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Building on Alistair Anderson’s work, this paper proposes transforming enterprise education to deeply address questions of sustainability, social justice and hope in our time of multiple and complex crises. New pedagogies, practices, vocabularies and connections help us to enact crises in entrepreneurial, ethical and creative ways, enabling us to remain hopeful in the face of unknown horizons. Drawing from critical pedagogies, from Epistemologies of the South, and from the wisdoms of Alistair Anderson, the paper outlines how transforming to a more, hopeful, socially just and sustainable enterprise education could move us beyond present alternatives. We suggest that transforming enterprise education (TrEE) would better facilitate students as ethical change-makers when they engage with their worlds, and its unseen future horizons. TrEE emphasizes the time needed for questioning dominant meanings and space for experimenting with new ones. It invites re-placing us in the margins and with the excluded. It takes an expansive view of the ecosystem, and places enterprise within its wider context. It focuses students, teachers, entrepreneurs and various other stakeholders in learning together with the non-human and relies on sustainable stewardship, social justice and hope at the core of transforming enterprise education.

In this editorial, the editors of Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy (EE&P) reflect back on the journal’s first 4 years of production and the impact the journal has had. They also reflect back on the submission trends of unsuccessful submissions, offering insights into why articles are commonly rejected. Last, they discuss research translation, its importance, and strategies for scholars to help disseminate their work to a wider audience.

The preoccupation within executive education with addressing relevance and resource constraints, with developing the capacity of participants to become reflexive practitioners, and with sustaining ...

Over the past three decades, research on entrepreneurial identity (EI) has grown particularly rapidly, yet in seemingly disparate directions. To lend structure to this fragmented field of inquiry, our systematic integrative review maps and integrates EI research based on antecedents, content, outcomes as well as their relationships. In so doing, we reveal that the field revolves around two primary conceptualizations of EI as Property or Process. We suggest future avenues for examining the interplay between EI and temporal, socio-cognitive, and spatial contexts, and for investigating and theorizing overlooked mechanisms of reconstructing and losing EI.

PurposeThis paper investigates how academic teachers engage in identity work and make sense of entrepreneurship and academia in an entrepreneurship training programme.Design/methodology/approachBy employing a sensemaking approach, the paper inductively analyses materials from a business idea development camp organised for academic teachers.FindingsIn collective sensemaking during the camp, non-academic facilitators strongly influenced the reflection-in-experience via normative ideas of entrepreneurship and their othering of entrepreneurship from academic work. In their post-camp individual essays, the academic teachers reflect-on-experience and draw parallels between entrepreneurship and academic work constructing sameness.Research limitations/implicationsLongitudinal research is needed in identity work and sensemaking among academic teachers in relation to entrepreneurship.Practical implicationsUniversities need to offer arenas for teachers and other faculty to support identity work and sensemaking.Originality/valueThis study generates new understanding of how academic teachers engage in identity work and make sense of entrepreneurship in training when interacting with others. It underscores the importance of time needed for reflection-on-action.

This article investigates how fatherhood (or the prospect thereof) shapes entrepreneurial masculinities. Drawing on constructivist grounded theory, we analyze 22 life story interviews with Finnish men technology founders and identify three entrepreneurial masculinities enacted by men to accommodate concurrent normative ideals at the intersection of work and family life. These entrepreneurial masculinities alternatively maintain, restructure, and resist entrepreneurial and parental hegemonic masculinities and are subject to generational and situational scripts. We contribute to the gender and entrepreneurship literature by revealing that the neoliberal new father discourse blurs hegemonic masculinities leading entrepreneurial masculinities to emerge as hybrid hegemonic masculinities.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically investigate how collective identity is constructed and regulated by board members and other active members of student entrepreneurship societies (ESs).Design/methodology/approachA discursive analysis focusing on collective identity construction and regulation based on focus group discussions in two student-led Finnish ESs affiliated with higher education institutions (HEIs).FindingsES members construct and regulate collective entrepreneurial identity based on a shared narrative of entrepreneurship and the affective state of positive energy and thinking, i.e. “positive buzz.” Being entrepreneurial was constructed as having the right kind of mentality to cope with uncertain and rapidly changing working life and to break free of old moulds of working. The shared narrative was coherent, and critical reflection on the values or risks of entrepreneurship was mainly silenced.Research limitations/implicationsAs ESs are a relatively new phenomenon future research could explore ESs in different cultural and regional contexts and compare the identity construction and regulation of ES student members and non-members.Practical implicationsStrong collective identity and sense of commitment to doing things together may mitigate the pressures of being entrepreneurial and taking charge of one’s life.Social implicationsEducational practice and research could benefit from better understanding of the informal context in which entrepreneurship education takes place.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the relatively new research stream on ESs as student-led entrepreneurial organizations in HEIs. The research demonstrates how ES members participate in constructing a collective and coherent identity that is regulated by shared values and a positive state of mind. This study extends the understanding of ESs from the functional perspective to viewing them as a social community. It contributes to the definition of ESs and the self-understanding of ES actors.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent Finnish university students endorse entrepreneurial intent and the ways in which they position themselves in relation to entrepreneurship according to their self-perceived abilities or “ability self”.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted by means of an e-survey, and the participants comprised the sample of students (n=1,819) from two Finnish universities, representing diverse fields of study.FindingsIt was found that a great majority of the students showed a relatively low intent to become an entrepreneur. The perception of abilities, such as innovativeness and ambitiousness-competitiveness, was positively related with entrepreneurial intent, whereas the perception of academic abilities and “conventional” employee skills indicated inverse associations.Social implicationsThe findings suggest that in terms of self-perceived abilities, entrepreneurship in an academic context is perceived as a rather restricted category to which only a few specific individuals have access. Accordingly, there is a certain tension between the tenets of entrepreneurship and corresponding abilities, and the ethos of universities and related high-valued abilities such as theoreticality and criticality.Originality/valueAlthough employability and entrepreneur intent have been widely studied, little is known about students’ identification with entrepreneurship according to their ability perceptions. The present study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on university students’ “internal employability” that involves students’ self-assurance and views of work-related relevance with regard to supposed abilities.

The aim of this study was to examine what sort of ability expectations university students have about the requirements of working life, and how the perception of these expectations relate to students’ perceptions of their own employability. The participants comprised a sample of students (N = 1819) from two Finnish universities, representing diverse fields of study. They were asked to describe themselves according to a set of abilities and to then indicate those abilities that would be particularly important for them in the labour market. It was found that being stable and getting along with others were the most commonly considered generic capabilities for coping in working life. Furthermore, those university students who identified entrepreneurial skills and extroversion as predominant ability requirements were prone to have relatively pessimistic perceptions of their employability possibilities. Accordingly, the results of the study suggest that students’ views of their expected abilities tend to shape their perceptions of their employment prospects, particularly with regard to entrepreneurial skills.

Sivistysyliopisto ja yrittäjyysyliopisto eivät ole vastakkaisia tavoitteita. Yrittäjyyden edistäminen yliopistoissa kestävästi edellyttää yliopistotoimijoilta kriittisyyttä ja refleksiivisyyttä. Näkökulmateksti perustuu Suomen Akatemian projektiin numero 295 960.

Employability is an increasing concern for university students. Our survey set out to examine university students’ perceptions of their employability and the ways in which these perceptions relate to positions that subsequently connect students to working life: students’ self-representational position or “ability self”, and students’ life-historical positions such as chosen field of study, phase of degree and working life experience. The participants comprised a sample of students (N = 1819) from two Finnish universities, representing diverse fields of study. It was found that apart from the field of study, the perceived proximity to graduation and working life was associated with the perception of employability. Furthermore, a set of self-attributed capabilities was associated with students’ perceptions of employability, particularly extroversion, ambitious competitiveness, mental strength and the desired characteristics of a good employee; however, the attribution of academic skills showed opposing effects. It was concluded that both self-representational and live-historical positions are part of the construction of students’ optimism regarding their employability.

This special issue confronts taken-for-granted views on entrepreneurship education (EE), raises critical questions both about EE and how it is taught, and allows investigations of the potential dark sides of entrepreneurship and EE. The contributions in this issue challenge our teaching positions and evoke a pedagogical approach to invention where curiosity, cocreation, though-provoking questions can follow.

Most studies focus on the positive outcomes of entrepreneurial behaviour and emphasise the pivotal role of the passionate entrepreneur in determining firm success. This chapter illustrates why there is reason to be against manifestations of entrepreneurial passion; the findings from an intensive case study on a small owner-manager-led firm illustrate how owner-managers’ entrepreneurial passion for ideas restrains and conditions employee innovative behaviour. More specifically, this chapter illustrates why there is a reason to be against entrepreneurship as a passionate accomplishment. A critical examination of the case shows how the passionate owner-manager performing the role of primary innovation agent casts the employees in more passive roles in terms of developing new ideas and acting innovatively.

This paper investigates the identity work of science-based entrepreneurs in two very different country contexts: Finland and Russia. Building on the literature investigating role identities, we first analyse the identification of individuals with the roles of a scientist and an entrepreneur; and second, how individuals manage the boundary between these two roles. Methodologically, we take a narrative approach, which regards life stories as identity constructions. Our empirical data consist of 23 biographical interviews with science-based entrepreneurs that are inductively analysed. Our findings show that the Russian informants considered being a scientist a salient part of their self-identification, distanced themselves from the role of an entrepreneur, and set discursive boundaries to segment the two roles. For the Finnish informants, identification with the professional roles as a scientist or as an entrepreneur was less salient for the personal identity as they make a clear distinction between ...

This chapter considers Hamilton's suggestion to take a closer look at the alternative gender discourse and practises that make family businesses a unique phenomenon. It explores: How moving in-between visibility and invisibility in different social and family business spheres is done to secure a self-rewarding and empowered role. The chapter introduces the idea of (in)visibility as a theoretical construct by relying on Johan Asplund's theory of social responsivity. It addresses methodological approach and ways of gathering and analysing the research materials before moving into presenting research findings in the form of Vera's story. The chapter concludes with the discussion of arenas for moving between visibility and invisibility to highlight the theoretical insights from the empirical materials. It suggests that a need for reconsidering the primacy of work roles in comparison to the family or social roles as sources of satisfaction for the individuals in the family business.

Entrepreneurship education is an area of growing importance within entrepreneurship research. This book critically discusses innovation and entrepreneurship in new and varied contexts in Europe. En ...

Innovativeness and employee-driven innovations in particular are important sources of competitiveness for small and medium-sized food companies. The fierce competition in the food industry is forcing these companies to increase their operational efficiency in order to compete with the large companies in the market. This paper investigates barriers to innovations in the bakery sector through a case study of a growth-oriented regional bakery. The study contributes to new contextualized knowledge of employee-driven innovation activity in small food production companies. It provides a nuanced understanding of how the manufacturing context of a bakery leads to specific constraints on innovative employee behaviour, and of how the context and the human, organizational and physical resources interact with employee-driven innovation activity.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the dilemmas that challenge reputation management in the context of higher education (HE). Design/methodology/approach – The paper introduces one Finnish multidisciplinary master's degree programme as a case in point. The empirical data comprises a student survey and semi-structured interviews with internal and external stakeholders whose work relates to the master's degree programme in question. Findings – The findings identify different types of dilemmas arising from collaboration between stakeholders of HE. Practical implications – The paper demonstrates how the dilemma-reconciliation method can be used to enhance reputation management in HE. Originality/value – The novelty of the paper is in applying dilemma theory (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 2000) in parallel with reputation theories. Dilemma theory attributes reputation risks to conflicting aims.

Over the last decade, European universities have been swiftly increasing the supply of enterprise education modules across all disciplines and embedding enterprise into non-business studies. There ...

Despite some research having addressed farmer identity and particularly how structural or environmental changes are reflected in the ways farmers construct their identities, the role institutions play in shaping farmer identities remains largely ignored. This paper investigates how two contrasting identities, that of a producer–farmer and an entrepreneur–farmer, are constructed by drawing on an institutional framework. The context of the study is Europe, where the structural, technological, and institutional changes in the farming sector are visible. Drawing on these visible changes enables the study to enhance understanding of the multiple, complementary, and sometimes even contradictory findings of earlier studies on farmer identities. Our results suggest that the informal institutional environment and social norms contribute to the sources of legitimacy sought out by farmers. The producer–farmer constructs the identity to achieve profitability within the boundaries of the accepted ways of operating a farm. In this case the legitimacy sought reflects the predominant norms and values in the local community. In contrast, the entrepreneur–farmer actively seeks to become the biggest and best, regardless of social norms and the institutional environment. Hence, the available identities are determined by whether the farmer accommodates or challenges existing institutions and particularly their norms. The entrepreneur–farmer needs not only to be entrepreneurial, but to act as a change agent vis-a-vis the norms, while the producer–farmer focuses on adhering to the prevailing norms.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the identity work of postgraduate students participating in an entrepreneurship training programme for life sciences. The paper aims to analyse what kind of entrepreneurial identities are constructed and in what ways in the context of the programme. Design/methodology/approach – The paper relies on learning diaries and other written materials harvested from seven participants. Drawing on a social constructivist analysis, the materials were analysed by drawing attention to the kind of identities created, the contradictions that surfaced and how those were resolved in the written materials. Findings – Two distinct entrepreneurial identities were constructed by the participants: the heroic and the humane. The first is the stereotypical role prototype that the participants experiment with. For the male participants this seems acceptable and normal. If they were in possession of more information, knowledge and skills they could identify with this heroic entrepreneurial identity. However, the female participants constructed an alternative identity; the humane entrepreneur running a low-tech firm with modest business goals or acting as an intrapreneur in an existing organisation. Research limitations/implications – Future research should consider entrepreneurship programmes as arenas for (gendered) identity work. Practical implications – Entrepreneurship training should not only provide the participants with business knowledge and skills but facilitate their entrepreneurial identity work. Originality/value – The paper contributes to understanding entrepreneurship education as a context for entrepreneurial identity construction and extends the understanding of the expected outcomes of entrepreneurship education programmes. The study demonstrates how entrepreneurial identity construction processes in the context of entrepreneurship training are gendered.

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to present a framework for research on gender and innovation. The framework is developed based on a review of the current literature in the area; it is applied to provide a context for the articles in this special issue and to offer suggestions for future research. Design/methodology/approach – The article relies on a literature review of gender and innovation. Additional literature searches on Scopus were conducted to provide an overview of the area. In addition, comparative analogies are sought from research fields of gender and entrepreneurship as well as gender and technology. Findings – The article presents the scope and issues in the current research on gender and innovation. Based on the overview, research in this area is conducted in various disciplines applying a variety of methodological approaches. In order to make sense of the current research, the paper developed a framework consisting of various approaches to, gender and innovation; these include gend...