Illuminating the black box of entrepreneurship education programs

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to explore the components of entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) and their interrelationships to develop a conceptual framework through which entrepreneurship education may be contextually evaluated and developed. Design/methodology/approach - The paper presents an extensive literature review of the entrepreneurship education literature which is used to inform a comprehensive framework for entrepreneurial education; based upon contextualisation, outcomes, objectives, audience, assessment, content and pedagogy. Findings - The paper develops a comprehensive and parsimonious framework for understanding and evaluating entrepreneurship education programs based on and adapted from the extended conceptualisations and contextualisation of previous research on entrepreneurship education programs. Research limitations/implications - This paper presents preliminary conceptualisation and as such requires subsequent testing in various entrepreneurship contexts. Practical implications - The framework elaborated upon can provide a comprehensive view of entrepreneurship education programs by examining and describing the relationships between the components. In so doing, the paper illuminates for educators and researchers a comprehensive view of an entrepreneurship education program which can be used by contextualising the components of outcomes, objectives, assessment and pedagogy. Originality/value - The value of this work lies in its responsiveness to the calls in the academic literature for more appropriate evaluations of entrepreneurship programs and greater contextualisation of the programs to facilitate research into the effectiveness of such programs. The paper proposes that EEPs have to be developed, not only with objectives in mind, but in the context within which they operate.