Why Mode and Regional Context Matter for Entrepreneurship Education

Abstract

This study examines how modes of entrepreneurship education (active, such as business simulations, versus reflective, such as theory lectures) – alone and in interaction with the universities’ regional context – affect students’ self-employment intentions. Results from a cross-level analysis show that active modes are, irrespective of the regional context, positively related with intentions and attitudes towards entrepreneurship, whereas the effect of reflective modes is contingent on the regional context. The findings have important implications for the ongoing discussion on the teachability of entrepreneurship, the design of educational programmes, and for future research.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education, learning styles, knowledge spillover, regional context, self-employment intentions

JEL Classification: D83, J24, L26, M13