South African Undergraduate Students' Access to Entrepreneurial Education and Its Influence on Career Choice: Global Considerations for Developing Countries

South African Undergraduate Students' Access to Entrepreneurial Education and Its Influence on Career Choice: Global Considerations for Developing Countries

Thea Van der Westhuizen
Copyright: © 2019 |Pages: 21
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-7675-4.ch014
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Abstract

Entrepreneurship education was introduced in South African schools in 2000 when it was made part of the Economics and Management Science curriculum for Grades 3 to 9, followed by incorporation in the Business Studies curriculum for grades 10 to 12. Problems noted by Shay and Nchu (2015) were that not all schools offered entrepreneurship education. Little is known about post-program effectiveness in actual start-ups and business performance. A study by Peterman and Kennedy (2013) investigating the effects of Young Achievement Australia on a sample of high school students in Australia found that the desirability and feasibility of entrepreneurship after attending the programme had increased, indicating that entrepre
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Background

According to Hershman (2016), entrepreneurial training equips people with business skills and understanding, including the ability to identify openings and follow up opportunities with fresh ideas and well-organised resources. Formation and management of a new company calls for innovative thinking.

Entrepreneurial education has usually been directed towards Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) owners and managers and individuals intending to start their own businesses, but more recently the focus has been on reaching a much wider range of people from those without any education right through to highly qualified PhDs (van der Westhuizen, 2016)

According to Valerio, Parton and Robb (2014), the audience for entrepreneurial education can be grouped into four classes:

  • •

    Current entrepreneurs (the largest target group) who feel they require entrepreneurial and organisational skills.

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    All levels of management who can benefit from an entrepreneurial capacity to see and take advantage of opportunities that arise in the existing organisation.

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    Individuals who would like to initiate a venture and want to kindle their entrepreneurial spirit.

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    Scholars (academics and students) interested in exploring entrepreneurship on intellectual grounds to broaden their knowledge in the field without any intention of becoming entrepreneurs themselves.

Our study focused on undergraduate students with entrepreneurial interests who were studying entrepreneurship with the intention of starting their own business.

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