Impact of Entrepreneurial Education on Student’s Career Choices – A Study on Undergraduate and Post Graduate Students
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The study concludes that entrepreneurial education has an important role in influencing students’ perceptions and career intentions towards entrepreneurship. Exposure to entrepreneurship courses, workshops, practical activities, business-plan competitions, interaction with entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurial experiences can increase students' awareness of entrepreneurship as a viable career option. Entrepreneurship education is particularly valuable when it moves beyond theoretical knowledge and provides students with opportunities for experiential and practical learning. Such learning can help students understand the process of identifying opportunities, developing business ideas, preparing business plans, managing resources and dealing with entrepreneurial risks. The study further recognises that entrepreneurial education can influence career choice through several related psychological and behavioural factors. The study indicates that entrepreneurship education can contribute to the development of a more favourable attitude towards entrepreneurship. Students who receive greater exposure to entrepreneurship are more likely to recognise entrepreneurship as a legitimate and potentially rewarding career option. Entrepreneurship education can help students understand that entrepreneurship is not restricted to individuals who inherit businesses or possess substantial financial resources. Through appropriate education and training, students can develop an understanding of opportunity identification, innovation, business planning and problem-solving. Thus, entrepreneurship education can help change students' perceptions of entrepreneurship from a high-risk or uncertain career into a potential career pathway. Overall, the study concludes that entrepreneurial education can play a significant role in shaping students' career choices by improving entrepreneurial knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions. However, entrepreneurship education alone cannot determine students' career choices. Career decisions are influenced by a combination of individual, educational, family, social and institutional factors. The most effective entrepreneurship education is therefore likely to be one that combines: Knowledge + Practical Experience + Self-Efficacy + Mentoring + Institutional Support The study emphasises that higher-education institutions should move from a predominantly theoretical approach to an experiential, practice-oriented and ecosystem-based approach to entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurship should not merely be taught as an academic subject; it should be developed as a potential career capability.
Language: English
Subfield: Management of Technology and Innovation
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7203892989