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Business incubators (BIs) represent a significant category of entrepreneurial support organizations. They provide support to entrepreneurs engaged in traditional and social ventures. They can facilitate the development of inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems by linking entrepreneurs and stakeholders. However, incubators struggle to promote diversity and inclusion among their cohorts, and to ensure equal access to their support. There has been recent growing attention to supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs. In this context, neurodiversity has gained considerable attention. Consequently, specialized incubators and programs targeting neurodiverse entrepreneurs have emerged, and BIs have widely adopted explicit communication strategies to attract neurodiverse candidates. Considering these initiatives, this chapter explores how BIs can support neurodiverse individuals during their entrepreneurial journeys. The qualitative method uses semi-directive interviews with neurodiverse entrepreneurs to understand their experiences and expectations regarding BIs. The data was analyzed through inductive coding, resulting in three themes: (1) Specific yet diverse needs of neurodiverse entrepreneurs; (2) Visions of neurodiverse entrepreneurship; and (3) Representation of neurodiverse entrepreneurs. Findings show that neurodiverse entrepreneurs place significant hope in incubators to address the specific challenges they experience. However, to achieve their full potential in fostering an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem, incubators must be mindful of unintentionally reinforcing stereotypes, stigmatization, and hierarchization of neurodiverse individuals. Incubators should diversify the role models for neurodiverse entrepreneurs they promote and broaden the perspectives on neurodiverse entrepreneurship. The implications of intersectional identities on neurodiverse individuals' experience of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial support should be considered. Involving neurodiverse entrepreneurs in the design and governance of incubation programs is important.

Autistic individuals are employed and access higher education opportunities at significantly lower rates than their nondisabled peers (US Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS], 2023; Newman, 2015). Schools are an optimal setting for intervention as most individuals access the school setting. However, traditional support to facilitate postsecondary transition effectively, such as transition plans, is currently lacking (Greene, 2018; Hughes et al., 2023). The authors of the present chapter conducted a systematic review to identify school-based interventions available for autistic youth intended to support the transition from high school to higher education, entrepreneurship, and employment. The data extraction methods used by the authors identified 19 articles on interventions. Across all studies, the authors found variation in the extent to which researchers addressed entrepreneurial skills and identified two key skill development areas across different intervention modalities: employability skills and interpersonal communication skills. Based on these results, the authors discuss available school-based programming intended to prepare autistic youth for postsecondary careers and entrepreneurial opportunities and the implications of existing interventions for practitioners and researchers interested in improving outcomes for autistic students as they transition to the workplace, particularly entrepreneurial endeavors.

A learning-focused culture promotes creativity, innovativeness and the acquisition of novel insights and competencies. The study aims to explore the relationship between human resource development (HRD) practice and employee competencies using organizational learning culture as a mediating variable.

Data were collected from 828 employees of 37 health care institutions comprising 24 (internationally-owned) and 13 (indigenously-owned). Construct reliability and validity was established through a confirmatory factor analysis. The proposed model and hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation modeling.

Data supported the hypothesized relationships. The results show that training and development and employee competencies were significantly related. Career development and employee competencies were significantly related. Organizational learning culture mediates the relationship between training and development and employee competencies. However, organizational learning culture did not mediate the relationship between career development and employee competencies.

The generalizability of the findings will be constrained due to the research’s health care focus and cross-sectional data.

The study’s findings will serve as valuable pointers to policy makers and stakeholders of health care institutions in developing system-level capacities that promote continuous learning and adaptive learning cultures to ensure sustainability and competitive advantage.

By evidencing empirically that organizational learning culture mediates the relationship between HRD practices and employee competencies the study extends the literature.