Description
This paper related to tools to maximize the effectiveness of formal entrepreneurship education and address.
Social Cognitive Theory
Revista Griot (ISSN 1949-4742) Volumen 6, Número. 1, Diciembre 2013 66
Social Cognitive Theory, Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Entrepreneurial
Intentions: Tools to Maximize the Effectiveness of Formal Entrepreneurship
Education and Address the Decline in Entrepreneurial Activity
1
Carmen England Bayrón, Ed.D.
Universidad de Puerto Rico
[email protected]
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine existing literature on Social Cognitive Theory,
entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial competencies and intentions, to understand
the current state of the field, design a new theoretical framework to help determine the best
teaching strategies and identify career counselor competencies and possible contributions to
the entrepreneurial education field. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy is proposed as a useful
construct to increase the entrepreneurial intentions and competencies of students. Social
cognitive theory, self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy are incorporated into an applied
theoretical framework to improve the effectiveness of formal entrepreneurship education.
Specifically, the model links the four sources of self-efficacy with entrepreneurial self-efficacy
and entrepreneurial intentions; which lead to effective entrepreneurial education program
outcomes.
Keywords: self-efficacy, entrepreneurship, education, career counselors
Resumen
El objetivo de este escrito es examinar la literatura existente sobre la Teoría Social
Cognoscitiva, la autoeficacia emprendedora, y las competencias e intenciones emprendedoras,
entender el estado corriente del campo, diseñar un nuevo marco teórico para ayudar
determinar las mejores estrategias de enseñanza e identificar las competencias del consejero de
carrera y posibles contribuciones al campo de la educación emprendedora. La autoeficacia
emprendedora se propone como un constructo para aumentar las intenciones emprendedoras
y las competencias de los estudiantes. La teoría social cognoscitiva, la autoeficacia, y la
autoeficacia emprendedora son incorporados en un marco teórico para aplicado para mejorar
la eficacia de la educación emprendedora formal. Específicamente, el enlace de las cuatro
fuentes de la autoeficacia con la autoeficacia emprendedora e intenciones emprendedoras; las
cuales conducen a resultados efectivos de un programa de educación emprendedora.
Palabras clave: autoeficacia, emprendedor, educación, consejeros de carrera
1
Sometido: 15 de agosto de 2013
Sometido a Revisión: 22 de agosto de 2013
Aceptado: 29 de octubre de 2013
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Revista Griot (ISSN 1949-4742) Volumen 6, Número. 1, Diciembre 2013 67
lanchflower (2000) indicates that entrepreneurship is an important factor for the
development of an economy. Hindle & Rushworth (2002) established that
entrepreneurship is a driver of economic growth and national prosperity and the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states on its webpage that “entrepreneurship plays a vital role
in the growth of the U.S. economy” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). BLS is the primary
source for information on U.S. labor markets as well as the federal government’s data-
collection agency on new businesses and job creation.
Despite the important role that entrepreneurship plays in a nation’s economy, data from
the BLS’s Business Employment Dynamics (BED) program reveals that the number of new
business establishments in March 2010 was lower than any other year (U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 2012). BED data also shows that the number of jobs created by establishments in the
last year has decreased. These findings concern and require immediate action in order to help
stimulate the U.S. economy. The urgency to educate young people and train them in
entrepreneurship is evident, encouraging them to pursue an entrepreneurial career to
increased economy efficiency, bring innovation to market, create new job opportunities, and
sustain employment levels (Carswell, 2001). This literature review stems from the need to
address the decline of entrepreneurship activity maximizing the effectiveness of formal
entrepreneurship education. The existing literature reveals the need for education programs to
deal with the implications of research in the entrepreneurship field. Career counselors and
career advisors teaching, training and educating competencies are helpful for the
entrepreneurial education.
Young, (1997) observed that in entrepreneurship three education researches areas
concern, social-cognitive, psycho-cognitive, and spiritualist or ethical. He suggests that the
implications of these dimensions for entrepreneurship education are not drawn out yet, in spite
of previous calls to integrate them into the research agenda (e.g., Young, 1997). I suggest to
focus on developing a research agenda on the social-cognitive preoccupations of Social
Cognitive Theory (1986) to help entrepreneurship educators maximize the effectiveness of
formal entrepreneurial education that helps to address the decline in entrepreneurial activity.
Linking learning, teaching entrepreneurship effectively and Entrepreneurship
The important role of higher education in stimulating job creators is discussed in
Article 7 of “The World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century: Vision
and Action,” adopted in 1998 by The World Conference on Higher Education. This article
states that “developing entrepreneurial skills and initiative should become major concerns of
higher education, in order to facilitate employability of graduates who will increasingly be called
upon to be not only job seekers but also and above all to become job creators. Thus,
universities should offer their students the opportunity to fully develop their potential abilities
with a sense of social responsibility, educating them to become full participants in a democratic
society and promoters of changes that will foster equity, justice, and national economic well-
being.”
The professional counselors are professionals of higher education institutions that can
contribute to the students development as job seekers and job creators. According to the
National Association of Colleges and Employers career counselors can contribute to
entrepreneurship education with the following competencies:
B
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? Needs assessment
? Program/workshop design and delivery
? Researching, evaluating, and integrating information
? Effective teaching strategies
? Career mentoring
? Work with individuals an d groups
? Work with diverse populations
? Use of technology for delivery of content
Career counselors are professionals that can contribute to development of the new
generation of entrepreneurs in today’s economy and also create new knowledge of the
interaction between learning and entrepreneurship and effective entrepreneurship teaching
strategies.
Solomon, et al., (1994, cited in Kuratko, 2003) inform that by the early 1980s over
300 universities were reporting courses in entrepreneurship and small business, and by the
1990s that number had grown to 1,050 schools. Cone (in 2008) mentioned that more than
2,000 institutions offer courses in entrepreneurship. The Kauffman Foundation (2010) indicates
that formal programs (majors, minors and certificates) in entrepreneurship have more than
quadrupled, from 104 in 1975, to more than 500 in 2006. But at present there is very limited
knowledge and understanding of the interaction between learning and entrepreneurship, and
the process remains one of the most neglected areas of entrepreneurial research and
understanding. There are also gaps in our knowledge about the effectiveness of
entrepreneurship education (Soloman, Duffy & Torabishy, 2002, Clark, Davis, & Harnish, 1984;
Wallenstein in 1993). Some research shows that four years after having taken entrepreneurship
courses, interest in creating new ventures tends to dissipate (Whitlock and Master, 1996) and
others observed that no clear relationship has been demonstrated between entrepreneurship
education and students becoming entrepreneurs (Hostager & Decker, 1999 and Luthje &
Franke, 2003).
In order to address this situation, first I want to point out the words of Angelo &
Cross (1993) because of the timeless of those words with the current state of affairs. These
researchers said that the most promising ways to improve learning is to improve teaching.
Kuratko pointed out that “In the midst of this huge expansion of courses, the challenge of
teaching entrepreneurship more effectively remains.”
Some authors reported that it is not clear what to teach in entrepreneurship, and
there is a lack of detailed consideration of how entrepreneurs learn (Garavan & Cinnedide,
1994 and Solomon, 2007); others reported that there is no substantive agreement about what
entrepreneurship means in educational settings, and that the appropriate content of programs
is under permanent discussion (Gibb, 2002). More recently some authors identified that the
components of a balanced entrepreneurship program should contain the following: (a) lectures
on business concepts; (b) business-planning practices, including competitions and coaching; (c)
interaction with practitioners and networking opportunities; and (d) university support such as
market-research resources, meeting spaces, seed funding, patenting advice, etc. (Al-Laham,
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Souitaris & Zerbinati, 2007). But to improve entrepreneurship learning is not sufficient. With
these components having been identified, it is necessary to prove the existence of a link
between learning and entrepreneurship, and in teaching entrepreneurship more effectively.
The Role of Social Cognitive Theory
The Social Learning theory of Albert Bandura (1986) establishes that the environment causes
behavior, but behavior also causes the environment. Bandura calls this concept reciprocal
determinism, where the world and the behavior of persons are mutually caused. Bandura
believes that human conduct must be explained in terms of the reciprocal interaction between
cognitive, behavioral, and environmental determinants.
The social cognitive theory of Bandura (SCT) centers on the concepts of reinforcement
and observation, giving more importance to the mental internal processes as well as to the
interaction of the subject with others. The SCT postulates that observation and imitation is
given across models that can be parents, educators, and friends, and can even be heroes taken
from television. The only requirement for learning can be that one person observes another
individual, or models behavior to carry out a certain conduct. The observation and imitation
intervene upon the cognitive factors and help the subject decide whether or not the observed
behavior is to be imitated. The cognitive factors are the capacity of reflection and symbolization
as well as the prevention of consequences based on processes of comparison, generalization,
and auto-evaluation. One of the aims of the SCT is the development of the self-evaluation and
the self-reinforcement constructs. According to Bandura, individuals possess an auto-system
that allows them to measure the control on their own thoughts, feelings, motivations and
actions. This system exercises self-regulation to enable individuals with aptitude to influence
their own cognitive processes and actions and in this way to alter their environment.
If we applied the concepts I have just discussed to entrepreneurship education
programs, we can infer that the student’s observation and interaction with previous
entrepreneurs can reinforce entrepreneurial behavior. The observation and imitation of former
entrepreneurs will intervene upon the cognitive factors of the students and can help them –
students or alumni – to decide if the observed behaviors should be imitated or not. SCT can be
helpful to the entrepreneurial behavior field, but educators (career counselors) need to apply
this theory to the curriculum (workshops, extracurricular activities) and to students’
interactions.
Social Cognitive Theory and Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is a construct defined by Albert Bandura (1982) as “self-judgment of one’s
ability to perform a task in a specific domain.” The belief in self-efficacy provides a great
influence on human beings, since they act on their thoughts, feelings and behaviors (Bandura,
1995). Garcia et al., 1991 defines self-efficacy as “self-appraisal of one’s ability to accomplish a
task and one’s confidence in possessing the skills needed to perform that task.” The SCT
explains that an individual’s sense of self-efficacy can be influenced through four processes:
enactive mastery, role modeling and vicarious experience, social persuasion, and judgments of
one’s own physiological states, such as arousal and anxiety (Bandura, 1986). The self-efficacy
construct influences an individual’s choice of activities, goal levels, persistence, and performance
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in a range of contexts. Self-efficacy is a motivational factor that educational research from the
social cognitive approach establishes. Bandura mentioned that self-efficacy affects some of the
factors that predict motivation.
Krueger et al (2000) pointed out that experience influences the entrepreneur’s
intention, and that there is also a direct relationship between entrepreneur’s experience on
perceived feasibility and perceived desirability; feasibility and desirability existing in the
environment that influences the entrepreneur’s experience, so perceived feasibility and
perceived desirability partially serve as key elements in forming entrepreneurial experiences and
entrepreneurial intentions. Krueger et al (2000) observed that entrepreneurs’ experiences
directly influence the entrepreneur’s intention to start a new venture.
Self-efficacy has an important effect on the choice of behavior setting. Individuals tend to
choose situations in which they anticipate high personal control but avoid situations in which
they anticipate low control (Bandura 1977, 1982; Bandura & Schunk, 1981; Wood & Bandura,
1989, 2012). Consequently, to the extent that people plan and choose their career paths, they
assess their personal capabilities against the requirements of different occupations (Chen,
Greene & Crick, 1998). This assessment of their personal capabilities therefore directs people
to prepare for and enter occupations in which they feel successful, but at the same time avoid
occupations in which they feel a lack of competence (Betz and Hackett 1981, 1986, Miura 1987;
Scherer et al. 1989). Empirical evidence establishes that entrepreneurial self-efficacy was
positively related to students’ intentions to start their own business (Chen, Greene & Crick,
1998).
Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Intentions
In the past, some authors have provided evidence of the increasing emphasis on the role
of self-efficacy in the study of entrepreneurship, including areas such as entrepreneurial career
preferences, intentionality, and performance (Boyd & Vozikis 1994; Chandler & Jansen 1992;
Gartner 1989; Krueger & Brazeal 1994; Scherer et at., 1989). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE)
is defined as an individual’s confidence in his or her ability to successfully perform
entrepreneurial roles and tasks (Chen, Greene et al. 1998; De Noble, Jung et.al. 1999). ESE is
also defined as a construct measuring a person’s belief in his ability to successfully launch an
entrepreneurial venture (McGee, Peterson et al., 2009). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy is a
variable useful for increasing students’ convictions that they can execute the necessary
entrepreneurial behavior to produce the desired result; a new venture. The measure of
entrepreneurial self-efficacy has been widely adopted for identifying entrepreneurial intentions
and consequently entrepreneurial conduct, and for investigating how education and training can
be used to improve entrepreneurial action (Føleide, 2011). Perceived desirability constitutes the
primary component of entrepreneurial intention (Liñan et al. 2011, p. 205). Azjen (1991)
observed that three attitudinal antecedents are necessary to trigger the action of starting a
business: (a) the desire to start the business, (b) the belief that the business contributes to well-
being of the society, and that (c) success is possible.
I suggested the use of the entrepreneurial self-efficacy construct in the curriculum
(workshops) and extracurricular activities to provide a great influence on the students; they will
act on their thoughts, feelings and entrepreneur behaviors. If the students visualize themselves
with high personal control as entrepreneurs (task and roles) maybe they will choose an
entrepreneurial career path. Entrepreneurship educators (include career counselors) can
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benefit from the implementation of self-efficacy construct to the learning process. A high level
of entrepreneurial self-efficacy can help them produce more entrepreneurs (Bird 1988; Boyd &
Vozikis 1994), an important goal of entrepreneurship education and national economies. ESE is
a promising construct, with the potential to predict entrepreneurial performance and for
improving the rate of entrepreneurial activities through training (Mueller & Goic 2003; Zhao,
Seibert et al. 2005; Florin, Karri et al. 2007).
Personality and environmental factors are incorporated into entrepreneurial self-
efficacy, and are thought to be strong predictors of entrepreneurial intentions and ultimately
action (Bird 1988; Boyd and Vozikis 1994). Forbes 2005; Kolvereid and Isaksen 2006 observed
that nevertheless, the construct remains empirically underdeveloped and many scholars have
called for refinements of the construct. The development of the ESE construct can help to
improve the entrepreneurial learning process and increase the rate of entrepreneurial activities.
The assessment of personality and explanation of the educational environmental factors of
entrepreneurship programs can improve the students’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and predict
entrepreneurial intentions. As a strategy, business schools, entrepreneurship programs and
career counselors can assess the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of their students and develop
special activities for students with the highest entrepreneurial self-efficacy levels, and also
activities for students with low entrepreneurial self-efficacy. This strategy can help to attend to
the special learning and entrepreneurial needs of all students.
Another strategy that can help increase entrepreneurial self-efficacy, intentions and
learning in students is the exposure to others with previous entrepreneurial experience; this
can provide emerging entrepreneurs with useful knowledge (Boyd & Vozikis, 1994, Chen,
Green & Crick, 1998, Krueger & Brazeal, 1994) and reduce their uncertainties (Bandura, 1978).
The learning process that entrepreneurs have to develop for students’ confidence in that career
is based on the knowledge and skills developed in the program (De Clercq & Arenius, 2006).
Educators (career counselors) need to maximize the use of entrepreneurial self-efficacy
in the curriculum because it is an antecedent that influences the entrepreneurial choice (Boyd &
Vozikis 1994; Krueger & Brazeal 1994); high levels of self-efficacy would consequently lead to
emergingnt entrepreneurial behavior and ultimately to entrepreneurial action (McGee, Peterson
et al., 2009, Chen, Greene & Crick, 1998). Entrepreneurship programs and career counselors
need to reach the right factor combinations of personal attributes, traits, background,
experiences and disposition that students need to pursue the idea of becoming entrepreneurs
(Krueger Jr and Brazeal 1994; Krueger Jr, Reilly et al. 2000; Shane, Locke et al. 2003; Baron
2004; Arenius and Minniti, 2005).
More research on personal attributes, such as traits, background, experiences and
disposition, and factors that influence an individual to pursue the idea of becoming an
entrepreneur and entrepreneurial self-efficacy (Boyd & Vozikis 1994; Krueger & Brazeal 1994)
can help improve the learning process and the entrepreneur career choice. Longitudinal studies
in entrepreneurship programs can help provide evidence of the impact of entrepreneurial
programs in entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intentions, and according to the results, allow for
the necessary adjustments to be made to the program.
Entrepreneurial Competencies and Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy
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Entrepreneurial competencies that are developed in educational programs have been
neglected for a long time, yet they are essential variables in entrepreneurial development
(Inyang & Enough, 2009). The literature points out that areas in which entrepreneurs need to
acquire greater competencies are: managing time effectively, communication, human resources
management, business ethics, social responsibility, developing effective leadership qualities,
decision making skills, marketing and financial management. Entrepreneurship programs and
career counselors need to evaluate and assess their instructional approach and curriculum to
determine if they include all entrepreneurial competencies. They also need to evaluate if the
instructional approach and curriculum have a positive impact on the development of
entrepreneurial competencies (outcomes) and the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of their students
(Izquierdo & Buyens, 2008). The entrepreneurship program can use the Theory of Planned
Behavior, generally used to for the assessment of their programs as a framework (Ajzen, 1991);
and then make the necessary adjustments.
Bandura (1986) claims that a high level of self-efficacy may influence students’ choice of
activities, goal levels, persistence and performance in a range of contexts. This increase of
entrepreneurial self-efficacy can also positively influence the students’ choice of entrepreneurial
activities, entrepreneurial goal levels, entrepreneurial persistence and performance in an
entrepreneurship context. Theoretical and empirical literature expose why some exploit
opportunities and some do not (Begley & Boyd, 1987; Brockhaus, 1980; Cooper & Dunkleberg,
1987, cited in De Carolis, & Saparito, 2006).
Sexton & Bowman, 1984). The majority of this literature proposes that psychological variables,
personality traits and demographic factors may distinguish entrepreneurial activity. Yet, the
results of these findings are equivocal (Brockhaus & Robert Horowitz, 1986; Low & MacMillan,
1988; Shaver & Scott, 1991).
Entrepreneurship education can benefit from teaching techniques that incorporate
entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intentions and competencies. I consider that
techniques that incorporate SCT and the principal sources of self-efficacy are important, and
that they will help students develop positive judgments about their self-capacities, obtain
successful and vicarious experiences, receive verbal persuasion or social persuasion and manage
their somatic and emotional state. I believe this will lead to an increase in their entrepreneurial
self-efficacy, be positively related with entrepreneurial intentions and those entrepreneurial
intentions, in turn, can increase the entrepreneurial activities needed in the economy, and thus
propose the following framework for use in experimental design and assessment of these
outcomes for entrepreneurship programs:
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Figure 1: A Theoretical Framework for assessing Entrepreneurship Education Effectiveness
The research to date suggests that SCT, self-efficacy, entrepreneurial self-efficacy,
entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial competencies measurement can help improve
entrepreneurship teaching, and teaching will improve learning (Angelo & Cross, 1993).
A culture of assessment in entrepreneurship programs and courses can help to improve
learning, monitoring outcomes, growing through self-reflection and feedback, experimenting by
modification and adjusting best practices, mapping the trends and paradigms (Hytti &
Kuopusjarve, 2004). SCT, self-efficacy, and the entrepreneurial self-efficacy construct might be
able to help demonstrate a clear relationship between entrepreneurship education and students
becoming entrepreneurs, and increase the proportion of people starting a business after
graduation.
The research suggests that after the completion of an entrepreneurship education
program, students may have higher entrepreneurial self-efficacy (Izquierdo & Buyens, 2008).
Career counselors can studied the role of generalized self-efficacy, entrepreneurial self-
efficacy in entrepreneurial education programs in order to enhance the level of student
entrepreneurial intentions and competencies could be designed as follows in Table 1:
Students General
Self-Efficacy
Entrepreneurial
Self-Efficacy
Entrepreneurial
Intentions
Entrepreneurial
Competencies
Entrepreneurship
Students
Pre/Post Pre/Post Pre/Post Pre/Post
Regular Students Pre/Post Pre/Post Pre/Post Pre/Post
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Table 1: Proposed Research Design
This design would test the following theoretical propositions developed herein, such as:
P1: Entrepreneurial self-efficacy of students who complete an entrepreneurship program
will be higher than students who do not complete such a program.
P2: Entrepreneurial intentions of students who complete an entrepreneurship program
will be higher than students who do not complete such a program.
P3: Entrepreneurial competencies of students who complete an entrepreneurship
program will be higher than students who do not complete such a program.
Implications and Conclusion
Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) and entrepreneurial self-efficacy can be very
useful as applied tools for developing entrepreneurship learning, competencies and intentions.
Regarding future research, I believe it is necessary to establish whether entrepreneurial
self-efficacy is positively related to students’ intentions to start their own business (Chen,
Greene, and Crick,1998) and about personality and environmental factors incorporated in
entrepreneurial self-efficacy; a strong predictor of entrepreneurial intentions and, ultimately, of
action (Bird 1988; Boyd & Vozikis, 1994). Also, it is necessary to study the interaction between
learning and entrepreneurship (career counselor competencies); the effectiveness of
entrepreneurship education; and the relationship between entrepreneurship education and
students becoming entrepreneurs (Hostager & Decker, 1999 and Luthje & Franke, 2003).
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doc_814127007.pdf
This paper related to tools to maximize the effectiveness of formal entrepreneurship education and address.
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Social Cognitive Theory, Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Entrepreneurial
Intentions: Tools to Maximize the Effectiveness of Formal Entrepreneurship
Education and Address the Decline in Entrepreneurial Activity
1
Carmen England Bayrón, Ed.D.
Universidad de Puerto Rico
[email protected]
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine existing literature on Social Cognitive Theory,
entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial competencies and intentions, to understand
the current state of the field, design a new theoretical framework to help determine the best
teaching strategies and identify career counselor competencies and possible contributions to
the entrepreneurial education field. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy is proposed as a useful
construct to increase the entrepreneurial intentions and competencies of students. Social
cognitive theory, self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy are incorporated into an applied
theoretical framework to improve the effectiveness of formal entrepreneurship education.
Specifically, the model links the four sources of self-efficacy with entrepreneurial self-efficacy
and entrepreneurial intentions; which lead to effective entrepreneurial education program
outcomes.
Keywords: self-efficacy, entrepreneurship, education, career counselors
Resumen
El objetivo de este escrito es examinar la literatura existente sobre la Teoría Social
Cognoscitiva, la autoeficacia emprendedora, y las competencias e intenciones emprendedoras,
entender el estado corriente del campo, diseñar un nuevo marco teórico para ayudar
determinar las mejores estrategias de enseñanza e identificar las competencias del consejero de
carrera y posibles contribuciones al campo de la educación emprendedora. La autoeficacia
emprendedora se propone como un constructo para aumentar las intenciones emprendedoras
y las competencias de los estudiantes. La teoría social cognoscitiva, la autoeficacia, y la
autoeficacia emprendedora son incorporados en un marco teórico para aplicado para mejorar
la eficacia de la educación emprendedora formal. Específicamente, el enlace de las cuatro
fuentes de la autoeficacia con la autoeficacia emprendedora e intenciones emprendedoras; las
cuales conducen a resultados efectivos de un programa de educación emprendedora.
Palabras clave: autoeficacia, emprendedor, educación, consejeros de carrera
1
Sometido: 15 de agosto de 2013
Sometido a Revisión: 22 de agosto de 2013
Aceptado: 29 de octubre de 2013
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Revista Griot (ISSN 1949-4742) Volumen 6, Número. 1, Diciembre 2013 67
lanchflower (2000) indicates that entrepreneurship is an important factor for the
development of an economy. Hindle & Rushworth (2002) established that
entrepreneurship is a driver of economic growth and national prosperity and the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states on its webpage that “entrepreneurship plays a vital role
in the growth of the U.S. economy” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). BLS is the primary
source for information on U.S. labor markets as well as the federal government’s data-
collection agency on new businesses and job creation.
Despite the important role that entrepreneurship plays in a nation’s economy, data from
the BLS’s Business Employment Dynamics (BED) program reveals that the number of new
business establishments in March 2010 was lower than any other year (U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 2012). BED data also shows that the number of jobs created by establishments in the
last year has decreased. These findings concern and require immediate action in order to help
stimulate the U.S. economy. The urgency to educate young people and train them in
entrepreneurship is evident, encouraging them to pursue an entrepreneurial career to
increased economy efficiency, bring innovation to market, create new job opportunities, and
sustain employment levels (Carswell, 2001). This literature review stems from the need to
address the decline of entrepreneurship activity maximizing the effectiveness of formal
entrepreneurship education. The existing literature reveals the need for education programs to
deal with the implications of research in the entrepreneurship field. Career counselors and
career advisors teaching, training and educating competencies are helpful for the
entrepreneurial education.
Young, (1997) observed that in entrepreneurship three education researches areas
concern, social-cognitive, psycho-cognitive, and spiritualist or ethical. He suggests that the
implications of these dimensions for entrepreneurship education are not drawn out yet, in spite
of previous calls to integrate them into the research agenda (e.g., Young, 1997). I suggest to
focus on developing a research agenda on the social-cognitive preoccupations of Social
Cognitive Theory (1986) to help entrepreneurship educators maximize the effectiveness of
formal entrepreneurial education that helps to address the decline in entrepreneurial activity.
Linking learning, teaching entrepreneurship effectively and Entrepreneurship
The important role of higher education in stimulating job creators is discussed in
Article 7 of “The World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century: Vision
and Action,” adopted in 1998 by The World Conference on Higher Education. This article
states that “developing entrepreneurial skills and initiative should become major concerns of
higher education, in order to facilitate employability of graduates who will increasingly be called
upon to be not only job seekers but also and above all to become job creators. Thus,
universities should offer their students the opportunity to fully develop their potential abilities
with a sense of social responsibility, educating them to become full participants in a democratic
society and promoters of changes that will foster equity, justice, and national economic well-
being.”
The professional counselors are professionals of higher education institutions that can
contribute to the students development as job seekers and job creators. According to the
National Association of Colleges and Employers career counselors can contribute to
entrepreneurship education with the following competencies:
B
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Revista Griot (ISSN 1949-4742) Volumen 6, Número. 1, Diciembre 2013 68
? Needs assessment
? Program/workshop design and delivery
? Researching, evaluating, and integrating information
? Effective teaching strategies
? Career mentoring
? Work with individuals an d groups
? Work with diverse populations
? Use of technology for delivery of content
Career counselors are professionals that can contribute to development of the new
generation of entrepreneurs in today’s economy and also create new knowledge of the
interaction between learning and entrepreneurship and effective entrepreneurship teaching
strategies.
Solomon, et al., (1994, cited in Kuratko, 2003) inform that by the early 1980s over
300 universities were reporting courses in entrepreneurship and small business, and by the
1990s that number had grown to 1,050 schools. Cone (in 2008) mentioned that more than
2,000 institutions offer courses in entrepreneurship. The Kauffman Foundation (2010) indicates
that formal programs (majors, minors and certificates) in entrepreneurship have more than
quadrupled, from 104 in 1975, to more than 500 in 2006. But at present there is very limited
knowledge and understanding of the interaction between learning and entrepreneurship, and
the process remains one of the most neglected areas of entrepreneurial research and
understanding. There are also gaps in our knowledge about the effectiveness of
entrepreneurship education (Soloman, Duffy & Torabishy, 2002, Clark, Davis, & Harnish, 1984;
Wallenstein in 1993). Some research shows that four years after having taken entrepreneurship
courses, interest in creating new ventures tends to dissipate (Whitlock and Master, 1996) and
others observed that no clear relationship has been demonstrated between entrepreneurship
education and students becoming entrepreneurs (Hostager & Decker, 1999 and Luthje &
Franke, 2003).
In order to address this situation, first I want to point out the words of Angelo &
Cross (1993) because of the timeless of those words with the current state of affairs. These
researchers said that the most promising ways to improve learning is to improve teaching.
Kuratko pointed out that “In the midst of this huge expansion of courses, the challenge of
teaching entrepreneurship more effectively remains.”
Some authors reported that it is not clear what to teach in entrepreneurship, and
there is a lack of detailed consideration of how entrepreneurs learn (Garavan & Cinnedide,
1994 and Solomon, 2007); others reported that there is no substantive agreement about what
entrepreneurship means in educational settings, and that the appropriate content of programs
is under permanent discussion (Gibb, 2002). More recently some authors identified that the
components of a balanced entrepreneurship program should contain the following: (a) lectures
on business concepts; (b) business-planning practices, including competitions and coaching; (c)
interaction with practitioners and networking opportunities; and (d) university support such as
market-research resources, meeting spaces, seed funding, patenting advice, etc. (Al-Laham,
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Souitaris & Zerbinati, 2007). But to improve entrepreneurship learning is not sufficient. With
these components having been identified, it is necessary to prove the existence of a link
between learning and entrepreneurship, and in teaching entrepreneurship more effectively.
The Role of Social Cognitive Theory
The Social Learning theory of Albert Bandura (1986) establishes that the environment causes
behavior, but behavior also causes the environment. Bandura calls this concept reciprocal
determinism, where the world and the behavior of persons are mutually caused. Bandura
believes that human conduct must be explained in terms of the reciprocal interaction between
cognitive, behavioral, and environmental determinants.
The social cognitive theory of Bandura (SCT) centers on the concepts of reinforcement
and observation, giving more importance to the mental internal processes as well as to the
interaction of the subject with others. The SCT postulates that observation and imitation is
given across models that can be parents, educators, and friends, and can even be heroes taken
from television. The only requirement for learning can be that one person observes another
individual, or models behavior to carry out a certain conduct. The observation and imitation
intervene upon the cognitive factors and help the subject decide whether or not the observed
behavior is to be imitated. The cognitive factors are the capacity of reflection and symbolization
as well as the prevention of consequences based on processes of comparison, generalization,
and auto-evaluation. One of the aims of the SCT is the development of the self-evaluation and
the self-reinforcement constructs. According to Bandura, individuals possess an auto-system
that allows them to measure the control on their own thoughts, feelings, motivations and
actions. This system exercises self-regulation to enable individuals with aptitude to influence
their own cognitive processes and actions and in this way to alter their environment.
If we applied the concepts I have just discussed to entrepreneurship education
programs, we can infer that the student’s observation and interaction with previous
entrepreneurs can reinforce entrepreneurial behavior. The observation and imitation of former
entrepreneurs will intervene upon the cognitive factors of the students and can help them –
students or alumni – to decide if the observed behaviors should be imitated or not. SCT can be
helpful to the entrepreneurial behavior field, but educators (career counselors) need to apply
this theory to the curriculum (workshops, extracurricular activities) and to students’
interactions.
Social Cognitive Theory and Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is a construct defined by Albert Bandura (1982) as “self-judgment of one’s
ability to perform a task in a specific domain.” The belief in self-efficacy provides a great
influence on human beings, since they act on their thoughts, feelings and behaviors (Bandura,
1995). Garcia et al., 1991 defines self-efficacy as “self-appraisal of one’s ability to accomplish a
task and one’s confidence in possessing the skills needed to perform that task.” The SCT
explains that an individual’s sense of self-efficacy can be influenced through four processes:
enactive mastery, role modeling and vicarious experience, social persuasion, and judgments of
one’s own physiological states, such as arousal and anxiety (Bandura, 1986). The self-efficacy
construct influences an individual’s choice of activities, goal levels, persistence, and performance
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in a range of contexts. Self-efficacy is a motivational factor that educational research from the
social cognitive approach establishes. Bandura mentioned that self-efficacy affects some of the
factors that predict motivation.
Krueger et al (2000) pointed out that experience influences the entrepreneur’s
intention, and that there is also a direct relationship between entrepreneur’s experience on
perceived feasibility and perceived desirability; feasibility and desirability existing in the
environment that influences the entrepreneur’s experience, so perceived feasibility and
perceived desirability partially serve as key elements in forming entrepreneurial experiences and
entrepreneurial intentions. Krueger et al (2000) observed that entrepreneurs’ experiences
directly influence the entrepreneur’s intention to start a new venture.
Self-efficacy has an important effect on the choice of behavior setting. Individuals tend to
choose situations in which they anticipate high personal control but avoid situations in which
they anticipate low control (Bandura 1977, 1982; Bandura & Schunk, 1981; Wood & Bandura,
1989, 2012). Consequently, to the extent that people plan and choose their career paths, they
assess their personal capabilities against the requirements of different occupations (Chen,
Greene & Crick, 1998). This assessment of their personal capabilities therefore directs people
to prepare for and enter occupations in which they feel successful, but at the same time avoid
occupations in which they feel a lack of competence (Betz and Hackett 1981, 1986, Miura 1987;
Scherer et al. 1989). Empirical evidence establishes that entrepreneurial self-efficacy was
positively related to students’ intentions to start their own business (Chen, Greene & Crick,
1998).
Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Intentions
In the past, some authors have provided evidence of the increasing emphasis on the role
of self-efficacy in the study of entrepreneurship, including areas such as entrepreneurial career
preferences, intentionality, and performance (Boyd & Vozikis 1994; Chandler & Jansen 1992;
Gartner 1989; Krueger & Brazeal 1994; Scherer et at., 1989). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE)
is defined as an individual’s confidence in his or her ability to successfully perform
entrepreneurial roles and tasks (Chen, Greene et al. 1998; De Noble, Jung et.al. 1999). ESE is
also defined as a construct measuring a person’s belief in his ability to successfully launch an
entrepreneurial venture (McGee, Peterson et al., 2009). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy is a
variable useful for increasing students’ convictions that they can execute the necessary
entrepreneurial behavior to produce the desired result; a new venture. The measure of
entrepreneurial self-efficacy has been widely adopted for identifying entrepreneurial intentions
and consequently entrepreneurial conduct, and for investigating how education and training can
be used to improve entrepreneurial action (Føleide, 2011). Perceived desirability constitutes the
primary component of entrepreneurial intention (Liñan et al. 2011, p. 205). Azjen (1991)
observed that three attitudinal antecedents are necessary to trigger the action of starting a
business: (a) the desire to start the business, (b) the belief that the business contributes to well-
being of the society, and that (c) success is possible.
I suggested the use of the entrepreneurial self-efficacy construct in the curriculum
(workshops) and extracurricular activities to provide a great influence on the students; they will
act on their thoughts, feelings and entrepreneur behaviors. If the students visualize themselves
with high personal control as entrepreneurs (task and roles) maybe they will choose an
entrepreneurial career path. Entrepreneurship educators (include career counselors) can
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benefit from the implementation of self-efficacy construct to the learning process. A high level
of entrepreneurial self-efficacy can help them produce more entrepreneurs (Bird 1988; Boyd &
Vozikis 1994), an important goal of entrepreneurship education and national economies. ESE is
a promising construct, with the potential to predict entrepreneurial performance and for
improving the rate of entrepreneurial activities through training (Mueller & Goic 2003; Zhao,
Seibert et al. 2005; Florin, Karri et al. 2007).
Personality and environmental factors are incorporated into entrepreneurial self-
efficacy, and are thought to be strong predictors of entrepreneurial intentions and ultimately
action (Bird 1988; Boyd and Vozikis 1994). Forbes 2005; Kolvereid and Isaksen 2006 observed
that nevertheless, the construct remains empirically underdeveloped and many scholars have
called for refinements of the construct. The development of the ESE construct can help to
improve the entrepreneurial learning process and increase the rate of entrepreneurial activities.
The assessment of personality and explanation of the educational environmental factors of
entrepreneurship programs can improve the students’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and predict
entrepreneurial intentions. As a strategy, business schools, entrepreneurship programs and
career counselors can assess the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of their students and develop
special activities for students with the highest entrepreneurial self-efficacy levels, and also
activities for students with low entrepreneurial self-efficacy. This strategy can help to attend to
the special learning and entrepreneurial needs of all students.
Another strategy that can help increase entrepreneurial self-efficacy, intentions and
learning in students is the exposure to others with previous entrepreneurial experience; this
can provide emerging entrepreneurs with useful knowledge (Boyd & Vozikis, 1994, Chen,
Green & Crick, 1998, Krueger & Brazeal, 1994) and reduce their uncertainties (Bandura, 1978).
The learning process that entrepreneurs have to develop for students’ confidence in that career
is based on the knowledge and skills developed in the program (De Clercq & Arenius, 2006).
Educators (career counselors) need to maximize the use of entrepreneurial self-efficacy
in the curriculum because it is an antecedent that influences the entrepreneurial choice (Boyd &
Vozikis 1994; Krueger & Brazeal 1994); high levels of self-efficacy would consequently lead to
emergingnt entrepreneurial behavior and ultimately to entrepreneurial action (McGee, Peterson
et al., 2009, Chen, Greene & Crick, 1998). Entrepreneurship programs and career counselors
need to reach the right factor combinations of personal attributes, traits, background,
experiences and disposition that students need to pursue the idea of becoming entrepreneurs
(Krueger Jr and Brazeal 1994; Krueger Jr, Reilly et al. 2000; Shane, Locke et al. 2003; Baron
2004; Arenius and Minniti, 2005).
More research on personal attributes, such as traits, background, experiences and
disposition, and factors that influence an individual to pursue the idea of becoming an
entrepreneur and entrepreneurial self-efficacy (Boyd & Vozikis 1994; Krueger & Brazeal 1994)
can help improve the learning process and the entrepreneur career choice. Longitudinal studies
in entrepreneurship programs can help provide evidence of the impact of entrepreneurial
programs in entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intentions, and according to the results, allow for
the necessary adjustments to be made to the program.
Entrepreneurial Competencies and Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy
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Entrepreneurial competencies that are developed in educational programs have been
neglected for a long time, yet they are essential variables in entrepreneurial development
(Inyang & Enough, 2009). The literature points out that areas in which entrepreneurs need to
acquire greater competencies are: managing time effectively, communication, human resources
management, business ethics, social responsibility, developing effective leadership qualities,
decision making skills, marketing and financial management. Entrepreneurship programs and
career counselors need to evaluate and assess their instructional approach and curriculum to
determine if they include all entrepreneurial competencies. They also need to evaluate if the
instructional approach and curriculum have a positive impact on the development of
entrepreneurial competencies (outcomes) and the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of their students
(Izquierdo & Buyens, 2008). The entrepreneurship program can use the Theory of Planned
Behavior, generally used to for the assessment of their programs as a framework (Ajzen, 1991);
and then make the necessary adjustments.
Bandura (1986) claims that a high level of self-efficacy may influence students’ choice of
activities, goal levels, persistence and performance in a range of contexts. This increase of
entrepreneurial self-efficacy can also positively influence the students’ choice of entrepreneurial
activities, entrepreneurial goal levels, entrepreneurial persistence and performance in an
entrepreneurship context. Theoretical and empirical literature expose why some exploit
opportunities and some do not (Begley & Boyd, 1987; Brockhaus, 1980; Cooper & Dunkleberg,
1987, cited in De Carolis, & Saparito, 2006).
Sexton & Bowman, 1984). The majority of this literature proposes that psychological variables,
personality traits and demographic factors may distinguish entrepreneurial activity. Yet, the
results of these findings are equivocal (Brockhaus & Robert Horowitz, 1986; Low & MacMillan,
1988; Shaver & Scott, 1991).
Entrepreneurship education can benefit from teaching techniques that incorporate
entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intentions and competencies. I consider that
techniques that incorporate SCT and the principal sources of self-efficacy are important, and
that they will help students develop positive judgments about their self-capacities, obtain
successful and vicarious experiences, receive verbal persuasion or social persuasion and manage
their somatic and emotional state. I believe this will lead to an increase in their entrepreneurial
self-efficacy, be positively related with entrepreneurial intentions and those entrepreneurial
intentions, in turn, can increase the entrepreneurial activities needed in the economy, and thus
propose the following framework for use in experimental design and assessment of these
outcomes for entrepreneurship programs:
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Figure 1: A Theoretical Framework for assessing Entrepreneurship Education Effectiveness
The research to date suggests that SCT, self-efficacy, entrepreneurial self-efficacy,
entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial competencies measurement can help improve
entrepreneurship teaching, and teaching will improve learning (Angelo & Cross, 1993).
A culture of assessment in entrepreneurship programs and courses can help to improve
learning, monitoring outcomes, growing through self-reflection and feedback, experimenting by
modification and adjusting best practices, mapping the trends and paradigms (Hytti &
Kuopusjarve, 2004). SCT, self-efficacy, and the entrepreneurial self-efficacy construct might be
able to help demonstrate a clear relationship between entrepreneurship education and students
becoming entrepreneurs, and increase the proportion of people starting a business after
graduation.
The research suggests that after the completion of an entrepreneurship education
program, students may have higher entrepreneurial self-efficacy (Izquierdo & Buyens, 2008).
Career counselors can studied the role of generalized self-efficacy, entrepreneurial self-
efficacy in entrepreneurial education programs in order to enhance the level of student
entrepreneurial intentions and competencies could be designed as follows in Table 1:
Students General
Self-Efficacy
Entrepreneurial
Self-Efficacy
Entrepreneurial
Intentions
Entrepreneurial
Competencies
Entrepreneurship
Students
Pre/Post Pre/Post Pre/Post Pre/Post
Regular Students Pre/Post Pre/Post Pre/Post Pre/Post
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Table 1: Proposed Research Design
This design would test the following theoretical propositions developed herein, such as:
P1: Entrepreneurial self-efficacy of students who complete an entrepreneurship program
will be higher than students who do not complete such a program.
P2: Entrepreneurial intentions of students who complete an entrepreneurship program
will be higher than students who do not complete such a program.
P3: Entrepreneurial competencies of students who complete an entrepreneurship
program will be higher than students who do not complete such a program.
Implications and Conclusion
Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) and entrepreneurial self-efficacy can be very
useful as applied tools for developing entrepreneurship learning, competencies and intentions.
Regarding future research, I believe it is necessary to establish whether entrepreneurial
self-efficacy is positively related to students’ intentions to start their own business (Chen,
Greene, and Crick,1998) and about personality and environmental factors incorporated in
entrepreneurial self-efficacy; a strong predictor of entrepreneurial intentions and, ultimately, of
action (Bird 1988; Boyd & Vozikis, 1994). Also, it is necessary to study the interaction between
learning and entrepreneurship (career counselor competencies); the effectiveness of
entrepreneurship education; and the relationship between entrepreneurship education and
students becoming entrepreneurs (Hostager & Decker, 1999 and Luthje & Franke, 2003).
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