Chapter 9: Entrepreneurship education and individual entrepreneurial orientation: A tale of two countries

Entrepreneurship education is one of the key components of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. It plays a vital role in equipping and encouraging both existing and prospective players to attain entrepreneurial success. However, the mismatch between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions among entrepreneurship trainees and graduates is alarming, particularly in developing countries whose economies are largely characterised by informal sector activities. This chapter argues that there are challenges to effective entrepreneurship education, particularly in terms of its inability to effectively foster trainees and graduates with entrepreneurial initiatives. Nevertheless, these challenges can be addressed by integrating key actors in entrepreneurship education. Using a systematic literature review, this chapter seeks to enlighten and analyse these actors in order to establish their involvement in bridging the mismatch between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions. Most of the evidence in this chapter are drawn from the relevant practices in a developing economy (i.e. Tanzania). It is concluded that the role of actors, such as incentives to support entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial infrastructures, stakeholder engagement, after-school programmes, recruitment of promising entrepreneurs, programme content, start-up and innovation support, academia–industry linkages, and research and development in enhancing the congruence is obviously apparent. The promotion of policy development initiatives that seek to integrate these actors in improving an entrepreneurial ecosystem is of paramount importance.