The context of entrepreneurship education in Ethiopian universities
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and evaluate entrepreneurship education in public universities in Ethiopia.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on the data obtained from 16 public universities in the country. The undergraduate curriculum of each university was examined to understand the departments in which entrepreneurship course(s) is/are offered. The syllabus for entrepreneurship course was examined to understand the focus areas and objectives of the entrepreneurship education. A questionnaire based on the literature was used to gather information about the background of entrepreneurship instructors, the teaching and evaluation methods employed in entrepreneurship courses.
Findings
The results show that entrepreneurship education is in its early phase of development in Ethiopian public universities. Entrepreneurship education was mainly offered in business schools and agricultural colleges, though recently it started to be included in the curricula of other schools too, mainly technology institutes/colleges. Traditional teaching and evaluation methods are dominant in teaching and assessing entrepreneurship courses in Ethiopian universities. Ethiopian public universities are also characterized by a dearth of entrepreneurship promotion centers.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on the analysis of curricula and course syllabi and the evaluation of academic staff involved in teaching of entrepreneurship. The study would have been more complete had it included the perception of students.
Practical implications
The findings suggest the need for incorporating entrepreneurship education in all disciplines and the need to further improve the teaching and evaluation methods utilized in the courses. The findings also suggest the need to enhance the capacity of academic staff involved in teaching entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to examine the state of entrepreneurship education in Ethiopian public universities in a detailed way.
Keywords
Citation
Tessema Gerba, D. (2012), "The context of entrepreneurship education in Ethiopian universities", Management Research Review, Vol. 35 No. 3/4, pp. 225-244. https://doi.org/10.1108/01409171211210136
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited