreneurship education in South African universities to strengthen the economy and create job opportunities in the country. The research paper utilised a mixed-method approach. The quantitative data was collected using questionnaires on postgraduate students, whereas the qualitative data was collected from academics. The findings were analysed using the latest version of SPSS. The sample was made up of 368 postgraduate students, 4 academic staff from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, 346 postgraduate students, and 4 academic staff from the University of Zululand. The findings revealed that expanding entrepreneurship education will stimulate entrepreneurial mindset and innovation in students. However, students argued that universities do not have adequate infrastructure and resources to support innovation and entrepreneurship education. On the other hand, academic staff believed that higher education must have an active role in introducing and promoting entrepreneurship education. The paper recommends entrepreneurship education must be introduced across all colleges, this was noted from the contribution made by academic staff and postgraduate students. This paper provides strategies for stakeholder engagement in encouraging entrepreneurship to curb the increasing unemployment rate in South Africa.
Keywords: Unemployment, Postgraduate, Higher Education, Innovation, Entrepreneurship
Ahmad, N, and R Seymour. “The Word Entrepreneur Itself Derives from the French Verb Entreprendre, Meaning to Undertake.” Statistics 16 (2006): 1–22.
Ajzen, Icek. “The Theory of Planned Behavior.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1991.
Barry, William Sidney. Airline Management: Business Management in Transport 3. Routledge, 2017.
Bernasconi, Andrés. “University Entrepreneurship in a Developing Country: The Case of the P. Universidad Católica de Chile, 1985–2000.” Higher Education 50 (2005): 247–74.
Booyens, Irma. “Are Small, Medium-and Micro-Sized Enterprises Engines of Innovation? The Reality in South Africa.” Science and Public Policy 38, no. 1 (2011): 67–78.
Byrne, Janice, Salma Fattoum, and Maria Cristina Diaz Garcia. “Role Models and Women Entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurial Superwoman Has Her Say.” Journal of Small Business Management 57, no. 1 (2019): 154–84.
Chimucheka, T. “ Entrepreneurship Education in South Africa.” Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 5, no. 2 (2014): 403.
Crumpton, Michael A. “Innovation and Entrepreneurship.” The Bottom Line 25, no. 3 (2012): 98–101.
Cuervo, Álvaro, Domingo Ribeiro, and Salvador Roig. “Entrepreneurship: Concepts, Theory and Perspective. Introduction.” In Entrepreneurship: Concepts, Theory and Perspective, 1–20. Springer, 2007.
Department of Higher Education and Training. “National Framework for Academics as University Teachers ,” 2018.
Etzkowitz, Henry. “Research Groups as ‘Quasi-Firms’: The Invention of the Entrepreneurial University.” Research Policy 32, no. 1 (2003): 109–21.
Etzkowitz, Henry, and Chunyan Zhou. “Regional Innovation Initiator: The Entrepreneurial University in Various Triple Helix Models.” In Singapore Triple Helix VI Conference Theme Paper, 1–25, 2007.
Fatoki, Olawale, and Lynety Chindoga. “An Investigation into the Obstacles to Youth Entrepreneurship in South Africa.” International Business Research 4, no. 2 (2011): 161–69.
Fayolle, Alain, Benoît Gailly, and Narjisse Lassas‐Clerc. “Assessing the Impact of Entrepreneurship Education Programmes: A New Methodology.” Journal of European Industrial Training 30, no. 9 (2006): 701–20.
Fields, Z., and L. Kunene. Youth Entrepreneurship Learning Challenges (Final 2). Durban: UKZN, 2017.
Gartner, William B, and Sue Birley. “Introduction to the Special Issue on Qualitative Methods in Entrepreneurship Research.” Journal of Business Venturing. Elsevier, 2002.
Grimaldi, Rosa, Martin Kenney, Donald S Siegel, and Mike Wright. “30 Years after Bayh–Dole: Reassessing Academic Entrepreneurship.” Research Policy 40, no. 8 (2011): 1045–57.
Guerrero-Cano, Maribel, David Urbano, and David Kirby. “A Literature Review on Entrepreneurial Universities: An Institutional Approach,” 2006.
Gundry, Lisa K, Laurel F Ofstein, and Jill R Kickul. “Seeing around Corners: How Creativity Skills in Entrepreneurship Education Influence Innovation in Business.” The International Journal of Management Education 12, no. 3 (2014): 529–38.
Igwe, P. A., and A. Icha-Ituma. “A Review of Ten Years of African Entrepreneurship Research.” Research Handbook on Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies., 2020.
Iqbal, Adnan, Yahya Melhem, and Husam Kokash. “Readiness of the University Students towards Entrepreneurship in Saudi Private University: An Exploratory Study.” European Scientific Journal 8, no. 15 (2012).
Keat, O. Y., C. Selvarajah, and D. Meyer. “ Inclination towards Entrepreneurship among University Students: An Empirical Study of Malaysian University Students.” International Journal of Business and Social Science 2, no. 4 (2011): 206–20.
Kekana, Lesiba. “Julius Malema Asks for Advice from Thabo Mbeki about Zuma,” November 3, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INDXixxKPbI.
Kerrin, Myres, M Anastacia Mamabolo, and Tumo Kele. “Entrepreneurship Management Skills Requirements in an Emerging Economy: A South African Outlook.” The Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management 9, no. 1 (2017): 1–10.
Khoury, Grace, Dean Elmuti, and Omar Omran. “Does Entrepreneurship Education Have a Role in Developing Entrepreneurial Skills and Ventures’ Effectiveness?,” 2012.
Kolehmainen, Jari, Joe Irvine, Linda Stewart, Zoltan Karacsonyi, Tünde Szabó, Juha Alarinta, and Anders Norberg. “Quadruple Helix, Innovation and the Knowledge-Based Development: Lessons from Remote, Rural and Less-Favoured Regions.” Journal of the Knowledge Economy 7 (2016): 23–42.
Kroon, J, and S Meyer. “The Role of Entrepreneurship Education in Career Expectations of Students.” South African Journal of Higher Education 15, no. 1 (2001): 47–53.
Kunene, T. R. “A Critical Analysis of Entrepreneurial and Business Skills in SMEs in the Textile and Clothing Industry in Johannesburg, South Africa.” University of Pretoria, 2009.
Leydesdorff, Loet, and Martin Meyer. “Triple Helix Indicators of Knowledge-Based Innovation Systems: Introduction to the Special Issue.” Research Policy 35, no. 10 (2006): 1441–49.
Moses, Cheryl, Moses M Sithole, William Blankley, Demetre Labadarios, Hlamulo Makelane, and Nolitha Nkobole. “The State of Innovation in South Africa: Findings from the South African National Innovation Survey.” South African Journal of Science 108, no. 7 (2012): 1–5.
Naughton, Michael, and Jeffrey R Cornwall. “Culture as the Basis of The Good Entrepreneur.” Journal of Religion & Business Ethics 1, no. 1 (2009).
Nieuwenhuizen, Cecile. Entrepreneurship: A South African Perspective. Van Schaik Publishers, 2009.
Olawale, Fatoki, and David Garwe. “Obstacles to the Growth of New SMEs in South Africa: A Principal Component Analysis Approach.” African Journal of Business Management 4, no. 5 (2010): 729.
Radipere, Simon. “South African University Entrepreneurship Education.” African Journal of Business Management 6, no. 44 (2012): 11015.
Robson, Paul J A, Helen M Haugh, and Bernard Acquah Obeng. “Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Ghana: Enterprising Africa.” Small Business Economics 32 (2009): 331–50.
Rodrigues, Ricardo Gouveia, Anabela Dinis, Arminda do Paço, João Ferreira, and Mário Raposo. “The Effect of an Entrepreneurial Training Programme on Entrepreneurial Traits and Intention of Secondary Students.” Entrepreneurship–Born, Made and Educated, 2012, 77–92.
Sahut, Jean-Michel, and Marta Peris-Ortiz. “Small Business, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.” Small Business Economics 42 (2014): 663–68.
Schulte, Peter. “The Entrepreneurial University: A Strategy for Institutional Development.” Higher Education in Europe 29, no. 2 (2004): 187–91.
Sekaran, U., and R. Bougie. Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. New York: Wiley, 2016.
Shane, Scott. “Reflections on the 2010 AMR Decade Award: Delivering on the Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research.” Academy of Management Review 37, no. 1 (2012): 10–20.
Smith, Isaac H, and Warner P Woodworth. “Developing Social Entrepreneurs and Social Innovators: A Social Identity and Self-Efficacy Approach.” Academy of Management Learning & Education 11, no. 3 (2012): 390–407.
State of the Nation Address. President Cyril Ramaphosa: 2020 State of the Nation Address. CapeTown: Government Communication, 2020.
“State of the Nation Address (SONA),” 2021. https://www.tourism.gov.za/AboutNDT/Publications/State of the Nation Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa – 2021.pdf.
Steenekamp, André Gerard, S P Van der Merwe, and Rosemary Athayde. “An Investigation into Youth Entrepreneurship in Selected South African Secondary Schools: An Exploratory Study.” Southern African Business Review 15, no. 3 (2011): 46–75.
Stel, André Van, Martin Carree, and Roy Thurik. “The Effect of Entrepreneurial Activity on National Economic Growth.” Small Business Economics 24 (2005): 311–21.
STOKES, David, Nick WILSON, and Martha-Entrepreneurship Hampshire MADOR. “Cengage Learning EMEA, 2010.” Boston, MA: South-Western CENGAGE Learning, 2010.
University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. “ THE UKZN TRANSFORMATION CHARTER. University of Kwa-Zulu Natal,” 2022. https://www.ukzn.ac.za/wp-content/miscFiles/docs/general-docs/the-ukzn-transformation-charter.pdf.
Wei, Xingjian, Xiaolang Liu, and Jian Sha. “How Does the Entrepreneurship Education Influence the Students’ Innovation? Testing on the Multiple Mediation Model.” Frontiers in Psychology 10 (2019): 1557.
Westhuizen, Marichen Van der, and Thomas Greuel. “Are We Hearing the Voices? Africanisation as Part of Community Development.” HTS: Theological Studies 73, no. 3 (2017): 1–9.
Wong, Poh-Kam, Yuen-Ping Ho, and Annette Singh. “Towards an ‘Entrepreneurial University’ Model to Support Knowledge-Based Economic Development: The Case of the National University of Singapore.” World Development 35, no. 6 (2007): 941–58.
Wong, Poh Kam, Yuen Ping Ho, and Erkko Autio. “Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth: Evidence from GEM Data.” Small Business Economics 24 (2005): 335–50.
Dr. Thabo Wonder Mtshali is a distinguished academic specializing in Management and Entrepreneurship. Originally from a township in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Dr. Mtshali earned a PhD in Entrepreneurship from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he now serve as a lecturer in the School of Management, Information Technology and Governance. Passionate about fostering innovation and business acumen. Dr. Mtshali is dedicated to equipping students with the knowledge and skills to navigate the dynamic entrepreneurial landscape. His research interests include small business development, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and sustainable enterprise growth. With a commitment to academic excellence and community impact, Dr. Mtshali continues to contribute to the field through research, mentorship, and thought leadership.
Dr. VW Gamede is a senior lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Management, Information Technology and Governance. He has 18 years of lecturing experience at the institutions of higher learning in the areas of management and entrepreneurship. He has supervised and graduated 14 Honours students, 15 Masters students and 13 PhDs. Dr Gamede has published 22 articles in the Department of Higher Education accredited journals and 3 books chapters. Dr Gamede has examined 16 Masters and 4 PhDs. His research interests are in the areas of Small and Medium Enterprises and Corporate Social Responsibility.
Prof. Pfano Mashau is an NRF C-rated Professor and a Director of the Business school at the Durban University of Technology. He also serves as chairperson for the Institutional Research Ethics Committee. He previously worked for the University of KwaZulu-natal, School of Management, IT, and Governance as an Associate Professor. He holds a PhD in Management Sciences. He is involved in lecturing at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has been appointed as an Academic Leader in Research and Higher Degrees at the School of Management IT and Governance since 2023. His research focus is on Small Business Development, Innovation, Business Management, Entrepreneurship, and Agglomeration Economies. Prior to working as an academic, he worked for JET Education Services, BioRegional, and a few small businesses. Prof Mashau has published over 70 research articles, supervised ten doctoral theses to completion, and over 20 Masters dissertations. Some of the research work has been presented at international conferences. He has been an editor for a journal and books. He is a member of the Black Management Forum, BRICS Youth Forum, Pan African Research Council, and IBASA-certified Business Advisor.
Wonder, Mtshali Thabo, Mashau Pfano and Gamede Vangeli Wiseman. “Exploring the Role of Entrepreneurship Education in Boosting Innovation among Students – A Case Study of Two KwaZulu-Natal Universities.” Journal of Education and Learning Technology 5, no.10 (2024): 542 – 556. https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.202451013
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Featured