Entrepreneurship education in sub‐Saharan African universities

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate entrepreneurship course offerings in business administration/management curricula in sub‐Saharan higher education institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a survey of online course catalogs to analyze entrepreneurship course offerings.

Findings

The results of the study demonstrate that most higher education institutions in the sample offer courses in entrepreneurship and/or small business management but few offer specialization in the area. Newly created institutions are more likely to offer entrepreneurship courses and specializations than traditional ones while a few operate university‐based entrepreneurship centers. The study findings are consistent with the environmental school of entrepreneurial thought.

Research limitations/implications

The study depended exclusively on online data. Several institutions were excluded from the sample because their web sites were unavailable. Future research should use a larger sample.

Practical implications

The paper will assist researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders in higher education in strengthening the discussion about enterprise and entrepreneurship education in sub‐Saharan business programmes.

Originality/value

This is the first study on the content of entrepreneurship courses in sub‐Saharan African Universities.

Citation

Kabongo, J.D. and Okpara, J.O. (2010), "Entrepreneurship education in sub‐Saharan African universities", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 296-308. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552551011054499