Entrepreneurship education: more questions than answers?

Citation

Matlay, H. (2006), "Entrepreneurship education: more questions than answers?", Education + Training, Vol. 48 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2006.00448eaa.001

Entrepreneurship education: more questions than answers?

There is little doubt in my mind that, as a topic of research, “Entrepreneurship Education” has come to age and it is now poised to grow in both importance and in terms of topicality. Yet, it was not so long ago that vocational education and training (VET) and other issues related to small business and enterprise development were relegated to marginal or “back of the book” positions. Indeed, during the 1980s, as an undergraduate, and later on as a postgraduate student at the University of Warwick Business School, I used to delight in searching through a vast business library for even the most obscure references related to these important aspects of small business research. Interestingly, there were very few designated research studies and dissemination in this area. Most of the emerging literature focussed upon finance, marketing, internationalisation and the technology aspects of small business development. Education, training, learning and human resources in smaller firms were not considered important enough to warrant much mention in textbooks or the few specialised journals in this field. Things were not going to change substantially until the early 1990s when new and established researchers began to take an interest in the “human aspect” of entrepreneurship and small business development. By the late 1990s, these topics have grown considerably in volume, if not in quality of research. There were, however, some exceptions, and I flatter myself into thinking that I was amongst those few who not only contributed to relevant research but also ensured that the paradoxically long neglect would be challenged by the recognition that it was people who made products and delivered services, and not the bricks and the mortar that held up the crumbling edifices of the British economy.

In terms of basics, it was the meteoric rise of entrepreneurship to academic and policy topicality that triggered a rapid growth in entrepreneurship education research. This is not to say that entrepreneurship education as a topic emerged at the same time or at a similar speed as entrepreneurship. That would have been too easy and perhaps more obvious than realistic in academia. In reality, those few voices that spoke out at small business and enterprise development conferences in the 1980s and dared question the direction and relevance of vocational education in general and entrepreneurship education in particular were either ignored or fobbed off with vague promises of imminent reforms. Thing might have changed in the 1990s but, initially at least, entrepreneurship education was still perceived by many as the prerogative and domain of a few well meaning business schools or educational departments. Similarly, during a decade of educational reforms in Britain, a researcher had too look hard and search intensively for any hint – other than empty rhetoric, of course – that entrepreneurship education was considered relevant or even desirable. Nevertheless, the rise of entrepreneurship carried in its momentum the seed of entrepreneurship education emergence and growth. Some of us felt that it was inevitable that questions will be asked on how to increase the number of entrepreneurs in an economy and develop them into successful pillars of our society. Others kept flogging the myth of the uneducated entrepreneur, the men who apparently graduated from the University of Life, with a combined first class honours in ruthlessness and questionable business practices. To me, however, “the writing was on the wall” and it was obvious that ignorance and complacence could not prevail for much longer.

Was I really one of those few visionaries who could predict the emergence of entrepreneurship education as an important topic of research? In all honesty, and without an inkling of false modesty, I would only admit to having been lucky. I was fortunate in having been an entrepreneur myself and, after years of struggling in the dense jungle of ignorance and anecdotal exaggerations, I found my way to academia, in a quest for possible answers to relevant questions. A quarter of a century later I still consider myself lucky for being an academic, despite the well documented decline in standards, prestige and earning power that we experienced in the UK. Younger, more dynamic and free spirited colleagues have long since joined the lucrative “brain drain” and are contributing to other counties’ knowledge base. I decided to resist temptation and flattering attempts at “headhunting” from prestigious universities in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, not to mention continental Europe – which is another paradox that affects us in the UK … Perhaps I have become an academic dinosaur, still obsessed with finding answers to the questions that I first raised back in 1981, in a small business management class. The young lecturer – who is now a distinguished professor – kindly suggested that I stop blaming academia and the government and that I should set out to answer my own questions through empirically rigorous research! When we occasionally meet at various conferences, I make it a point of honour to shake his hand and thank him – yet again – for his guidance and constructive suggestions!

Conveniently, this anecdote brings me to the main point of this editorial: can we, as academics find answers to questions relevant to entrepreneurship education or are we just pursuing research for the sake of it? The question is, of course, more complex than it appears and a quarter of century later I still ask more questions about entrepreneurship education than I can find answer for: is this good, bad or indifferent? It is true to say that we, as a community of knowledge, have sought and provided answers to many relevant questions. The quantity and quality of dedicated research is growing considerable each year and the topic commands a budding specialism of its own, supported by established as well as new journals, research monographs and a variety of textbooks. Similarly, most business schools and faculties provide a wide spectrum of courses that fall, directly and indirectly, within the entrepreneurship education remit. I have attended a number of excellent conferences on this subject and I feel confident that we are expanding and maturing at a reasonable pace. Yet, despite all these positive and exciting developments, I still find myself asking more questions than I can find answers for: can this be right? Are we doing enough or should we refocus our research attention towards other aspects of this topic. We must accept, however, that there is no easy way to deconstruct this issue. Interestingly, however, my first question in this area remains just as pertinent now as it was in 1981: can entrepreneurship be taught or are entrepreneurs born? Further, are educated entrepreneurs more “successful” than those who left school early and without any qualifications? Importantly, what is entrepreneurship education and how does it manifests itself as an outcome in the “real” world? And so on, and on, and on … .

This is one of a number of special issues on entrepreneurship education that we are planning for the next few volumes, both in Education + Training and in affiliated journals, including JSBED. There is no doubt in my mind that some of the many questions that I ask will be answered fully or partially in this or other issues. Also, I genuinely believe that more questions will emerge as our topic develops and matures. I feel that as long as we keep asking the right or even the wrong questions, our contribution will be positive, significant and relevant to entrepreneurship and real life situations. Finally, I would like to thank all those who made this special issue possible: contributors, referees, advisers, Rick Holden and Rachel Murawa, as well as the Emerald Group employees who work behind the scene to ensure a quality and timely publication.

Harry MatlayUCE Business School, Birmingham, UK