Is it just about me? : A comparison between individual and cultural strategies of learning from failure

• The aim of this exploratory study is to research individual and cultural strategies of learning from failure amongst German, Indian and Swedish university students. Our research provides (1) a framework of typal similarities of failure learning within the national cultures of Germany, India and Sweden, as well as (2) understanding of cultural effects on failure learning and (3) insights for entrepreneurship educators to develop programs that steer discussions and reflections on the event of failure as a likely part of the entrepreneurial process. Thus, this research provides a new brick of understanding as our results show that both culture-based strategies as well as culturally independent typical subjectivities in learning from failure exist for the three nations Germany, India and Sweden. The defined typologies can broaden our understanding of learning from failure at an intermediate level, bridging the gap between cultural and individual factors. Furthermore, our paper showcases the suitability of Q methodology to bring to front individual beliefs as well as group-specific opinions in higher education by discussing the methodological capabilities and challenges as experienced during our study.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Cultural dimensions

Typal subjectivities

Entrepreneurship education

Learning from failure

Q methodology

Strategiskt entreprenörskap (StrEnt)

Strategic Entrepreneurship

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)