Abstract

Entrepreneurship education has been promoted in higher education institutions worldwide, as many nations are adopting more entrepreneurial driven economies, rather than state driven economies. In response to the need for innovative platforms to offer sustainable solutions for many societal problems, entrepreneurship, especially social enterprise, has become popular. Thus, higher education institutions have a major role in raising awareness and offering programs on entrepreneurship and social enterprise, which remains a challenge in the Middle East (Abdou, Fahmy, Greenwald & Nelson, 2010). This is study examines the entrepreneurship program offered at a private university, which is the first university to implement such a program in Egypt. It analyzes the perceptions of faculty, students and graduates on the effectiveness of this program in terms of giving students the motivation, knowledge and skills to establish their own startup. Prior to this, a theoretical discussion of the human capital approach vs. the human rights approach to education is presented in relation to entrepreneurship and social enterprise programs and the purpose of higher education. Methodologically, a mixed methods quantitative and qualitative methods, following a “convergent parallel research design” (Creswell, 2012) is employed. A survey was administered, with 106 students enrolled in the entrepreneurship classes. This is in addition to 17 semi-structured individual interviews with faculty, students and graduates of the program. Quantitative findings of the survey show that the correlation between the number of entrepreneurship courses and the overall effectiveness of the program is statistically insignificant, however both quantitative and qualitative findings show that the courses are perceived to have an effect on the intent and motivation of students to have a startup or social enterprise, yet they do not give them the adequate skills and knowledge needed for implementation. This is due to several factors, of which the lack of having realistic practical hands on experiences is the main concern. The study also sheds light on the challenges facing faculty and presents recommendations on improving the program in the examined university, as well as suggestions for adapting similar programs in Egyptian public universities.

Department

International & Comparative Education Department

Degree Name

MA in International & Comparative Education

Graduation Date

6-1-2018

Submission Date

May 2018

First Advisor

Megahed, Nagwa

Committee Member 1

Osman, Gihan, Jennifer Skaggs

Extent

105 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Approval has been obtained for this item

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