Investigating the Pedagogical Potential of Entrepreneurial Projects in Higher Education

Abstract

The current rate of technological advancement across the globe underlines the importance of higher education institutions incorporating project-based learning into their teaching approaches. This article investigates the capacity of entrepreneurial projects to address the skills gap in the Sub-Saharan African higher education sector. This study was conducted in two rural universities in South Africa and Nigeria. Data were collected from student participants from the two institutions using semi-structured questionnaires. The authors discovered that, despite the involvement of student participants in entrepreneurial projects over a considerable period of time, most participants from both universities still exhibit inadequate skill levels. This result suggests that certain conditions should be met for entrepreneurial projects to be considered effective for teaching and learning in the higher education context. It is imperative to include enabling factors such as high-quality mentoring from industry professionals and an unwavering university support system for student entrepreneurs. These enabling factors are cornerstones that strengthen a university's entrepreneurial standing.

Received: 8 January 2023 / Accepted: 2 April 2023 / Published: 5 May 2023