Entrepreneurship Education Case Study

Abstract

There has been a phenomenal growth in the number of institutions offering entrepreneurship programmes because of the rising awareness of the significance of entrepreneurship education from public authorities. Although, the number of entrepreneurship education is increasing, the rate at which the programme is assessed with respect to teaching methods, contents, and its harmonisation towards the desired objectives of the programmes is minimal. In order to empirically ascertain the state of the module, it becomes prudent to examine the effectiveness of the module from the perspective of the students. A case study approach was adopted using students of Cape Coast Polytechnic, Ghana. Purposive sampling was used and questionnaires were administered

The growth can be seen as indicative of widespread governmental belief in the positive impact that entrepreneurship can have on the socio-economic and political infrastructure of a nation (Matlay, 2008). Public policy makers recognise the importance of entrepreneurship as determinant of economic development and hence support instruments like entrepreneurship education to increase entrepreneurial activity (Fayolle et al., 2006). The value of, and the need for entrepreneurship education, which explains its phenomenal growth can be summed up in a report by the Global Education Institute (GEI) of the World Economic Forum (2009) which stated that while education is one of the most important foundations for economic development, entrepreneurship is a major driver of innovation and economic growth. Entrepreneurship education plays an essential role in shaping attitudes, skills and culture- from primary level up. In other words, entrepreneurial skills, attitudes, and behaviours can be learned, and that exposure to entrepreneurship education throughout an individual’s learning path, starting from youth and continuing through adulthood into higher education- as well as reaching out to those economically or socially excluded is

Timmons and Spinelli (2007) looking at entrepreneurship see it as a way of thinking, reasoning and acting that is opportunity obsessed, holistic in approach and leadership. Rayne (1982) argues that entrepreneurship consists of the process of creating a business venture in order to exploit a new process, product, service or market. As with defining entrepreneurship, many entrepreneurship scholars have given different conceptual definitions of the entrepreneur (Kirby, 2004; Ireland & Webb, 2007). According to Kuratko and Hodgetts (2007), entrepreneurs are individuals who see opportunities where others see chaos and confusion. Scarborough and Zimmerer (2006), see entrepreneurs as people who exist for the purpose of achieving profit and growth by identifying opportunities and assembling the requisite resources to exploit these identified opportunities. Given the above definitions, entrepreneurship can be seen as a complex discipline and many scholars from diverse disciplines of study have attempted to define it from their own perspective of