SSES Research Article
SSES Research Article
SSES Research Article
SSES Research Article
SSES Research Article
From Secondary School to Startups
From Secondary School to Startups
Rethinking Who Fits the Mould in Entrepreneurship Education
Rethinking Who Fits the Mould
in Entrepreneurship Education
An Activist Turn in Entrepreneurship Education
An Activist Turn in Entrepreneurship Education
Stop Asking Entrepreneurs What They Think
Stop Asking Entrepreneurs
What They Think
An Unexpected Way To Use AI in Entrepreneurship Education
An Unexpected Way To Use AI in Entrepreneurship Education
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Entrepreneurship Education Research

Explore peer-reviewed studies and summaries that shape how entrepreneurship is taught, learned, and practiced.

Read more about our entrepreneurship education initiatives at SSES.

Stop by here for a rundown of the latest peer-reviewed research (and sometimes more) on all things entrepreneurship education.

Why Students Who Want To <br>Start Businesses Still Don’t
This study of German students shows that while many say they’d like to start a business, far fewer take any concrete steps. The main brakes are surprisingly simple: not spotting viable opportunities and feeling they don’t have enough time or capacity to take on anything extra.
Stop Asking Entrepreneurs <br>What They Think
When we ask entrepreneurs how they think, we usually get stories – not evidence. This study replaces self-reports with real-world decision tests that reveal what entrepreneurs actually do when faced with uncertainty.
Measuring What Matters
Entrepreneurship education has long measured success by counting new ventures or business plans. This study shows how assessment can instead reveal how students actually develop the skills and mindsets that make entrepreneurship possible in the first place.
Teaching the Future <br>Before It Arrives
Blending science fiction with entrepreneurship education helps students imagine and prepare for radically different futures – not just extrapolate from the present. This study shows how speculative storytelling can train the entrepreneurial mindset to anticipate and shape change.
When Students Design <br>Their Own Learning
A six-year experiment in a rural U.S. college shows how entrepreneurship education can be reimagined when students help design their own learning.
An Activist Turn in Entrepreneurship Education
Entrepreneurship education must stop treating sustainability and justice as electives. This paper argues for activist pedagogies that bake in purpose at the core, equipping students to transform systems rather than merely succeed within them.
Relevance Isn’t a Bonus <br>– It’s the Point
Most entrepreneurship research is designed to impress reviewers, not to help entrepreneurs. This paper argues that studies should be built with real-world relevance in mind from the start, using three criteria: importance, insight, and impact.
From Secondary School to Startups
Turns out entrepreneurship isn’t necessarily just a university thing. A Danish school reform shows that early exposure to entrepreneurship boosts startup rates and nudges students into entrepreneurial trajectories later on.
The Bumpy Reality <br>of Becoming an Entrepreneur
Students’ entrepreneurial identity and intent don’t develop in neat upward curves. Even with the support of enterprise education, the process is messy, emotional, and riddled with dips, doubts, and rethinks.
Why Rebels Build Startups<br>— and Rule-Followers Don’t
Some people break the rules to make things better — and those people are more likely to become entrepreneurs. But if they believe too strongly in always doing things by the book, they might never take the leap.
What The Nordics Are<br> Doing Right in Entrepreneurship Education
Nordic countries take entrepreneurship education seriously — and it starts with how they train teachers. By embedding entrepreneurial pedagogy in teacher education, they cultivate classrooms that value creativity, risk-taking, and autonomy.
How Educators Apply Design Thinking to Entrepreneurship Education
Design thinking may be everywhere in entrepreneurship education, but it’s not always used the same way. This study explores how educators across Europe are interpreting and applying it in practice — often informally, creatively, and on their own terms.
Why Ecosystems Aren’t Enough
In one of entrepreneurship education’s most influential studies, Liñán, Urbano, and Guerrero showed that it’s not flashy start-up hubs or government policies that drive entrepreneurial ambition — it’s personal attitude and belief in one’s own ability that truly make the difference.
Making Entrepreneurship Feel Doable
This seminal study helped move entrepreneurship education from assumption to evidence, showing that well-designed enterprise programmes can shift how high school students perceive the feasibility and desirability of starting a business.
Employability and Entrepreneurship Education
Entrepreneurship education doesn’t just prepare students to start businesses — it also makes them more employable by teaching adaptability, problem-solving, and resilience.
Who is Qualified to Teach Entrepreneurship?
Many educators don’t feel qualified to teach entrepreneurship, seeing it as too vague, too corporate, or just “not for them.” But the real challenge isn’t who can teach it — it’s how we help more educators feel like they can.
The Skill of Seeing What Others Miss
Being able to spot entrepreneurial opportunities isn’t just luck or instinct — it’s a skill that can (and should) be taught, with the right mix of knowledge, alertness, and creativity, reinforced through hands-on learning.
When does Entrepreneurship Education Actually Work?
Making entrepreneurship education compulsory doesn’t guarantee it will stick. Too early, and students tune out. Too late, and they’ve moved on. Taught poorly, and it’s wasted. The key isn’t whether we teach it — it’s when and how.
Gender Bias in Entrepreneurial Funding
Women entrepreneurs face stricter investor scrutiny and receive less funding than men, but new research shows these biases can shift, offering hope for change in the startup ecosystem.
Do Entrepreneurs Burn Out too?
Entrepreneurship is seen by many as a dream job – freedom, innovation, and self-fulfilment are all part of the allure, but there’s a flip side to that dream: burnout.
When Funding Comes with Strings Attached
Angel investments can supercharge your startup with funding, mentorship, and networks – but often at the cost of some autonomy. Striking the right balance between support and control is key to thriving under an angel’s wings.
Researchers by Day, Entrepreneurs by Night
Balancing academic rigour with entrepreneurial impact isn’t easy, but the right mix of university support and real-world connections can make it possible for researchers to thrive in both roles.
The Actual Skills You Need for Sustainable Entrepreneurship
Introductory entrepreneurship courses can unintentionally increase overconfidence, particularly in male students, while female students tend to show more realistic self-assessments. This gap suggests a need for entrepreneurship programmes that build balanced self-efficacy across genders.
Overconfidence in Entrepreneurship Students
Introductory entrepreneurship courses can unintentionally increase overconfidence, particularly in male students, while female students tend to show more realistic self-assessments. This gap suggests a need for entrepreneurship programmes that build balanced self-efficacy across genders.
Introducing the Entrepreneurial Method
Teaching entrepreneurship is evolving from simply just tools and techniques to an entire method – one that teaches students to master uncertainty and create opportunities rather than to predict the unpredictable.
Turning Engineers into Entrepreneurs
A Spanish university course used challenge-based learning to boost engineering students' entrepreneurial skills, improving their problem-solving, creative thinking, and resource management.
A Choice for Clarity
The "Research Recap" by SSES aims to identify and distill high-quality social science research on entrepreneurship education into engaging, accessible narratives, bridging the gap between dense academic discourse and a broader, curious audience.