Student entrepreneurship support at South African public universities : an ecosystem perspective

Abstract

PURPOSE : It is widely agreed that student entrepreneurship can play a vital role in changing the economic landscape of developing countries. However, the effectiveness of university-based student entrepreneurship support (SES) has been questioned. Our study aimed to gain greater insights into SES in a developing country context by taking an ecosystem perspective on SES offered at South African public universities. METHODOLOGY : A multiple case study strategy was adopted, and data was collected through online semi-structured interviews. Fourteen key informants, holding various positions at eight South African universities, were carefully selected to participate in the study. FINDINGS : Several types of SES are commonly aimed at developing entrepreneurs, promoting entrepreneurship as a career, and establishing job-creating businesses. To increase the effectiveness of this support, creative spaces, business advice from experts, top management buy-in and funding were regarded as very essential to enhance the interaction and collaboration between different elements in the ecosystem. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS : As creating a conducive environment for student entrepreneurs cannot occur in isolation, universities’ top management buy-in and financial backing are recommended to establish and offer a broad range of support internally and through external collaborations. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : This study contributes to the limited research on SES and responds to several calls to research elements within university-based entrepreneurial ecosystems in a developing country context.

Description

DATA AVAILABILITY : The data that supports the findings of the study are available upon reasonable request from the first author. The data are not publicly available due to containing information that could compromise the privacy of the informants in our study.

Keywords

Student entrepreneurship support (SES), Ecosystems, University-based entrepreneurial ecosystems

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG-08: Decent work and economic growth
SDG-04: Quality Education

Citation

Ismail, R., Bignotti, A., Knockaert, M. et al. 2024, 'Student entrepreneurship support at South African public universities : an Ecosystem Perspective', Southern African Business Review, vol. 28, no. 15298, pp. 1-24. https://doi.org/10.25159/1998-8125/15298.