| 1. |
- Aadland, Torgeir, et al.
(författare)
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Levelling the playing field: Could entrepreneurship education compensate the lack of entrepreneurial pedigree and prior experience?
- 2022
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Questions we care about: In the last four decades, the importance of entrepreneurship education for societal renewal has seen a dramatic rise. Policy arguments state that to spur economic development, a more entrepreneurially oriented workforce is needed. To increase our understanding of how entrepreneurship education impacts entrepreneurial careers, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how entrepreneurship education, in the form of venture creation programs (VCPs), mitigate or surpass a lack of entrepreneurial career antecedents, such as entrepreneurial pedigree or prior entrepreneurial experience. We ask: What role do VCPs play in the subsequent career choice of graduates regarding career impact relative to prior entrepreneurial experience and entrepreneurial pedigree? Approach: This paper investigates the role of VCPs, entrepreneurial pedigree, and prior entrepreneurial experience regarding early career choice. A broad perspective of entrepreneurial career is considered, across four occupational forms: self-employed, entrepreneurial employment (intrapreneur), hybrid (self-employed and employed in parallel), and conventional employment. To investigate career choice, data from graduates of VCPs at three universities in Northern Europe was collected through an online survey. Questions addressed graduate background prior to education, yearly occupational employment subsequent to graduation, and graduates’ own perception of entrepreneurial activity in employment positions. The survey was sent to 1326 graduates (total graduate population = 1568) and received 692 responses (52.2% response rate). Results: The educational context of VCPs, whether Ind-VCP or Corp-VCP, mitigated prior entrepreneurial experience. Although prior entrepreneurial experience interacted with Ind-VCP in making a career as self-employed more likely, this was not the case for Corp-VCP, in subsequently choosing intrapreneurial careers. Entrepreneurial pedigree had no significant effect on career choice other than for hybrid careers. Implications: Entrepreneurial experience gained from VCPs seems to influence graduates towards future entrepreneurial careers. For some, a VCP is the first entrepreneurial experience, while others are building existing entrepreneurial experiences. Evidence supports the conclusion that many VCP graduates lacking prior entrepreneurial experience instead develop entrepreneurial competencies (knowledge, skills, and judgmental abilities) through the program, which prepares them to engage in subsequent entrepreneurial careers. For policy and practice, entrepreneurship education can level the playing field for students aspiring to an entrepreneurial career but lacking prior entrepreneurial experience or entrepreneurial pedigree. This is an important insight when considering the need to spur innovativeness among businesses transitioning towards sustainable futures and/or recouping from the economic downturns created and perpetuated by the pandemic. Our evidence illustrates that action-based, contextualized education in entrepreneurship creates graduates that engage either as self-employed or as change agents (working with initiating and developing new opportunities) in established businesses. Value/Originality: This study offers novel evidence that entrepreneurship education can level the playing field for students preparing for entrepreneurial careers but lacking prior entrepreneurial experience or an entrepreneurial pedigree.
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| 2. |
- Aadland, Torgeir, et al.
(författare)
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Mitigating the lack of prior entrepreneurial experience and exposure through entrepreneurship education programs
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research. - 1355-2554. ; 30:11, s. 19-44
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose : To increase the understanding of how entrepreneurship education impacts entrepreneurial careers, the purpose of the paper is to investigate the role that a venture creation program (VCP) might have in mitigating or surpassing a lack of other antecedents of entrepreneurial careers. In particular, the authors focus on entrepreneurial pedigree and prior entrepreneurial experience. Design/methodology/approach : Data from graduates of VCPs at three universities in Northern Europe were collected through an online survey. Questions addressed graduate background prior to education, yearly occupational employment subsequent to graduation and graduates' own perceptions of entrepreneurial activity in employment positions. The survey was sent to 1,326 graduates and received 692 responses (52.2% response rate). Findings : The type of VCP, either independent (Ind-VCP) or corporate venture creation (Corp-VCP), influenced the mitigation of prior entrepreneurial experience. Prior entrepreneurial experience, together with Ind-VCP, made a career as self-employed more likely. However, this was not the case for Corp-VCP in subsequently choosing intrapreneurial careers. Entrepreneurial pedigree had no significant effect on career choice other than for hybrid careers. Research limitations/implications : Entrepreneurial experience gained from VCPs seems to influence graduates toward future entrepreneurial careers. Evidence supports the conclusion that many VCP graduates who lack prior entrepreneurial experience or entrepreneurial pedigree can develop sufficient entrepreneurial competencies through the program. Originality/value : This study offers novel evidence that entrepreneurship education can compensate for a lack of prior entrepreneurial experience and exposure for students preparing for entrepreneurial careers.
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| 3. |
- Aadland, Torgeir, et al.
(författare)
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The gender gap in entrepreneurship: The role of the relative pay off from entrepreneurship
- 2022
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Ingår i: RENT Proceedings. - 2219-5572. ; 2022
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives Entrepreneurship education garners increasing interest, with current trends showing a greater number of women applying. However, less is known about how attendees experience the use of their education post-education in general, in regard to the relative pay-off in graduates’ subsequent careers. Similarly, the extent to which applied entrepreneurial competencies gained may differentiate in careers of women compared to men is also understudied. Research on the distinct gender populations, focusing on occupational differences have limited space in literature. The objective of this paper is to investigate the career metrics in income and work-life balance, comparing and contrasting a population of entrepreneurship education graduates, along gender lines. Literature review Literature points an underlying gender bias in entrepreneurship, where opportunity-based entrepreneurial careers and self-concept of an entrepreneur has predominantly been studied from a male perspective. For example, studies have highlighted aspects of gender bias towards women engaging in opportunity-based entrepreneurship such as difficulty in obtaining necessary funding for growth, challenges in accessing entrepreneurial networks, lower levels of self-belief and self-efficacy regarding entrepreneurial activity, differences in education, and imbalance in work expectations relative to home life. However, these studies have predominantly focused on a new firm formation definition of entrepreneurship. The utilization of entrepreneurial competencies, as developed through entrepreneurship education that focuses on experience- and reflection-based approaches to learning, have in recent studies shown to be equally important for intrapreneurs as self-employed entrepreneurs. This reflects the broader contextual spread of applied entrepreneurial competence in graduate careers. The entrepreneurial careers of the female graduates who engage in ideation and implementation of new business activity after an entrepreneurship education, may it be in firm formation or in employed roles, remains understudied. Therefore, the question is raised: What is the relative pay-off (i.e., income and work-life balance) of entrepreneurship in relation to occupational choice and gender for graduates of entrepreneurship educations? Approach/Method Alumni from three master-level venture creation programs at three universities in Northern Europe were contacted for this study. From a total population of 1103 (graduating between 1997-2018),531 graduates responded, resulting in a response rate of 48.1 percent. The gender distribution in the total population is 28.5 percent female, and within the respondent sample it is 29.5 percent female. Two dimensions of career progress: income and work-life balance, was then analyzed with a set of dependent variables and control variables in ordinal regression. These regressors include career start-up experience and to what extent ideation and implementation of new business activity in employed occupations impacts the independent variables. Models are based on separate regressions on men and women with the purpose to highlight gendered differences in career progression and what regressors contributes to this. Results/Findings The findings were divided into separate sets by the two dependent variables, income and work-life balance. For income levels, career length is shared by both men and women as being a strong predictor. Beyond that, the regression analysis gives different versions for women and men of what contributes to a high income. Men in paid employment (as conventional employees or intrapreneurs) earns more than their self-employed and hybrid (combining employment and self-employment) peers. For women, there is no significant differences among the occupations. For both genders, type of industry is also influential towards the income level. Work-life balance generated regressions that points towards small influences of the regressors for women. For men, having a partner indicates a higher work-life balance, which is not significant for women. Also, having less work related to entrepreneurial competencies (i.e., being conventional employed), results in a more positive work-life balance. Value & Implications Entrepreneurship education is shown to have many positive impacts on subsequent careers. However, entrepreneurial competencies developed through education do not appear to counteract the general gender differences seen in society, as differentiation between male and female graduates is evident through the study. Where previous research has focused on studying these differences, this study instead focuses on how income and work-life balance unfolds across gender categories of venture creation program graduates. These programs have shown to produce graduates who have developed and later utilized entrepreneurial competencies to a high degree in both employed and self-employed contexts. Though in the subsequent careers, the progression of income and work-life balance falls under different mechanisms depending on the gender of the graduate. Women seems to have more stable progression compared to men, with less variation between occupations. Though a limitation lies within that the regressors builds lesser models for women compared to men. This indicates that future research should consider an expanded set of variables or focus on designing qualitative studies target towards career progression of female entrepreneurs. In conclusion this study informs the need to consider the entrepreneurial career progression of women as different compared to their male graduates.
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| 4. |
- Alsos, Gry, et al.
(författare)
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Graduates of venture creation programs - where do they apply their entrepreneurial competencies?
- 2023
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Ingår i: Small Business Economics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-0913 .- 0921-898X. ; 60:1, s. 133-155
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The assessment of entrepreneurship education outcomes should move beyond a focus on firm creation and associated economic impact to consider a more nuanced view that pays attention to graduates and their entrepreneurial competencies. There is currently limited understanding to what extent entrepreneurial competencies developed through entrepreneurship education are applied in graduates' subsequent careers across various occupational roles, either as employees or as self-employed. Our analysis is based on a survey administered to 556 graduates from three Nordic master-level entrepreneurship education programs (1997-2018), all identified as venture creation programs. We find that, to a large extent, entrepreneurial competencies developed through venture creation programs are applied in subsequent careers across multiple occupational roles encompassing self-employment, hybrid entrepreneurship, and intrapreneurship. Entrepreneurship education is relevant not only to new firm creation but also to entrepreneurial positions in established organizations when it comes to graduates' application of entrepreneurial competencies in subsequent careers. Plain English Summary Entrepreneurial competencies developed through entrepreneurship education are applicable to careers other than "start-up entrepreneur." This article examines graduates from three entrepreneurship education programs in Northern Europe where students experienced venture creation as part of the education. Graduates report the extent to which they apply entrepreneurial competencies (AECs) in their subsequent career. The most common career among graduates is self-employed entrepreneur, closely followed by a career as intrapreneur, where graduates apply their entrepreneurial competencies in established organizations. A smaller group of graduates have careers as hybrid entrepreneurs, where they combine paid employment with self-employment. A minority group of graduates have more conventional careers as full-time employees in established companies, where entrepreneurial tasks are not their main activities. The results indicate that venture creation programs provide fertile ground for graduates to engage in a broad spectrum of entrepreneurial careers. From the analysis, we found that a career as an intrapreneur is more similar to a self-employed entrepreneur than to a conventional employee. An implication for entrepreneurship education is that real-life educational experience through venture creation is applicable to entrepreneurial careers beyond start-ups. Additionally, the study provides a first attempt to connect entrepreneurial competencies developed through education with how such competencies are manifested in graduates' subsequent careers, motivating a discursive shift in how policies could spur a more entrepreneurial society that goes beyond a narrow start-up perspective.
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| 5. |
- Stockhaus, Martin, 1993
(författare)
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A Career Beyond Startups: Entrepreneurial Competencies in the Careers of Venture Creation Program Graduates
- 2022
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The entrepreneurial career is an emerging concept in entrepreneurship research. When aiming to understand the trajectory of those embarking on entrepreneurial careers, research has predominantly focused on those who found start-ups. Firm founding is also widely used in research to assess outcomes of entrepreneurship educations. This thesis questions a firm formation view on entrepreneurial careers and instead develops an entrepreneurial-competencies’ perspective. The empirical context of this thesis is three Nordic master’s level venture creation programs (VCP). VCPs are designed to enable students to develop competencies for transforming opportunities into viable businesses, using the experience of developing a real-life venture as the main learning vessel. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate career trajectories based upon an entrepreneurial career perspective, that includes entrepreneurial competencies facilitated through VCPs. The aim is to identify entrepreneurial career trajectories by describing entrepreneurial competencies in relation to the career, allowing trajectories beyond those solely addressing firm founding. Entrepreneurial competencies developed from VCPs are applied similarly in subsequent careers, whether that career choice is as self-employed, a hybrid entrepreneur, or an intrapreneur. Pre-conditions, such as the role of prior entrepreneurial experiences and being raised in an entrepreneurial family are found to have limited impact on career choice for graduates, relative to educational influence. The thesis also identifies distinct archetypical (entrepreneurial) career trajectories, indicating sustainable careers after an education in entrepreneurship. This implies that VCPs, extending also to entrepreneurship education overall, have relevance not only to firm founding, but also to entrepreneurial positions in established organizations regarding graduates’ applied entrepreneurial competencies in subsequent careers. Policy-wise the study implies a need to rethink present policies and appreciate the wider value of entrepreneurship education programs beyond merely firm formation. Research-wise the thesis suggests a change in perspective from firm formation to entrepreneurial competencies, which opens up for a more comprehensive and holistic theory on entrepreneurial careers. It has given new insights into how we can discuss careers of entrepreneurial individuals – focusing the questions to what you do, how you view yourself doing it, and how a progression of these questions makes up an entrepreneurial career.
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