An investigation of factors that influence student and team outcomes in entrepreneurship education

This thesis investigates the impact of individual, team and pedagogical factors on individual and team level outcomes in the context of entrepreneurship education. Despite the growth in research focused on entrepreneurship education in recent decades, there are on-going concerns about methodological rigor within the domain. Furthermore, few researchers have explored the student team in entrepreneurship education. Drawing primarily on Social Cognitive Career Theory and the Input-Mediator-Output framework, this study explores the influence of factors such as entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intentionality, creativity, and entrepreneurial experience on individual and student team outcomes. A series of four quantitative studies were conducted, drawing on 1,004 third-level students and 185 student teams. In synthesising the findings with extant knowledge, a definition and research framework for the student team in entrepreneurship education is presented.

The key findings indicate that in entrepreneurship education, students with entrepreneurial experience have higher entrepreneurial intentionality and founding passion, while student teams with entrepreneurship experience are associated with better team processes, higher performance, and more innovative outcomes. Furthermore, entrepreneurial self-efficacy predicts entrepreneurial intentions, subject interest, and reduces social loafing. In addition, perceptions of creativity, creativity training, and supportive climates for innovation (team and institutional) are positive predictors of individual and team outcomes.

The study provides a critical review of prominent entrepreneurship theories, and provides a contextual revision of an individual trait-based measure of entrepreneurial tendencies. By using novel operationalisations of key constructs the team-level studies, greater insight into team emergent states and misalignment is provided. It is the first study to examine cognitive team separation variables in context. Pedagogically, the four studies provide actionable insights for the educator in areas such as training, team selection, and mitigation of social loafing, thus enhancing the delivery of entrepreneurship education, and supporting a stronger ecosystem conducive to student entrepreneurial development.