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(S)training experiences: Toward understanding decreases in entrepreneurial self-efficacy during action-oriented entrepreneurship training

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Abstract

While most participants benefit from action-oriented entrepreneurship training, such programs can paradoxically also have negative effects. Training programs in which participants actively engage in entrepreneurship involve facing problems that might be too difficult to overcome, potentially decreasing trainees' entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Based on theories of self-regulation, we argue that error mastery orientation is a factor that explains under which condition problems do or do not lead to decreases in entrepreneurial self-efficacy during training. To test our model, we conducted a 12-week action-oriented training program and applied a longitudinal design with one baseline measurement, seven measurements during training, and one measurement after training. Analyses based on 415 lagged observations from 109 training participants indicated that participants with low error mastery orientation experienced decreases in entrepreneurial self-efficacy during training when facing problems. In contrast, participants high in error mastery orientation could buffer the negative effects of problems on entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Our results suggest that error mastery orientation is a critical factor to understand why participants' episodic experiences of problems during training negatively influence their entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Shedding light on these self-regulatory factors advances the understanding of the potential dark side of action-oriented entrepreneurship training.

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... An error-focused orientation can divert entrepreneurs' attention from their goals when errors occur, leading them to abandon resource reflection and recovery strategies [55]. This results in psychological discomfort, such as worry, fear, or self-doubt [56]. Among impoverished entrepreneurs, this discomfort is exacerbated by weaker emotional regulation abilities. ...
... Scholars have contrasted it favorably with traditional entrepreneurial learning approaches [50] while overlooking the external context in which entrepreneurial action learning occurs. For instance, Bohlayer [56] pointed out that pressures from the external environment, such as managerial opinions, can lead to negative consequences in entrepreneurial action learning when integrated with practice. This study empirically substantiates these negative impacts, providing evidence for a more nuanced understanding of the role of entrepreneurial action learning. ...
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... This final phase would also benefit from leading the students to deal with the dark side (psychological losses) and the downside (financial and social losses) of entrepreneurial failure (De Sordi et al., 2022;Shepherd, 2019). Students acquainted with the possibility of failure and recovery strategies should perceive more control (Alvarado Valenzuela et al., 2020;Bohlayer and Gielnik, 2023) and thus reveal a stronger link between desires and intentions. ...
... Starting a business is a risky step involving intense anxiety and a set of fears, from which the fear of failure is certainly the most significant. Knowing the financial, social and psychological losses involved in business failure, as well as strategies to exit and recover (Liguori and Pittz, 2020), trainees with an intense desire for starting a business feel more capable of controlling and responding to negative outcomes (Bohlayer and Gielnik, 2023) and thus relieved from the fear of failure (Byrne and Shepherd, 2015), increasing the feasibility of making their dream come true. So, the path through confidence is expected to depend not only on the skills considered in this research but also on specific training regarding entrepreneurial failure. ...
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... When individuals perceive entrepreneurship as an attractive and promising choice, they are more likely to demonstrate positive entrepreneurial intentions. Bohlayer and Gielnik (2023) suggest that when individuals have a high level of entrepreneurship self-efficacy, they are more confident in facing challenges and overcoming difficulties, which improves entrepreneurial intentions. The increase in self-confidence makes individuals more inclined to pursue entrepreneurship opportunities because they believe they can cope with uncertainty and risks. ...
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... These dimensions collectively determine an entrepreneur's confidence in their ability to handle various aspects of their business. Accurate measurement of ESE typically involves self-report scales that assess these different dimensions, providing valuable insights into an entrepreneur's strengths and areas for development (Bohlayer and Gielnik, 2023). ...
... Citing the reason as the lack of proper entrepreneurship training programmes, Mudavanhu et al. (2014:576) concluded that entrepreneurship training programmes were ineffective. Similarly, Bohlayer and Gielnik (2023) found that participants who exhibited low mastery orientation with errors experienced a decline in their entrepreneurial self-efficacy during training when confronted with challenges. Botha et al. (2015:55) conducted a synthesis of the different types of entrepreneurial performance models derived by various authors. ...
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... In this study, self-efficacy is linked to the confidence to carry out successfully a venture (Saoula et al. 2023;Wu et al. 2022). People with more self-efficacy may have a greater intention to develop enterprises (Bohlayer and Gielnik 2023;Christensen et al. 2023). The same is explicitly evidenced for green ventures (Robayo-Acuña et al. 2023). ...
... Thus, it can be recommended to focus on developing these characteristics in general education and entrepreneurship training. Some sound recommendations can be found in action-oriented training, e.g. in Gielnik et al. (2015), despite a recent longitudinal study (Bohlayer and Gielnik, 2023) emphasizing the importance of a person's orientation toward learning from mistakes. This is connected to the second recommendation related to entrepreneurship education. ...
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... Funken et al.'s (2020) error mastery orientation had the following dimensions: learning from errors, thinking about errors, error competence, communication about errors, and error risk taking. Past research only used an aggregate score across all items because these dimensions are correlated (Bohlayer & Gielnik, 2023;Funken et al., 2020). ...
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... Estudios previos en el campo de la educación en emprendimiento en la etapa universitaria muestran que este tipo de evaluaciones podría no capturar algunos efectos relevantes como los efectos de alineamiento y clasificación (Fayolle y Gailly, 2009;Fretschner y Lampe, 2019). A pesar del apoyo institucional a las actividades de promoción del emprendimiento en las escuelas de educación secundaria y bachillerato, la investigación de su eficacia es limitada (Bohlayer y Gielnik, 2023;Brüne y Lutz, 2020;Longva y Foss, 2018;Martínez-Gregorio et al., 2021). Para superar esta limitación, la presente investigación evalúa la eficacia de una actividad de este tipo en educación secundaria (Hipótesis 1-4), probando la generalización de los efectos de alineamiento y clasificación por primera vez en esta población (Hipótesis 5 y 6). ...
... Previous studies in the field of undergraduate entrepreneurship education show how this type of assessment may not capture relevant effects such as the sorting and alignment effects (Fayolle & Gailly, 2009;Fretschner & Lampe, 2019). Despite institutional support for entrepreneurship promotion activities in secondary and high schools, research on their effectiveness is limited (Bohlayer & Gielnik, 2023;Brüne & Lutz, 2020;Longva & Foss, 2018;Martínez-Gregorio et al., 2021). To fill this gap, the present research evaluates the effectiveness of such an activity in a secondary school (hypotheses 1-4), testing the generalizability of the sorting and alignment effects for the first time in this audience (hypotheses 5 and 6). ...
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Drawing on entrepreneurship education (EE) theory, this article examines the role of learning and inspiration in developing students' entrepreneurial intentions in the First Year in Higher Education. This addresses the paucity of research on early university experiences of EE and their influence on entrepreneurial intentions. Using a longitudinal survey of business students at a British university, the authors identify four scenarios related to the participation/non-participation in EE and subsequent increase or decrease of entrepreneurial intentions. A sub-set of those surveyed are interviewed (n = 49) to better understand how their university experience has influenced their entrepreneurial intentions. Findings suggest that the influence of EE is variable, in some cases even leading to a decrease in entrepreneurial intentions. The results contribute to theories of EE and intentions in the early stages of higher education. The authors discuss implications for theory and practice.
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This paper develops and tests a model of pathways between participation in entrepreneurship education programmes (EEPs) and entrepreneurial intention. EEPs are degree programmes designed to provide mastery and experience over several years of academic study. Structural equation modelling on survey data gathered from 348 graduating students from eight universities in Pakistan showed how three EEP components (learning, inspiration and resources) influence intention: learning and inspiration activities both increase perceived norms for being an entrepreneur and students' perceptions that they can be entrepreneurs (perceived control). Access to incubation resources had the strongest effect on intention by increasing perceived norms which in turn increases positive attitudes and perceived control. These findings provide insight into the conclusions drawn from previous studies by showing how positive student experience across different components of entrepreneurship programme have a positive impact on students' intentions to start their own business.
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Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to create a better understanding of how entrepreneurial education research has evolved with regard to pedagogy over the past decades. Design/methodology/approach – The authors employed systematic review methodology to enable an in-depth analysis of the literature in a process that was both replicable and transparent. Guided by the research purpose, the systematic review of 395 articles published between January 1980 and December 2018 was influenced by a configurative approach aimed at interpreting and understanding the phenomenon under study. Findings – The analysis suggests that the scholarly discourse on pedagogy in entrepreneurial education research has developed over time from teacher-guided instructional models to more constructivist perspectives. A shift in the literature was also observed, where scholarly discussions moved from addressing the issue of teachability to a greater emphasis on learnability. Contemporary discussions centre on the theoretical and philosophical foundations of experience-based teaching and learning. Originality/value – The study illustrates how entrepreneurial education has evolved into a distinct research theme, characterized by a practice-oriented research agenda that emphasizes the need to connect teaching to “real-world” environments. The practice-oriented agenda has led to continued societal interest in promoting entrepreneurial education, while at the same time creating low academic legitimacy. Keywords: Evolution, Pedagogy, Entrepreneurship, Systematic literature review, Entrepreneurial education Paper type: Literature review
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Purpose Facing the multiplication of entrepreneurship education programmes (EEP) and the increasing resources allocated, there is a need to develop a common framework to evaluate the design of those programmes. The purpose of this article is to propose such a framework, based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Design/methodology/approach TPB is a relevant tool to model the development of entrepreneurial intention through pedagogical processes. The independent variables are the characteristics of the EEP and the dependent variables are the antecedents of entrepreneurial behaviour. To illustrate and test the relevance of the evaluation methodology, a pilot study is conducted. Findings Data are consistent and reliable, considering the small scale of this experiment. The EEP assessed had a strong measurable impact on the entrepreneurial intention of the students, while it had a positive, but not very significant, impact on their perceived behavioural control. Research implications/limitations This is a first step of an ambitious research programme aiming at producing theory‐grounded knowledge. Reproduction of the experiment will allow researchers to test how specific characteristics of an EEP influence its impact and how the impact differs across several cohorts of students. Those comparisons will serve to improve a priori the design of EEP. Originality/value The new methodology is built on a robust theoretical framework and based on validated measurement tools. Its originality is about a relative – longitudinal – measure of impact over time and a particular use of the theory of planned behaviour which is seen as an assessment framework.
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Recently, scholars are confronted with only small positive, non‐existing, or even negative average effects of entrepreneurship education. We draw on two largely neglected and hidden effects of entrepreneurship education, namely the alignment and the sorting effect, in order to explain previous inconsistent evaluation outcomes. Making use of ex ante and ex post student‐surveys in a quasi‐experimental setting, we provide insights into how these effects emerge and are further amplified by course‐induced updates in personal attitudes and perceived behavioral control. Our study shows that relying on average measures is often not effective in evaluating entrepreneurship courses and highlights the need for new outcomes measures.
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Despite literature acknowledges that emotional, social, and cognitive (ESC) competencies favor entrepreneurial success, research has scantly investigated if they influence entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, studies use work and extracurricular activities as proxies for competency possession without investigating their impact on competency development. To address this void, we analyze the direct and mediating effects of ESC competencies on self-employment intentions. Results from a sample of university students demonstrate that higher levels of ESC competencies predict entrepreneurial intent, and only international and cultural experiences indirectly favor self-employment intentions. This study offers insight to the debate on competency development in entrepreneurial education.
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To innovate at work is risky as every new endeavour is also error-prone. Therefore, the way errors are managed in organisations may be related to organisations' innovativeness. We studied error management culture as one important and often overlooked organisational culture factor hypothesised to be related to organisational and individual innovativeness. Error management culture implies that a firm accepts that people make errors and uses “organizational practices related to communicating about errors, to sharing error knowledge, to helping in error situations, and to quickly detecting and handling errors” to deal with errors (Van Dyck, Frese, Baer, & Sonnentag, 2005, p. 1229). Our sample consists of 30 companies with N = 227 employees. To decrease the problem of common method variance, we split the samples within each company into two subsamples: one subsample was used for the measurement of error management culture and the other one for the measure of organisational innovativeness. A multilevel structural equation modelling (MSEM) analysis showed error management culture to be related to organisational and individual innovativeness. Organisational innovativeness was a mediator for the relationship between error management culture and individual innovativeness. A potential implication is that organisations wanting to increase their innovativeness may need to examine their error management culture.
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This paper investigates whether entrepreneurial education (EE) contributes to the entrepreneurial intentions (EI) of university students in the Visegrád countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia). The results show several differences with regard to the impact of education and entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) on entrepreneurial intentions across the four nations. The direct impact of entrepreneurship education was positive and significant in only one country, Poland, the only of the four countries to have introduced entrepreneurship education at high-school level. Additionally, an indirect influence of EE on EI was uncovered. Using a multi-construct approach to ESE, the research proves that ESEs related to searching, planning and marshalling activities mediate the impact of entrepreneurial education on intentions, although these effects differ across the studied countries. Lastly, a gender comparison indicates that although women generally have lower entrepreneurial intentions and display lower levels of ESE they benefit more than men do from entrepreneurship education.
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We know that entrepreneurship training is effective but we lack a theoretical understanding of the dynamic processes after training leading to business creation. In this study, we develop a theoretical model to explain short- and long-term effects of entrepreneurship training on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, passion, and business creation. We hypothesize that entrepreneurship training boosts entrepreneurial self-efficacy and passion, and that entrepreneurial self-efficacy sustains the positive effect of entrepreneurship training on passion over time. Furthermore, we hypothesize that entrepreneurship training impacts business creation through passion. We conducted a field experiment with four measurement waves over 32 months resulting in 784 observations from 227 participants. Discontinuous growth curve modeling and joint lagged analyses supported our hypotheses. Our findings indicate that post-training processes are dynamic and that entrepreneurial self-efficacy is important to maintain high passion after training. Maintaining high passion after training eventually leads to business creation.
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Entrepreneurship is one of the most effective means to alleviate poverty in developing countries. Effective entrepreneurship requires psychological approaches—in particular, active (i.e., agentic) approaches. We introduce an action-regulation training approach, focusing on self-regulation and active behavior in entrepreneurship as a bottom-up solution for poverty reduction. We present two different training interventions. The first focuses on enhancing personal initiative in entrepreneurs from developing countries. The second aims at boosting startup rates in these countries by enhancing participants’ entrepreneurial skills and motivation. We describe underlying theoretical assumptions, structures, and effects of both training interventions and discuss evaluation studies with randomized pretest-posttest control-group designs showing that action-regulation training is a successful means to promote entrepreneurship in developing countries.
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We examined how error orientation and opportunity identification behavior relate to entrepreneurial decision making in Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and how these perceptions of opportunity identification mediate the effects of error orientation on entrepreneurial decision making. We analyzed 187 questionnaires from participants in SME firms in China. The results indicated that perceived error orientation and opportunity identification were related to and explained variance in entrepreneurial decision making. Opportunity identification also fully or partially mediated the relationship between error orientation and entrepreneurial decision making. Elevating opportunity identification beliefs and clarifying an entrepreneur's understanding of the importance of opportunity identification for the functionality and effectiveness of his/her firm can help promote entrepreneurial decision making. Alertness to error orientation can contribute to the development of stronger perceptions of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and lead to better entrepreneurial decision making.
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The study investigates the role of entrepreneurial passion and creativity as antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions, applying social cognitive theory as an underpinning framework. Specifically, this research focuses on American homebrewing, seen as a potential incubator for entrepreneurs. Results demonstrate entrepreneurial passion having a strong positive relationship with entrepreneurial intentions, even when entrepreneurial self-efficacy is introduced as a mediator. Conversely, the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial intentions is mediated by entrepreneurial self-efficacy, confirming that individuals also need to feel self-efficacious enough to pursue entrepreneurial career. The findings advance the understanding of nascent entrepreneurship phenomenon within a particular hobby context.
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Upper echelon theory highlights the importance of top management teams in large and established firms; however, effects are not always clear outside of this context. Due to the unique nature of new ventures, the composition of entrepreneurial teams and its effects on performance is worthy of investigation. Accordingly, we meta-analyze the effect of three characteristics of entrepreneurial team composition (i.e., aggregated, heterogeneity, team size) on new venture performance. Our meta-analysis, which includes 55 empirical samples and 8,892 observations, finds significant and unique effects of entrepreneurial team characteristics on new ventures. Based on our findings, we derive avenues for future research.
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Using a teaching model framework, we systematically review empirical evidence on the impact of entrepreneurship education (EE) in higher education on a range of learning outcomes, analysing 159 published articles from 2004-2016. The teaching model framework allows us for the first time to start rigorously examining relationships between pedagogical methods and specific outcomes. Reconfirming past reviews and meta-analyses, we find that EE impact research still predominantly focuses on short-term and subjective outcome measures and tends to severely under-describe the actual pedagogies being tested. Moreover, we use our review to provide an up-to-date and empirically rooted call for less obvious, yet greatly promising, new or underemphasised directions for future research on the impact of university-based entrepreneurship education. This includes, for example, the use of novel impact indicators related to emotion and mindset, focus on the impact indicators related to the intention-to-behaviour transition, and explore the reasons for some of the contradictory findings in impact studies including person-, context- and pedagogical model-specific moderators.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of how entrepreneurial potential is developed among young people. Changes in individuals’ entrepreneurial intentions and the antecedents of intentions are investigated, as well as the impact of entrepreneurship education on the changes. Design/methodology/approach – Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is applied. Longitudinal data from 197 HE students, in their first and third year of studies, is examined using path analysis. Findings – Overall the entrepreneurial intentions of HE students decreased over time. Intentions decreased particularly for those with high initial level of intentions, whereas the group with increasing intentions rose from low to neutral level of intentions. Changes in attitudes and perceived behavioral control have a significant positive impact. Versatile entrepreneurship courses have direct effect on changes in attitudes. Changes in attitudes have a dual role, as they influence change in both intentions and perceived behavioral control. The developed model explains 19 percent of the variance among women and 28 percent among men, suggesting gender differences in development of intentions. Research limitations/implications – Only one way of developing entrepreneurial potential in young people (i.e. education) is covered. The empirical sample is limited to one university. Practical implications – The results suggest versatile methods of entrepreneurship education are more effective in developing intentions than perhaps purely active modes. Gender differences should be considered when designing interventions to foster entrepreneurial potential. Originality/value – The research confirms with longitudinal individual-level data the applicability of TPB on entrepreneurial intentions and demonstrates the mediated impact of versatile entrepreneurship courses on changes in intentions.