In a nutshell
Entrepreneurship education doesn’t just prepare students to start businesses — it also makes them more employable by teaching adaptability, problem-solving, and resilience. However, outdated perceptions and university priorities sometimes hold it back, meaning its full potential isn’t always realised.
Once upon a time, entrepreneurship education was all about starting businesses. But as the field evolved, so did its purpose, and today it’s just as much about making students more employable. However, while this correlation is widely agreed upon, it is a rather complex one – and with the notion of employability being perhaps more important than ever before, it is especially valuable to ask: how exactly does entrepreneurship education affect employability?
Setting out to find the answer, Carolin Decker-Lange, Knut Lange, and Andreas Walmsley interviewed professionals in the UK’s higher education sector, and their findings were both expected and surprising. Yes, entrepreneurship education helps graduates get hired, that much is clear. It gives them skills like problem-solving, adaptability, and initiative, which are gold in a job market where careers are rarely linear. Employers, especially in roles that require innovation, tend to favour candidates with entrepreneurial experience.
However, this effect turned out to be unidirectional; while entrepreneurship education boosts employability, employability doesn’t necessarily make someone a better entrepreneur. In other words, the skills that make you job-ready aren’t always the same as the ones that help you build a business, suggesting that universities need tailored programmes that address both paths separately.
Still, interviewees agreed that entrepreneurship education opens up a wide range of job opportunities beyond just starting a business. Many of them emphasised that entrepreneurship education prepares students for turbulent and non-linear careers – a norm that has increasingly replaced the traditional “job for life” mentality that was prevalent in the past. The job market nowadays is much less stable and demands adaptability, resilience, and the ability to navigate uncertainty; skills that are all taught in entrepreneurship education.
Publication Date: March 2024
Authors: Carolin Decker-Lange, Knut Lange, and Andreas Walmsley
Institutions: Brunel Business School, Brunel University London; Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham; and Plymouth Marjon University, UK.
Study Type: Qualitative study
Sample Size: 45 professionals in the higher education sector
Research Focus: The relationship between entrepreneurship education and graduate employability in the UK.
Research Methodology: Semi-structured interviews with professionals in the higher education sector.
Main Findings: Entrepreneurship education positively impacts employability by developing versatile skills, but societal perceptions and university rankings can hinder this effect.
Citation: Decker-Lange, C., Lange, K., & Walmsley, A. (2024). How does entrepreneurship education affect employability? Insights from UK higher education. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. DOI: 10.1108/IJEBR-08-2023-0856.
Furthermore, the interviews highlighted self-employment and freelancing as significant employability outcomes of entrepreneurship education. Graduates are not only prepared for full-time self-employment but also for combining it with traditional employment, creating what are known as portfolio careers. Students can also start a business as a side project or an alternative to traditional internships, which can enhance their appeal to established companies later on. This preparation is particularly relevant in industries like the creative sector, which is characterised by small businesses and a heavy reliance on freelancers and fixed-term contracts.
Despite all these positive connections between entrepreneurship education and employability, the study did uncover some of the negative ones as well. Specifically, there are some societal factors that weaken this link. In the UK, for example, starting a business is often seen as less prestigious than landing a corporate job or graduate scheme. Some students also hesitate to engage with entrepreneurship education because they associate it with ruthless capitalism or the myth of the “exceptional entrepreneur.” A similar scepticism exists among academics, with some questioning the underlying motives for promoting entrepreneurship or employability and therefore being hesitant to integrate them into their educational practice. Finally, universities can be reluctant to fully support entrepreneurship programmes, since government ranking systems often prioritise graduate salaries — and new entrepreneurs don’t always make big money right away.
What this study tells us is that the benefits of entrepreneurship education certainly aren’t one-size-fits-all, but that the link to employability is undeniable. It teaches resilience, creativity, and adaptability — skills that all graduates need, whether they’re launching a startup, freelancing, or climbing the corporate ladder. To truly prepare students for an unpredictable job market, higher education needs to embrace entrepreneurial skills as a core part of employability, rather than an alternative to it.
Did you notice?
As part of our Research Recap series, we’re now mixing in some of the field’s most influential studies — the papers that have shaped entrepreneurship education over the years. These foundational works continue to inform how we teach, research, and think about the field. By bringing them into the Research Recap format, we’re making sure they stay visible, accessible, and ready to be built upon.
