Chris Schachtebeck

South Africa is experiencing high rates of unemployment and poverty, particularly among the youth. Entrepreneurship, and the education of it, is often seen as a solution to this socio-economic issue, yet studies show conflicting results on the impact the field of study has on entrepreneurial intent. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to evaluate and compare the entrepreneurial intention among urban students enrolled for an entrepreneurship qualification versus students who were registered for a non-entrepreneurship related qualification. The article presents quantitative, empirical data collected from 603 students by means of a questionnaire to determine if the field of study has an influence on entrepreneurial intent. The study makes use of descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett test in order to discover similarities and differences in entrepreneurial intent in students pursuing entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial qualifications. The results reveal that students view entrepreneurship as a valuable career path, regardless of field of study. Both groups hold similar strong positive views and beliefs regarding their intention to pursue this career path. Entrepreneurship students, however, display a marginally higher self-observed personal attitude toward becoming entrepreneurs. Results also show that family support is an important influencer in entrepreneurial intent among students

This study identifies and discovers best practices in entrepreneurship education from highly-ranked universities and business schools globally. The study has been qualitative in nature, utilizing semi-structured interviews with 23 respondents at 12 higher education institutions. The study has made use of non-probability sampling by means of a convenience sampling approach. Data have been analyzed by means of thematic analysis. Results indicate that best practices in entrepreneurship education include little to no specialization at undergraduate level, with a strong preference for generic and widely applicable entrepreneurship modules. Individual entrepreneurship-related modules contain distinct individual themes. These modules are most commonly structured as electives, thereby allowing students to structure their courses according to areas of personal preference. At postgraduate level, it has been discovered that programs are often specialized in entrepreneurship and highly interdisciplinary in nature, most commonly with areas of specialization such as engineering and other sciences. Practical assignment and teaching tend to be favored in entrepreneurial teaching, rather than traditional classroom-based approaches. Entrepreneurship hubs and centers are mainly independent units loosely linked to a prominent university, with independent mandates and processes. The best practices identified in this study will assist universities and business schools to effectively structure entrepreneurship curriculums in line with global best practices.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education, higher education.
JEL Classification: A23, I23