A Guiding Framework for Establishing Entrepreneurial Higher Education Institutions in South Africa

A Guiding Framework for Establishing Entrepreneurial Higher Education Institutions in South Africa | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article A Guiding Framework for Establishing Entrepreneurial Higher Education Institutions in South Africa Ricardo Martin Peters, Tania PRETORIUS, Christian Friedrich This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7288402/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract South Africa faces the persistent challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, which endanger societal stability. Despite policy efforts, entrepreneurship and the small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector have not yet created a sufficiently enabling environment and many businesses struggle to survive due to challenges like limited access to finance, market access, regulatory burdens, or lack of business skills. The SMME sector may not be contributing as effectively to job creation and economic growth as it could. According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor research, South Africa's most significant obstacle remains a lack of general education and training. Enhancing the overall standard of education and training while promoting entrepreneurship has become imperative for decades. Thirty years into a new democracy, the support of government policies and activities and the concept of entrepreneurship and the SMME sector has yet to generate an enabling environment that alleviates poverty, unemployment and inequality in South Africa. Higher education institutions have a critical role to play in addressing these challenges through entrepreneurship education. Unfortunately, to date, this sector has not made a sufficiently significant contribution to tackling these social ills. Numerous factors, such as culture, leadership, support and resources and curriculum rigidities, contribute to this failure. Higher education institutions must cultivate a greater number of entrepreneurial and innovative minds. In addition to identifying the inhibitors of success, this study suggests a conceptual framework with recommendations that contextualise the required entrepreneurship education ecosystem. This article presents a conceptual framework tailored to the South African context, identifies key barriers, and offers recommendations to enhance the entrepreneurial orientation of higher education institutions. entrepreneurship higher education South Africa conceptual framework innovation Figures Figure 1 1 Introduction The South African government has long emphasised the importance of the small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector. However, the sector continues to face low persistence rates, indicating the low survival rate of the proportion of businesses that continue to operate over a certain period of time after being established. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are uniquely positioned to foster entrepreneurial mindsets and skills in students. This paper explores the role of HEIs in promoting entrepreneurship and proposes a guiding framework for institutional transformation. The South African government’s promise to support and assist the SMME sector to grow, as explained by Van Staden ( 2022 ), has, to date, not yielded the success that was envisioned. In fact, it has yielded upsettingly low persistence rates (Bushe, 2019 ). If the SMME sector, which could meaningfully contribute to the gross national product and total employment in South Africa, is to be a beacon of hope in contributing towards eradicating poverty, a fundamental change in strategy is required (Botha et al., 2020 ). From a higher education perspective, this strategy would have to focus on culture, people, support and resources and curriculum. It would also require merging entrepreneurial teaching and orientation to include ‘soft skills’ training at the school level, more notably during the secondary phase, and when students transition into HEIs to complete further studies (United Nations Trade and Development, 2023). In this context, entrepreneurship education has become a decisive factor HEI leaders, curriculum designers, governments and scholars have to contend with (Price & Ronnie, 2021 ). A motive for expanding the desirability of entrepreneurship education is the perceived positive influence free enterprise would have on economic growth and employment (Omoniyi & Bongani, 2022 ). The appropriate application and support of entrepreneurship education at HEIs can be a way to stimulate the rate of growth of entrepreneurship and, in so doing, promote economic development (Ncanywa & Dyantyi, 2022 ). Entrepreneurship education at HEIs should equip students with the tools, mindsets and skills they need to create and manage successful ventures. It would be a worthy investment in both individual growth and economic development. 2 Problem statement Thirty years after South Africa embraced democracy, the country and, as a result, most citizens continue to suffer from the profound wealth inequalities. The effectiveness of existing interventions, including those of HEIs that are intended to enhance entrepreneurship training, has been underwhelming. This study advocates for greater emphasis on culture, people, support and resources, and eliminating curriculum rigidities; to this end, the study proposes a conceptual model and makes recommendations. It is theorised that HEIs have not contributed sufficiently towards addressing the societal challenges facing South Africa, though many have introduced and/or embedded entrepreneurship training in their respective curricula, albeit with varied and mostly limited success. This lack of success may be ascribed to a predisposition by HEIs to be more inwardly focused and to neglect developing a profound understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation. This study argues for a strategic shift at HEIs, to embed entrepreneurship as a core value that is supported by leadership, resources and curriculum reform. The study proposes a conceptual model that seeks to enhance HEIs’ obligation to support entrepreneurship and SMME development, thus combating poverty, unemployment and inequality in South Africa. 3 Methodology This study employed the research techniques of thematic analysis and reflective inquiry. Thematic analysis enables the identification of patterns and gaps in the literature, while reflection incorporates experiences and insights of the authors of the literature. Together, these techniques helped inform the development of a context-specific conceptual framework. Thematic analysis involves an iterative action, which often involves enhancing themes and allows scholars to combine an expansive variety of material, thereby enabling the easier understanding of research matter from various vantage points through the thematic organisation of literature (Wæraas, 2022 ). By using thematic analysis, researchers can highlight broad patterns, insights and approaches by combining the findings of research findings. This type of research assists to identify gaps in the body of literature and guides the research direction for the future by underscoring areas that warrant further investigation. Ultimately, a thematic literature review empowers researchers to construct a coherent narrative that weaves disparate studies into a unified analysis. This study explored the role of HEIs and the contribution these institutions could make to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by adopting a strategy focused on culture, leadership, people, support and resources and curriculum. The second approach, given the nature of theoretical research, relies on the contemplation of previous studies. The study engaged with mainstream literature and the researchers’ own experiences and subjective interactions with general literature on entrepreneurship education. This study supports the notion that researchers are not merely technicians, but accomplished thinkers who are capable of profound reflection. This reflection involves considering the applied facets of research and engaging profoundly with the intellectual processes that forms the understanding of practice (Drolet et al., 2022. Reflection is a crucial scholarly activity that is equally important in people’s personal and professional lives, because it advances an altruistic correlation with the world and helps people to develop an informed perspective about personal encounters. This study espouses reflection to connote a turning back into a self where the inquisitor is at once observed and an active observer (Chan & Lee, 2021 ). The aim was to determine the best ways HEIs could make meaningful contributions to entrepreneurship development and to construct a conceptual framework that highlights a strategy for humanising entrepreneurial culture, orientation, resilience and acumen, which will lead to greater economic success and, in so doing, contribute to addressing the problems caused by poverty, unemployment and inequality and which are expected to be, in part, addressed by SMMEs. SMMEs need entrepreneurs and innovators to make them successful. 4 Conceptual framework 4.1 Entrepreneurship By drawing on descriptions by Drucker ( 1985 ), entrepreneurship can be defined as the pursuit of new ventures to generate future products and services that may be exploited, ultimately leading to new, independent venture creation. Ratten ( 2023 ) describes an entrepreneur as someone who is competent and capable of constructing a business concept from virtually nothing and devoting extensive effort to the initiation of the new venture. Entrepreneurs are personified by their disposition to undertake calculated risks when opportunities arise. Barnard and Herbst ( 2018 ) describe entrepreneurship as a development in which productive and innovative individuals employ their talents to launch worthwhile organisations while assuming inherent risks. Confirming this view, Sagar ( 2024 ) describes entrepreneurship as vigour propelling innovation and economic development based on innovative ventures that are fraught with risks and economic uncertainties. Gumel ( 2018 ) captures this meaning by positing that opportunity recognition involves perceiving new prospects for profit generation through the establishment of new enterprises. To execute such undertakings, someone must possess the correct entrepreneurial acumen. HEIs have a vital role to play in supporting entrpreneurship. 4.2 Entrepreneurial University The idea of an entrepreneurial university: Introducing the conceptual framework Higher education faces unprecedented challenges to define its purpose, role, organisation and scope in the society and economy of today. One of the focal questions in debates on higher education is whether HEIs should be entrepreneurial entities. The term entrepreneurial university was initially introduced by Etzkowitz ( 1983 ) to describe the gap between science and commercial business. The university was increasingly seen by the business sector as a factor of production and profit – and not only as a source of training and education – and Etzkowitz (1989) described this change of mindset as a second revolution in academia. Further developments in the conceptualisation of the entrepreneurial university are attributed to Clark ( 1998 ), who viewed the entrepreneurial university as a response to dealing with imbalances between the external environment and the university. The entrepreneurial university is perceived as a natural incubator that provides support structures for lecturers and students to initiate new ventures (Etzkowitz, 2003 ). This view implies that HEIs must embrace an entrepreneurial culture that incorporates nurturing innovation, commercialisation of research and a hands-on approach to solving societal challenges (Klofsten et al., 2019 ). Achieving this culture shift has been challenging, primarily because many HEIs in South Africa are still focused on producing job seekers as opposed to job creators and many HEIs continue to offer programmes that will not, ultimately, result in graduates finding employment within their respective fields. Furthermore, in many instances, HEIs are controlled by persons who do not fully grasp the nuances of entrepreneurship and innovation. These persons see entrepreneurship as the act of self-interest and wealth accrual, and not as a mindset for fostering innovative solutions to societal problems. To develop an entrepreneurial culture and, ultimately, acumen, HEIs must embrace the push towards becoming entrepreneurial themselves; they should not remain centres of bureaucracy that merely pay lip service to the concept. Entrepreneurship should be ingrained in the core values and operations of HEIs and go beyond surface-level policies and programmes. There are too aspects of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurship learning and entrepreneurship teaching. Entrepreneurship learning focuses on imparting knowledge about entrepreneurship. This encompasses teaching the models, concepts and principles that underpin entrepreneurship and assimilating several facets of entrepreneurship, from starting and running a venture to its economic impact and shared significance. According to Holcomb et al. ( 2009 ), this form of learning involves observing other people’s behaviour, actions and consequences and drawing intuitive conclusions. The second aspect of entrepreneurial education, namely entrepreneurship teaching, is to provide individuals with the necessary entrepreneurial attitudes and skills to enable them to develop relevant personal characteristics that are not directly linked to the business context, for example, critical and innovative thinking, creativity and risk taking. The starting point for HEIs to promote entrepreneurial culture within the institution is to incorporate entrepreneurship into their strategic documents. These strategic objectives may speak to how particular activities, lessons and initiatives will support staff and students in developing an entrepreneurial culture at the institution. However, doing so cannot be at the expense of the academic project, but must enhance learning and teaching, as well as research. In the past three decades, the notion of entrepreneurship has become more prevalent at South African HEIs, as evident in the introduction of postgraduate and undergraduate courses and programmes designed to foster and grow entrepreneurship. HEIs also provide training programmes and extracurricular activities aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, and more entrepreneurship-focused courses appear to be offered in multidisciplinary settings in South Africa. However, it is important to remember that, compared to universities in other countries, particularly in the Far East, which have longer histories in this area, South Africa’s approach to entrepreneurship education is still in its infancy (Cloete & Bunting, 2020 ). In South Africa, there are intentions afoot, through Enterprise Development in Higher Education (EDHE), to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit at HEIs and increase their awareness of the opportunities associated with becoming more entrepreneurial institutions, launching new businesses and pursuing entrepreneurial careers. Many universities have established technology transfer services to support academic spin-offs and facilitate the transfer of knowledge and know-how from academia to business. These technology transfer services are integrated into a university’s organisational structure or, in some cases, operate as independent entities that work in collaboration with the university. Their core mission is to link academic research and business innovation. These policies and initiatives collectively aim to foster entrepreneurship at HEIs in South Africa by encouraging academic researchers to explore entrepreneurial avenues and promote the translation of research into innovative businesses. 4.3 Entrepreneurship culture Entrepreneurship is important for business, the economy and the social collective. Furthermore, today, many people associate entrepreneurship with economic development, which implies that nurturing entrepreneurship is an issue of pronounced, all-inclusive significance. Although it is not always overtly contemplated in general entrepreneurship studies, cultural characteristics are an important determinant of entrepreneurial performance. A greater understanding of the connection between culture and entrepreneurship can enhance our understanding of entrepreneurial actions in different circumstances. Culture, as defined by Hofstede, is the shared programming of the mind that differentiates the followers of one grouping or persons from another (Yie, 2021 ). This depiction proposes that entrepreneurial behaviour is profoundly predisposed by the cultural traits of entrepreneurs (Ndlovu et al., 2023 ). Kara and Dheer ( 2023 ) deliberate on features of the connection between culture and entrepreneurship. The first aspect involves entrepreneurial cultural groups whose entrepreneurial enterprises are meticulously tied to their cultural personalities, relationships and networks. In such contexts, entrepreneurship serves as a driving force for cultural development. These cultural nets encompass shared ethics, principles and customs that define a specific culture and its members (Enaifoghe et al., 2021 ). Cultural values significantly influence people’s behaviours and reactions in various situations, thereby rendering culture indispensable in understanding an ethnic group (Roccas & Sagiv, 2017 ). In South Africa, there has been a call to instil entrepreneurship values in the youth, in particular, in whom a sense of entitlement and the emulation of non-entrepreneurial role models seem prevalent. Creating a vibrant entrepreneurial culture at HEIs is essential for nurturing entrepreneurial mindsets. Doing so would entail highlighting entrepreneurial accomplishments and endorsing entrepreneurship as a feasible career route. To encourage students and the public to participate in entrepreneurial activities, Srivastava & Thomas ( 2017 ) are of the view that HEIs can host events such as invention challenges, competitions and entrepreneurship festivals. An entrepreneurship culture can be greatly enhanced by role models and former entrepreneurs. HEIs must employ and access persons who are able to act as role models, motivate students and demonstrate the potential of entrepreneurship through their accomplishments. In this manner, students can gain insight into the entrepreneurial journey and could be inspired to seek and explore model enterprises. This can be accomplished, in part, through guest lecturers, panel discussions and networking events with alumni who have successfully launched businesses (Witold & Mohamed, 2019 ). HEIs must ensure that entrepreneurial education and possibilities are inclusive of all students, especially those from historically underprivileged families; to encourage inclusivity, HEIs must put in place focused outreach and support initiatives. Encouraging these young persons with financial aid, scholarships, academic support and mentorship can help level the playing field. Programmes for inclusive entrepreneurship that actively support diversity and inclusion acknowledge the importance of many viewpoints and life experiences. This strategy can foster innovation and creativity within the ecosystem of entrepreneurs. A more inclusive workplace can be achieved through programmes that involve cultural competency training, inclusive hiring procedures and diversity scholarships (Maka, 2023 ). 5. Contribution of HEIs to entrepreneurial education and training Over the years, actions to instigate academic entrepreneurship, which is defined as programmes intended to engender knowledge spillovers from HEIs’ research and courses that give rise to HEI spin-offs or new venture creation, have been stressed as incentives to encourage innovations and economic growth (Lehmann & Stockinger, 2019 ). Lately, universities have evolved from narrowly focusing on academic knowledge creation, and are now seen as key performers in promoting economic development through academia, therefore, contributing to fostering entrepreneurial culture and acumen. HEIs are essential for students’ development of entrepreneurship mindsets and abilities. These establishments function as knowledge hubs and creative and entrepreneurship incubators. HEIs can give students the skills they need to succeed in the entrepreneurial world by incorporating entrepreneurship education into their courses. 5.1 Curriculum integration 5.1.1 Inclusion of entrepreneurship modules Including entrepreneurial modules in a variety of subject areas, thereby embedding entrepreneurship into the curriculum, ensures that all students are exposed to entrepreneurship. This multidisciplinary approach exposes students to the innovative and creative qualities that are needed for successful business ventures. An illustration of this approach is students in the science disciplines being perceptive to commercialising technical ideas by undertaking courses in entrepreneurship. These programmes may range from foundational subjects, such as marketing, innovation and financial management, to more advanced subjects that cover topics in international business, technology transfer and social entrepreneurship. It is, therefore, imperative for HEIs to equip students with the requisite skills to recognise and take advantage of opportunities in several industries in a continuously changing world of work, by offering a comprehensive range of entrepreneurship education (Ilonen, 2021 ). 5.1.2 Experiential learning opportunities The experiential learning process can be considered as one of the essential components of a successful entrepreneurship education programme. It can be facilitated through projects, business incubators and internships to develop students’ entrepreneurship skills by creating opportunities for practical experiences. HEIs must provide opportunities for students in all disciplines to develop and test their new venture ideas in a supportive environment, such as in startup incubators and accelerators. According to Motta and Galina ( 2023 ), these incubators and accelerators could also provide information about accessing resources such as finance, office space, networking opportunities and mentorships. This process could be enriched further by hosting events such as hackathons, business plan challenges, speed dating and interactive sessions and cooperative collaborations with industry partners. This exposure can mobilise students to create original solutions for pressing issues and promote a spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation. 5.2 Entrepreneurship education challenges Challenges reduce the effectiveness of entrepreneurial education in South Africa, notwithstanding considerable attempts to encourage entrepreneurship through HEIs. To fully realise the potential of entrepreneurship as a catalyst for social change and economic progress, these issues must be resolved (Maka, 2023 ). 5.2.1 Resource constraints HEIs are continuously faced with diminishing budgets. Therefore, entrepreneurship drivers and projects of HEIs are exposed to resource constraints. This limitation may severely inhibit HEIs’ capacity to offer prospective entrepreneurs much-needed, all-encompassing assistance. Sufficient funds are needed for curriculum development, academic/facilitator training, student support services and to create entrepreneurship centres – which are among the many components of entrepreneurial education (Chiramba & Ndofirepi, 2023 ). Resource constraints inhibit the ability of HEIs to develop and update curricula so that they are aligned with industry needs (Agbaje, 2023 ). Effective entrepreneurship education requires dynamic curricula that incorporate the latest trends and practices in the field. Entrepreneurship education requires qualified lecturers/instructors who have theoretical and real-world entrepreneurship knowledge and experience. Insufficient funding makes it difficult for HEIs to provide academic staff members with ongoing professional development, which lowers the standard of the instruction that is provided (Suguna et al., 2024 ). Encouraging entrepreneurial talent requires access to funding, counselling and mentorship, among other comprehensive services. It is difficult for students to receive the direction and help they require if resources are lacking, which also affects the quality and availability of these support services (Mireku et al., 2024 ). According to Audretsch et al. ( 2015 ), many HEIs in South Africa grapple with insufficient infrastructure to enable real-world entrepreneurial endeavours. Technology parks, labs, and incubators are crucial for promoting creativity and helping students turn their concepts into successful ventures. 5.2.2 Curriculum rigidities One of the major obstacles for the integration of entrepreneurship education is resistance to change within traditional academic organisations. Since many HEIs have their roots in traditional academic fields, implementing flexible, multidisciplinary courses that promote entrepreneurial thinking might be difficult (Mugimu, 2022 ). Combining components from the social sciences, technology and business domains is typically necessary for effective entrepreneurship education (Suguna et al., 2024 ). Implementing such multidisciplinary programmes is challenging because of the nature of traditional academic systems, which are frequently inflexible and compartmentalised. To overcome these obstacles, HEIs must embrace more adaptable and cooperative methods of curriculum creation. HEIs must employ academic and administrative staff with essential knowledge of the effective execution of cutting-edge courses. The adoption of new and innovative teaching approaches may be impeded by academics and administrators who resist change (Bingwa & Ngibe, 2021 ). Therefore, it is imperative that HEIs fund programmes, such as train-the-trainer workshops hosted by top facilitators and institutions across the world, to train and develop their academics further and to provide them with the tools and perspectives necessary to provide successful entrepreneurship instruction. In entrepreneurship education, there is normally a gap between theoretical understanding and actual application (Phillips & Condy, 2023 ). There should be a conscientious effort on the part of HEIs to ensure this gap is closed, which includes integrating real-world projects and practical learning opportunities into the curriculum. Live case studies of and guest lectures by alumni who hold relevant positions, accomplished businesspersons and industry professionals can provide students with useful insights, advice and motivation (Neubert, 2020 ). By closing the gap between classroom learning and real-world application, these interactions give students a glimpse into the opportunities and pitfalls of entrepreneurship. 5.2.3 Socio-economic barriers facing predominantly historically disadvantaged persons in South Africa The severe financial constraints facing HEIs in South Africa also limit their drive to promote entrepreneurship expansively. Finding innovative ways to deal with limitations of this nature requires HEIs to become entrepreneurial themselves if they aim to be catalysts for social change and economic success (Radebe et al., 2023 ). This requirement may hold even truer for disadvantaged students, who frequently encounter additional difficulties, such as restricted access to data/networks and resources, which may impede their attempts to seek information on the internet about businesses or launch their businesses (Chiramba & Ndofirepi, 2023 ). Other challenges include cultural attitudes towards entrepreneurship. According to Calza et al. ( 2020 ), cultural attitudes about entrepreneurship can affect its acceptance as a feasible alternative career path to traditional employment. HEIs must engage in focused awareness and education campaigns that dispel these beliefs. 5.2.4 Support programmes for disadvantaged students could include the following: Entrepreneurship centres: Designated centres on campus for entrepreneurship development can serve as a focal points for entrepreneurial activities. These centres can provide students with the requisite tools, guidance and support services to help them develop and introduce their business ideas (Rae & Carswell, 2013 ). Encouraging entrepreneurial mindsets: To advance entrepreneurship as a worthwhile career path, students must be guided to develop entrepreneurial attitudes and acumen. This would entail fostering their imagination, originality, willingness to take chances and problem-solving abilities (Daspit et al., 2023 ). Policy advocacy: HEIs must support the implementation of policies that enable entrepreneurial ventures on university campuses and, in so doing, create an environment in which new ventures can thrive. With the collaboration of other key stakeholders in the private sector and government, HEIs can assist with drafting policies that reduce barriers to entrepreneurial activities and provide incentives for startup businesses (Buffart et al., 2020 ). Industry collaboration, role models and mentorship: According to Kettunen et al. ( 2022 ), collaborative projects with industry partners provide students with experiential learning opportunities to help them understand the ecosystem of entrepreneurship better. Mentorship programmes can provide students with opportunities to engage with experienced business owners. Mentors can provide invaluable insights into entrepreneurship practice and assist mentees to navigate the challenges of starting new ventures. Involving entrepreneurial role models: Students’ opinions of entrepreneurship can be significantly affected by the presence of entrepreneurial role models in the classroom. Students can gain personal insights into the difficulties and rewards of launching a business through guest lectures, panel discussions and networking events that feature accomplished business owners. Media and communications: Sharing success stories from entrepreneurs on social media, university websites and newsletters can influence cultural perceptions. HEIs should cultivate a culture that appreciates and encourages entrepreneurial activity by continuously disseminating good narratives about entrepreneurship. 6. Discussion The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( 2012 ) provides a guiding framework that has been widely adopted across the European Union to assess universities’ entrepreneurship orientation. This framework serves as a self-assessment tool for universities that seek guidance and inspiration to manage institutional change. It evaluates institutions across seven key dimensions: leadership and governance, organisational capacity, people and incentives, entrepreneurship in teaching and learning, pathways for entrepreneurs, university–business knowledge exchange, internationalisation, and impact measurement. While this framework offers a robust model for European universities, its applicability in developing countries may be limited by contextual differences. Therefore, an alternative conceptual model is proposed to match the unique challenges and opportunities in these regions. This conceptual model illustrates the key components for fostering entrepreneurship development in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), particularly in developing countries. The model is structured around a central core, supported by foundational pillars, pedagogical approaches, external partnerships, and desired outcomes. Figure 1 presents an enhanced conceptual model for fostering entrepreneurship development within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), particularly in developing country contexts. At its core, the model emphasizes the cultivation of entrepreneurial culture, orientation, behaviour, and acumen among students. This central goal is supported by three interdependent pillars: Institutional Settings – including visionary leadership, strategic resource allocation, and entrepreneurship-embedded policies to create an entrepreneurship culture. Relevant content / Curriculum Design – dynamic, interdisciplinary, and experiential, integrating entrepreneurial thinking across all fields. Teaching methods to create Entrepreneurial Academics – educators who champion innovation, mentor students, and model entrepreneurial mindsets. These pillars collectively create an enabling environment that nurtures entrepreneurial capabilities and fosters student engagement. The model also underscores the importance of pedagogical approaches that develop both hard and soft skills—such as creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability—essential for entrepreneurial success. To remain relevant and transformative, HEIs must adopt strategic, institution-wide approaches to entrepreneurship. This includes appointing qualified leaders who can embed entrepreneurship into institutional strategies and practices. Leadership must articulate a clear vision, supported by senior executives and documented in institutional frameworks. Resources—financial, infrastructural, and human—are critical enablers. These support initiatives such as incubators, innovation hubs, and mentorship programs. The curriculum must be agile and responsive, promoting experiential learning and real-world problem-solving. Entrepreneurial academics play a pivotal role in delivering content, mentoring students, and fostering a culture of innovation. Their ability to integrate relevant content and innovative pedagogies is essential for embedding entrepreneurship values. The model also highlights the importance of external partnerships, particularly through quadruple helix collaborations involving academia, industry, government, and civil society. These partnerships enhance knowledge exchange, provide real-world engagement opportunities, and align educational outcomes with societal needs. While governments are not direct job creators, they play a vital role in creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurship and enterprise development. Collaboration among all quadruple helix actors is essential for sustainable impact. Ultimately, when these components are effectively aligned, HEIs can significantly enhance student engagement in entrepreneurship, contribute to social innovation, and address pressing societal challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and inequality—thereby contributing to inclusive economic growth. 7. Recommendations 7.1 Integrate entrepreneurship into HEI strategic plans HEIs encounter a variety of challenges, including producing unemployable graduates and producing research that is neither entirely innovative nor impactful to society, but merely serves to gain research credit and government subsidies. HEIs need to re-examine their approach to entrepreneurship education and institute plans to continuously evaluate the resources and efforts invested in entrepreneurship programmes. The focus must be firmly on culture, leadership and people, support and resources and curriculum. 7.2 Train academic staff in pedagogy that is entrepreneurial Entrepreneurship can be learned (Peters & Naicker, 2013 ) and HEIs must serve as contributors to such learning. To enhance entrepreneurship education and learning among students, it is vital for academics who teach entrepreneurship to be entrepreneurial themselves, and not only to possess the theoretical knowledge gained through their own studies. To achieve the desired outcomes, pedagogy must also be addressed. In addition to academic work, a strong focus must be the soft skills required to establish the values, attitudes and change that would ensure an entrepreneurial culture, orientation and the requisite skills to address the social narrative. An entrepreneurial mindset is a set of skills, attitudes and traits that are essential for starting and running a successful business (entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial). It involves identifying opportunities, taking calculated risks and thinking creatively to solve problems. Programmes such as hackathons, business plan competitions and collaborative projects with industry partners could play a significant role in experiential learning. These initiatives encourage students to develop innovative solutions to real-world problems and to foster a spirit of creativity and entrepreneurship. For example, annual entrepreneurship competitions at South African universities have led to the creation of successful startups that address local and global challenges (Maaravi et al., 2021 ). 7.3 Allocate resources for entrepreneurship centres and incubators HEIs need leadership with the requisite expertise and understanding to successfully guide an entrepreneurship and innovation agenda. To develop an entrepreneurship culture and, ultimately, acumen, HEIs must genuinely embrace the drive towards becoming entrepreneurial instead of being merely centres of bureaucracy. Entrepreneurship should be ingrained in the university’s core values and operations and go beyond surface-level policies and programmes. Resources also need to be allocated to these initiatives, as the process will be more difficult in the absence of the requisite resources. 7.4 Foster partnerships with industry, government and civil society Connecting students with successful entrepreneurs and industry experts through mentorship programmes can provide valuable guidance and inspiration. Mentors can offer insights into the entrepreneurial journey and help students navigate challenges and seize opportunities. These programmes can also facilitate valuable networking opportunities by linking students with potential investors, partners and customers. Students can gain a firsthand understanding of the difficulties and complexities of operating a business through internships at startups and well-established companies. Analogously, project-based learning, in which students tackle real-world issues, can develop their capacity for critical analysis and problem-solving. Students can develop and test their ideas for businesses in a supportive atmosphere through startup incubators and accelerators at HEIs. These incubators could give access to resources, including capital, office space, networking opportunities and mentoring. 7.5 Promote inclusive entrepreneurship through targeted support programmes HEIs provide platforms for entrepreneurial mindsets to grow. HEI must comprehend that entrepreneurial mindsets are constructed on positive and resilient thinking and are characterised by the ability to see new opportunities where others only see risk. Compulsory entrepreneurship programmes and startups must be encouraged and supported at HEIs. Close ties must be initiated with private and public sector partners to support this process through work-integrated learning programmes, business forums, advisory boards and mentorships. 8. Conclusion The purpose of government is to create an enabling environment through the provision of social and economic infrastructures that are capable of attracting new venture formation and development. HEIs must receive adequate funding to support the entrepreneurship agenda. The government can reallocate the funding it earmarks for entrepreneurship training of potential and existing SMME owners, to HEIs instead. HEIs are better positioned to offer and evaluate entrepreneurship training courses than small service providers and government departments. HEIs need to be more closely allied to government, corporate and other key stakeholders, to encourage greater collaboration among partners, as set out in the quadruple helix model. Efforts must be intensified to produce entrepreneurial graduates who are capable of adapting to an ever-changing environment. This requires HEIs to have entrepreneurship education as a top priority focus area. There is a need to develop new teaching techniques to enhance students' abilities, such as problem-based/experiential learning, industrial attachment/mentorships and training. The appropriate teaching methods and the most relevant learning processes must be pursued to ensure the success of entrepreneurship education programmes. Finally, efforts must be made to ensure that all academics who specialise in entrepreneurship are trained properly and entrepreneurial themselves, and well-motivated, because the success of the entire programme depends on their inputs. In conclusion, HEIs in South Africa must evolve into entrepreneurial institutions to address socio-economic challenges. By aligning leadership, resources, curricula and partnerships, they can cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets and drive innovation. The proposed framework offers a roadmap for institutional transformation and sustainable development. Declarations Acknowledgements Competing interests The author declares that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced the writing of this article. Authors’ contributions RMP, CF, TP coauthored the article. The authors identified constraints at HEIs facing entrepreneurship education and proposed suggestions on how to improve the status quo. The authors also identified strategies for success and developed a conceptual framework. Contribution of the article Efforts by HEIs in South Africa to enhance entrepreneurship training have, in the main, been underwhelming. In response to these challenges, this article engages in an academic discourse on the inhibitors to success and suggests strategies and a conceptual model that contextualises the required entrepreneurship education ecosystem that should be implemented to ensure success. Ethical considerations Ethical Clearance granted – SREC 0239/2024j Funding information No funding was received from any sources. References Agbaje, O. (2023). Curriculum reform in African higher education: Solving society’s problems and meeting its needs. Curriculum Perspectives , 43 (Suppl 1), 141–149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-023-00206-x Audretsch, D. B., Heger, D., & Veith, T. (2015). Infrastructure and entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics , 44 (2), 219–230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-014-9600-6 Barnard, B., & Herbst, D. (2018). Entrepreneurship, innovation, and creativity: The creative process of entrepreneurs and innovators. 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(1998). The entrepreneurial university: Demand and response. Tertiary Education and Management , 4 (1), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02679392 Cloete, N., & Bunting, I. (2020). Higher education systems and institutions, South Africa. In P. N. Teixeira, & J. C. Shin (Eds.), The international encyclopaedia of higher education systems and institutions (pp. 1481–1493). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8905-9_471 Daspit, J., Fox, C., & Findley, S. K. (2023). Entrepreneurial mindset: An Integrated Definition, a review of current insights, and directions for future research. Journal of Small Business Management , 61 (1), 12–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472778.2021.1907583 Drolet, M. J., Rose-Derouin, E., Leblanc, J., Ruest, M., & Williams-Jones, B. (2023). Ethical issues in research: Perceptions of researchers, research ethics board members and research ethics experts. Journal of Academic Ethics , 21 (2), 269–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-022-09455-3 Drucker, P. F. (1985). Innovation and entrepreneurship: Practice and principles (SSRN Scholarly Paper 1496169). Social Science Research Network. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1496169 Enaifoghe, A., Aina, A., & Durokifa, A. (2021). South Africa's economic progress: Challenges and opportunities for sustainable development. International Journal of Development and Sustainability , 10 (9), 340–357. Etzkowitz, H. (1983). Entrepreneurial scientists and entrepreneurial universities in American academic science. Minerva 21 (2/3), 198–233. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01097964 Etzkowitz, H. (2003). Research groups as quasi firms: The innovation of the entrepreneurial university. Research Policy , 32 , 109–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0048-7333(02)00009-4 Gumel, B. I. (2018). Critical factors influencing opportunity recognition and exploitation. International Journal of Contemporary Research and Review , 9 (4), 20748–20759. https://doi.org/10.15520/ijcrr/2018/9/04/503 Holcomb, T. R., Ireland, R. D., & Hitt, M. I. (2009). Architecture of entrepreneurial learning: Exploring the link among heuristics, knowledge, and action. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice , 33 (1). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2008.00285.x . 167 – 192. Ilonen, S. (2021). Creating an entrepreneurial learning environment for entrepreneurship education in HE: The educator’s perspective. Industry and Higher Education , 35 (4), 518–530. https://doi.org/10.1177/09504222211020637 Kara, A., & Dheer, J. S. (2023). The relationship between culture and entrepreneurship: The role of trust. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal , 19 , 1803–1833. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-023-00901-1 Kettunen, P., Järvinen, J., & Mikkonen, T. (2022). Energizing collaborative industry–academia learning: A present case and future visions. Eur J Futures Res , 10 , 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40309-022-00196-5 Klofsten, M., Fayolle, A., Guerrero, M., Mian, S., Urbano, D., & Wrig, M. (2019). The entrepreneurial HEIs as driver for economic growth and social change - Key strategic challenges. 141(C), 149–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.12.004 Lehmann, E., & Stockinger, S. (2019). Entrepreneurship in higher education – The impact of competition-based policy programs exemplified by the German Excellence Initiative. Higher Education Quarterly , 73 (1), 70–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12188 Maaravi, Y., Heller, B., Hochman, G., & Kanat-Maymon, Y. (2021). Internship not hardship: What makes interns in startup companies satisfied? Journal of Experiential Education , 44 (3), 257–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053825920966351 Maka, L. (2023). Entrepreneurship education in South Africa: Policy implementation and impact on youth empowerment (Preprint). https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.1826.v1 Mireku, D. O., Bervell, B., Dzamesi, P. D., & Nimo, E. B. (2024). A systematic review of students’ support services provision in higher education (SSSPiHE) in sub-South Africa. Cogent Education , 11 (1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2351747 Motta, V., & Galina, S. (2023). Experiential learning in entrepreneurship education: A systematic literature review. Teaching and Teacher Education , 121 ., Article 103919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103919 Mugimu, C. (2022). Higher education institutions (HEIs) in Africa embracing the ‘new normal’ for knowledge production and innovation: Barriers, realities, and possibilities. Intech Open. Https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101063 Ncanywa, T., & Dyantyi, N. (2022). The role of entrepreneurship education in higher education institutions. E-Journal of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences , 3 , 75–89. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2022SP3117 Ndlovu, G. S., Radebe, T. N., Xulu, N. L., & Mlambo, V. H. (2023). Entrepreneurial mindset as a facilitator and barrier to entrepreneurship development: The mediating role of entrepreneurial culture. International Journal of Social Science Research and Review , 6 (9), 170–182. https://doi.org/10.47814/ijssrr.v6i9.1492 Ndlovu, S., Radebe, T., Mlambo, V., & Nkonde, S. (2024). Contextualising entrepreneurship as a panacea to youth unemployment in South Africa. Prizren social science journal , 48–57. 10.32936/pssj.v8i1.430 . 8. Neubert, M. (2020). Experiential learning with live case studies. International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies , 11 (2), 173–190. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijtcs.2020.109726 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2012). A guiding framework for entrepreneurial universities . European Commission and OECD. Omoniyi, I. B., & Bongani, G. T. (2022). Entrepreneurship education's impact on South Africa's economic growth and development. Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal , 28 (S1), 1–10. Peters, R. M., & Naicker, V. (2013). Small, medium micro enterprise business goals and government support: A South African case study. South African Journal of Business Management , 44 (4), 13–24. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC146691 Phillips, H. N., & Condy, J. (2023). Pedagogical dilemma in teacher education: Bridging the theory-practice gap. South African Journal of Higher Education , 37 (92). https://doi.org/10.20853/37-2-4610 Price, K., & Ronnie, L. (2021). Contextual factors influencing entrepreneurship education at a South African University of Technology. The Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management , 13 (1), 394. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajesbm.v13i1.394 Radebe, T. N., Nkonde, S. D., Mlambo, V. H., & Ndlovu, S. G. (2023). The role of higher educational institutions towards entrepreneurship: A South African context. International Journal of Social Science Research and Review , 6 (11), 285–301. https://doi.org/10.47814/ijssrr. v6i11.1683 Rae, D., & Carswell, M. (2013). Using a life-story approach in researching entrepreneurial learning: The Development of a conceptual model and its implications in the design of learning experiences. Education and Training , 42. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910010373660 Ratten, V. (2023). Entrepreneurship: Definitions, opportunities, challenges, and future directions. Global Business and Organizational Excellence , 42 (5), 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/joe.22217 Roccas, S., & Sagiv, L. (Eds.). (2017). Values and behavior: Taking a cross-cultural perspective. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56352-7 Sagar, S. (2024). Entrepreneurship: Catalyst for innovation and economic growth. January 2024. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10494931 Srivastava, K., & Thomas, P. (2017). Promoting Entrepreneurship in Higher Educational Institutions: The role of entrepreneurial methodologies. In M. Manimala, & P. Thomas (Eds.), Entrepreneurship education. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3319-3_14 Suguna, M., Sreenivasa, A., Ravi, L., Devarajan, M., Suresh, M., Almazyad, A. S., Xiong, Irfan, A., & Mohamed, A. W. (2024). Entrepreneurial education and its role in fostering sustainable communities. Scientific Reports , 14 ., Article 7588. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-57470-8 United Nations Trade & Development (2023). Trade and development report 2023. https://unctad.org/publication/trade-and-development-report-2023 Van Staden, L. J. (2022). The influence of certain factors on South African Small and medium-sized enterprises towards export propensity. Development Southern Africa , 39 (3), 457–469. https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835x.2021.2019573 Wæraas, A. (2022). Thematic analysis: Making values emerge from texts. In G. Espedal, B. Jelstad Løvaas, S., Sirris, S., & A. Wæraas (Eds.), Researching values. Methodological approaches for understanding values work in organisations and leadership. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90769-3_9 Witold, N., & Mohamed, H. (2019). The role of inspiring role models in enhancing entrepreneurial intention. Journal of Business Research , 96 , 183–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.11.005 Yie, E. (2021). A review of culture and leadership in cross-cultural context: Linking Hofstede’s theory. World Academics Journal of Management Review Paper , 9 (3), 33–36. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7288402","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":504193187,"identity":"2c7894f8-75e9-4da9-9ba0-46a89986f3b2","order_by":0,"name":"Ricardo Martin Peters","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sol Plaatje University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ricardo","middleName":"Martin","lastName":"Peters","suffix":""},{"id":504193188,"identity":"a1f5ed41-e34b-4228-94c9-6714288d833a","order_by":1,"name":"Tania PRETORIUS","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCUlEQVRIie3RsWrDMBCA4TMGZ1HxqiFEr3DBU6HgV7EJNIvSdioZgjEYPBm6pmToK7hvICPQ1HbO4CVLJg/t5qGFqDaYNqCkYwf9kwZ9ugMB2Gz/NDGcIoDJ2etkIF5Pgj8RGIguTs+RcPRaiRbqW59l6n2XJ/OnTYHQriD0DZiQm6gqYH/5mHuzdZzLRVm/oFMocKkwLcZREJCIigQQ52JRUo5wkepFTcRvsPrUJOxJMmdrjs5XCoSZiH5TdlO8jrgRbDm6egpFE9k2KMe4R6quZxC9yWlZqzs5VhSnBjJ64MFHs6zRz6R02vuEsU32vGtWV+HEQPp+7UC7z6Wn7n93RGw2m832swMSV1aPgCWFCgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Sol Plaatje University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tania","middleName":"","lastName":"PRETORIUS","suffix":""},{"id":504193189,"identity":"ef4b178c-7b52-4985-9898-13521a7b6f58","order_by":2,"name":"Christian Friedrich","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sol Plaatje University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christian","middleName":"","lastName":"Friedrich","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-04 07:53:36","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7288402/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7288402/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":89801549,"identity":"ac8b38a4-9406-49b1-a571-4b4ffe0f2b9f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-25 08:18:46","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":412125,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eConceptual model for entrepreneurship development (developed by the authors)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7288402/v1/7355e96eb736a4de2535310f.png"},{"id":91293863,"identity":"b007f179-ce2c-42ff-88fa-67eef1af8fc8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-15 02:23:37","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1253491,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7288402/v1/41a80048-e5b5-4c4d-8197-0ef56c5b4aec.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"A Guiding Framework for Establishing Entrepreneurial Higher Education Institutions in South Africa","fulltext":[{"header":"1 Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe South African government has long emphasised the importance of the small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector. However, the sector continues to face low persistence rates, indicating the low survival rate of the proportion of businesses that continue to operate over a certain period of time after being established. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are uniquely positioned to foster entrepreneurial mindsets and skills in students. This paper explores the role of HEIs in promoting entrepreneurship and proposes a guiding framework for institutional transformation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe South African government\u0026rsquo;s promise to support and assist the SMME sector to grow, as explained by Van Staden (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR49\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), has, to date, not yielded the success that was envisioned. In fact, it has yielded upsettingly low persistence rates (Bushe, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). If the SMME sector, which could meaningfully contribute to the gross national product and total employment in South Africa, is to be a beacon of hope in contributing towards eradicating poverty, a fundamental change in strategy is required (Botha et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). From a higher education perspective, this strategy would have to focus on culture, people, support and resources and curriculum. It would also require merging entrepreneurial teaching and orientation to include \u0026lsquo;soft skills\u0026rsquo; training at the school level, more notably during the secondary phase, and when students transition into HEIs to complete further studies (United Nations Trade and Development, 2023). In this context, entrepreneurship education has become a decisive factor HEI leaders, curriculum designers, governments and scholars have to contend with (Price \u0026amp; Ronnie, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). A motive for expanding the desirability of entrepreneurship education is the perceived positive influence free enterprise would have on economic growth and employment (Omoniyi \u0026amp; Bongani, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). The appropriate application and support of entrepreneurship education at HEIs can be a way to stimulate the rate of growth of entrepreneurship and, in so doing, promote economic development (Ncanywa \u0026amp; Dyantyi, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Entrepreneurship education at HEIs should equip students with the tools, mindsets and skills they need to create and manage successful ventures. It would be a worthy investment in both individual growth and economic development.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2 Problem statement","content":"\u003cp\u003eThirty years after South Africa embraced democracy, the country and, as a result, most citizens continue to suffer from the profound wealth inequalities. The effectiveness of existing interventions, including those of HEIs that are intended to enhance entrepreneurship training, has been underwhelming. This study advocates for greater emphasis on culture, people, support and resources, and eliminating curriculum rigidities; to this end, the study proposes a conceptual model and makes recommendations. It is theorised that HEIs have not contributed sufficiently towards addressing the societal challenges facing South Africa, though many have introduced and/or embedded entrepreneurship training in their respective curricula, albeit with varied and mostly limited success. This lack of success may be ascribed to a predisposition by HEIs to be more inwardly focused and to neglect developing a profound understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study argues for a strategic shift at HEIs, to embed entrepreneurship as a core value that is supported by leadership, resources and curriculum reform. The study proposes a conceptual model that seeks to enhance HEIs\u0026rsquo; obligation to support entrepreneurship and SMME development, thus combating poverty, unemployment and inequality in South Africa.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"3 Methodology","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study employed the research techniques of thematic analysis and reflective inquiry. Thematic analysis enables the identification of patterns and gaps in the literature, while reflection incorporates experiences and insights of the authors of the literature. Together, these techniques helped inform the development of a context-specific conceptual framework. Thematic analysis involves an iterative action, which often involves enhancing themes and allows scholars to combine an expansive variety of material, thereby enabling the easier understanding of research matter from various vantage points through the thematic organisation of literature (W\u0026aelig;raas, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). By using thematic analysis, researchers can highlight broad patterns, insights and approaches by combining the findings of research findings. This type of research assists to identify gaps in the body of literature and guides the research direction for the future by underscoring areas that warrant further investigation. Ultimately, a thematic literature review empowers researchers to construct a coherent narrative that weaves disparate studies into a unified analysis. This study explored the role of HEIs and the contribution these institutions could make to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by adopting a strategy focused on culture, leadership, people, support and resources and curriculum.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe second approach, given the nature of theoretical research, relies on the contemplation of previous studies. The study engaged with mainstream literature and the researchers\u0026rsquo; own experiences and subjective interactions with general literature on entrepreneurship education. This study supports the notion that researchers are not merely technicians, but accomplished thinkers who are capable of profound reflection. This reflection involves considering the applied facets of research and engaging profoundly with the intellectual processes that forms the understanding of practice (Drolet et al., 2022. Reflection is a crucial scholarly activity that is equally important in people\u0026rsquo;s personal and professional lives, because it advances an altruistic correlation with the world and helps people to develop an informed perspective about personal encounters. This study espouses reflection to connote a turning back into a self where the inquisitor is at once observed and an active observer (Chan \u0026amp; Lee, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe aim was to determine the best ways HEIs could make meaningful contributions to entrepreneurship development and to construct a conceptual framework that highlights a strategy for humanising entrepreneurial culture, orientation, resilience and acumen, which will lead to greater economic success and, in so doing, contribute to addressing the problems caused by poverty, unemployment and inequality and which are expected to be, in part, addressed by SMMEs. SMMEs need entrepreneurs and innovators to make them successful.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4 Conceptual framework","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e4.1 Entrepreneurship\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy drawing on descriptions by Drucker (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1985\u003c/span\u003e), entrepreneurship can be defined as the pursuit of new ventures to generate future products and services that may be exploited, ultimately leading to new, independent venture creation. Ratten (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) describes an entrepreneur as someone who is competent and capable of constructing a business concept from virtually nothing and devoting extensive effort to the initiation of the new venture. Entrepreneurs are personified by their disposition to undertake calculated risks when opportunities arise. Barnard and Herbst (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) describe entrepreneurship as a development in which productive and innovative individuals employ their talents to launch worthwhile organisations while assuming inherent risks. Confirming this view, Sagar (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) describes entrepreneurship as vigour propelling innovation and economic development based on innovative ventures that are fraught with risks and economic uncertainties. Gumel (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) captures this meaning by positing that opportunity recognition involves perceiving new prospects for profit generation through the establishment of new enterprises. To execute such undertakings, someone must possess the correct entrepreneurial acumen. HEIs have a vital role to play in supporting entrpreneurship.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e4.2 Entrepreneurial University\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe idea of an entrepreneurial university: Introducing the conceptual framework\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHigher education faces unprecedented challenges to define its purpose, role, organisation and scope in the society and economy of today. One of the focal questions in debates on higher education is whether HEIs should be entrepreneurial entities. The term entrepreneurial university was initially introduced by Etzkowitz (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1983\u003c/span\u003e) to describe the gap between science and commercial business. The university was increasingly seen by the business sector as a factor of production and profit \u0026ndash; and not only as a source of training and education \u0026ndash; and Etzkowitz (1989) described this change of mindset as a second revolution in academia. Further developments in the conceptualisation of the entrepreneurial university are attributed to Clark (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e), who viewed the entrepreneurial university as a response to dealing with imbalances between the external environment and the university. The entrepreneurial university is perceived as a natural incubator that provides support structures for lecturers and students to initiate new ventures (Etzkowitz, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis view implies that HEIs must embrace an entrepreneurial culture that incorporates nurturing innovation, commercialisation of research and a hands-on approach to solving societal challenges (Klofsten et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Achieving this culture shift has been challenging, primarily because many HEIs in South Africa are still focused on producing job seekers as opposed to job creators and many HEIs continue to offer programmes that will not, ultimately, result in graduates finding employment within their respective fields. Furthermore, in many instances, HEIs are controlled by persons who do not fully grasp the nuances of entrepreneurship and innovation. These persons see entrepreneurship as the act of self-interest and wealth accrual, and not as a mindset for fostering innovative solutions to societal problems. To develop an entrepreneurial culture and, ultimately, acumen, HEIs must embrace the push towards becoming entrepreneurial themselves; they should not remain centres of bureaucracy that merely pay lip service to the concept. Entrepreneurship should be ingrained in the core values and operations of HEIs and go beyond surface-level policies and programmes.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are too aspects of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurship learning and entrepreneurship teaching. Entrepreneurship learning focuses on imparting knowledge about entrepreneurship. This encompasses teaching the models, concepts and principles that underpin entrepreneurship and assimilating several facets of entrepreneurship, from starting and running a venture to its economic impact and shared significance. According to Holcomb et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e), this form of learning involves observing other people\u0026rsquo;s behaviour, actions and consequences and drawing intuitive conclusions. The second aspect of entrepreneurial education, namely entrepreneurship teaching, is to provide individuals with the necessary entrepreneurial attitudes and skills to enable them to develop relevant personal characteristics that are not directly linked to the business context, for example, critical and innovative thinking, creativity and risk taking.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe starting point for HEIs to promote entrepreneurial culture within the institution is to incorporate entrepreneurship into their strategic documents. These strategic objectives may speak to how particular activities, lessons and initiatives will support staff and students in developing an entrepreneurial culture at the institution. However, doing so cannot be at the expense of the academic project, but must enhance learning and teaching, as well as research.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the past three decades, the notion of entrepreneurship has become more prevalent at South African HEIs, as evident in the introduction of postgraduate and undergraduate courses and programmes designed to foster and grow entrepreneurship. HEIs also provide training programmes and extracurricular activities aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, and more entrepreneurship-focused courses appear to be offered in multidisciplinary settings in South Africa. However, it is important to remember that, compared to universities in other countries, particularly in the Far East, which have longer histories in this area, South Africa\u0026rsquo;s approach to entrepreneurship education is still in its infancy (Cloete \u0026amp; Bunting, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn South Africa, there are intentions afoot, through Enterprise Development in Higher Education (EDHE), to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit at HEIs and increase their awareness of the opportunities associated with becoming more entrepreneurial institutions, launching new businesses and pursuing entrepreneurial careers. Many universities have established technology transfer services to support academic spin-offs and facilitate the transfer of knowledge and know-how from academia to business. These technology transfer services are integrated into a university\u0026rsquo;s organisational structure or, in some cases, operate as independent entities that work in collaboration with the university. Their core mission is to link academic research and business innovation. These policies and initiatives collectively aim to foster entrepreneurship at HEIs in South Africa by encouraging academic researchers to explore entrepreneurial avenues and promote the translation of research into innovative businesses.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e4.3 Entrepreneurship culture\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eEntrepreneurship is important for business, the economy and the social collective. Furthermore, today, many people associate entrepreneurship with economic development, which implies that nurturing entrepreneurship is an issue of pronounced, all-inclusive significance. Although it is not always overtly contemplated in general entrepreneurship studies, cultural characteristics are an important determinant of entrepreneurial performance. A greater understanding of the connection between culture and entrepreneurship can enhance our understanding of entrepreneurial actions in different circumstances. Culture, as defined by Hofstede, is the shared programming of the mind that differentiates the followers of one grouping or persons from another (Yie, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). This depiction proposes that entrepreneurial behaviour is profoundly predisposed by the cultural traits of entrepreneurs (Ndlovu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKara and Dheer (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) deliberate on features of the connection between culture and entrepreneurship. The first aspect involves entrepreneurial cultural groups whose entrepreneurial enterprises are meticulously tied to their cultural personalities, relationships and networks. In such contexts, entrepreneurship serves as a driving force for cultural development. These cultural nets encompass shared ethics, principles and customs that define a specific culture and its members (Enaifoghe et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Cultural values significantly influence people\u0026rsquo;s behaviours and reactions in various situations, thereby rendering culture indispensable in understanding an ethnic group (Roccas \u0026amp; Sagiv, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). In South Africa, there has been a call to instil entrepreneurship values in the youth, in particular, in whom a sense of entitlement and the emulation of non-entrepreneurial role models seem prevalent.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCreating a vibrant entrepreneurial culture at HEIs is essential for nurturing entrepreneurial mindsets. Doing so would entail highlighting entrepreneurial accomplishments and endorsing entrepreneurship as a feasible career route. To encourage students and the public to participate in entrepreneurial activities, Srivastava \u0026amp; Thomas (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) are of the view that HEIs can host events such as invention challenges, competitions and entrepreneurship festivals. An entrepreneurship culture can be greatly enhanced by role models and former entrepreneurs. HEIs must employ and access persons who are able to act as role models, motivate students and demonstrate the potential of entrepreneurship through their accomplishments. In this manner, students can gain insight into the entrepreneurial journey and could be inspired to seek and explore model enterprises. This can be accomplished, in part, through guest lecturers, panel discussions and networking events with alumni who have successfully launched businesses (Witold \u0026amp; Mohamed, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). HEIs must ensure that entrepreneurial education and possibilities are inclusive of all students, especially those from historically underprivileged families; to encourage inclusivity, HEIs must put in place focused outreach and support initiatives. Encouraging these young persons with financial aid, scholarships, academic support and mentorship can help level the playing field. Programmes for inclusive entrepreneurship that actively support diversity and inclusion acknowledge the importance of many viewpoints and life experiences. This strategy can foster innovation and creativity within the ecosystem of entrepreneurs. A more inclusive workplace can be achieved through programmes that involve cultural competency training, inclusive hiring procedures and diversity scholarships (Maka, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"5. Contribution of HEIs to entrepreneurial education and training","content":"\u003cp\u003eOver the years, actions to instigate academic entrepreneurship, which is defined as programmes intended to engender knowledge spillovers from HEIs\u0026rsquo; research and courses that give rise to HEI spin-offs or new venture creation, have been stressed as incentives to encourage innovations and economic growth (Lehmann \u0026amp; Stockinger, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Lately, universities have evolved from narrowly focusing on academic knowledge creation, and are now seen as key performers in promoting economic development through academia, therefore, contributing to fostering entrepreneurial culture and acumen. HEIs are essential for students\u0026rsquo; development of entrepreneurship mindsets and abilities. These establishments function as knowledge hubs and creative and entrepreneurship incubators. HEIs can give students the skills they need to succeed in the entrepreneurial world by incorporating entrepreneurship education into their courses.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e5.1 Curriculum integration\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e5.1.1 Inclusion of entrepreneurship modules\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eIncluding entrepreneurial modules in a variety of subject areas, thereby embedding entrepreneurship into the curriculum, ensures that all students are exposed to entrepreneurship. This multidisciplinary approach exposes students to the innovative and creative qualities that are needed for successful business ventures. An illustration of this approach is students in the science disciplines being perceptive to commercialising technical ideas by undertaking courses in entrepreneurship. These programmes may range from foundational subjects, such as marketing, innovation and financial management, to more advanced subjects that cover topics in international business, technology transfer and social entrepreneurship. It is, therefore, imperative for HEIs to equip students with the requisite skills to recognise and take advantage of opportunities in several industries in a continuously changing world of work, by offering a comprehensive range of entrepreneurship education (Ilonen, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e5.1.2 Experiential learning opportunities\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe experiential learning process can be considered as one of the essential components of a successful entrepreneurship education programme. It can be facilitated through projects, business incubators and internships to develop students\u0026rsquo; entrepreneurship skills by creating opportunities for practical experiences. HEIs must provide opportunities for students in all disciplines to develop and test their new venture ideas in a supportive environment, such as in startup incubators and accelerators. According to Motta and Galina (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), these incubators and accelerators could also provide information about accessing resources such as finance, office space, networking opportunities and mentorships. This process could be enriched further by hosting events such as hackathons, business plan challenges, speed dating and interactive sessions and cooperative collaborations with industry partners. This exposure can mobilise students to create original solutions for pressing issues and promote a spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e5.2 Entrepreneurship education challenges\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eChallenges reduce the effectiveness of entrepreneurial education in South Africa, notwithstanding considerable attempts to encourage entrepreneurship through HEIs. To fully realise the potential of entrepreneurship as a catalyst for social change and economic progress, these issues must be resolved (Maka, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e5.2.1 Resource constraints\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eHEIs are continuously faced with diminishing budgets. Therefore, entrepreneurship drivers and projects of HEIs are exposed to resource constraints. This limitation may severely inhibit HEIs\u0026rsquo; capacity to offer prospective entrepreneurs much-needed, all-encompassing assistance. Sufficient funds are needed for curriculum development, academic/facilitator training, student support services and to create entrepreneurship centres \u0026ndash; which are among the many components of entrepreneurial education (Chiramba \u0026amp; Ndofirepi, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Resource constraints inhibit the ability of HEIs to develop and update curricula so that they are aligned with industry needs (Agbaje, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Effective entrepreneurship education requires dynamic curricula that incorporate the latest trends and practices in the field.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEntrepreneurship education requires qualified lecturers/instructors who have theoretical and real-world entrepreneurship knowledge and experience. Insufficient funding makes it difficult for HEIs to provide academic staff members with ongoing professional development, which lowers the standard of the instruction that is provided (Suguna et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Encouraging entrepreneurial talent requires access to funding, counselling and mentorship, among other comprehensive services. It is difficult for students to receive the direction and help they require if resources are lacking, which also affects the quality and availability of these support services (Mireku et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). According to Audretsch et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e), many HEIs in South Africa grapple with insufficient infrastructure to enable real-world entrepreneurial endeavours. Technology parks, labs, and incubators are crucial for promoting creativity and helping students turn their concepts into successful ventures.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e5.2.2 Curriculum rigidities\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of the major obstacles for the integration of entrepreneurship education is resistance to change within traditional academic organisations. Since many HEIs have their roots in traditional academic fields, implementing flexible, multidisciplinary courses that promote entrepreneurial thinking might be difficult (Mugimu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Combining components from the social sciences, technology and business domains is typically necessary for effective entrepreneurship education (Suguna et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Implementing such multidisciplinary programmes is challenging because of the nature of traditional academic systems, which are frequently inflexible and compartmentalised. To overcome these obstacles, HEIs must embrace more adaptable and cooperative methods of curriculum creation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHEIs must employ academic and administrative staff with essential knowledge of the effective execution of cutting-edge courses. The adoption of new and innovative teaching approaches may be impeded by academics and administrators who resist change (Bingwa \u0026amp; Ngibe, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, it is imperative that HEIs fund programmes, such as train-the-trainer workshops hosted by top facilitators and institutions across the world, to train and develop their academics further and to provide them with the tools and perspectives necessary to provide successful entrepreneurship instruction. In entrepreneurship education, there is normally a gap between theoretical understanding and actual application (Phillips \u0026amp; Condy, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). There should be a conscientious effort on the part of HEIs to ensure this gap is closed, which includes integrating real-world projects and practical learning opportunities into the curriculum. Live case studies of and guest lectures by alumni who hold relevant positions, accomplished businesspersons and industry professionals can provide students with useful insights, advice and motivation (Neubert, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). By closing the gap between classroom learning and real-world application, these interactions give students a glimpse into the opportunities and pitfalls of entrepreneurship.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e5.2.3 Socio-economic barriers facing predominantly historically disadvantaged persons in South Africa\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe severe financial constraints facing HEIs in South Africa also limit their drive to promote entrepreneurship expansively. Finding innovative ways to deal with limitations of this nature requires HEIs to become entrepreneurial themselves if they aim to be catalysts for social change and economic success (Radebe et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). This requirement may hold even truer for disadvantaged students, who frequently encounter additional difficulties, such as restricted access to data/networks and resources, which may impede their attempts to seek information on the internet about businesses or launch their businesses (Chiramba \u0026amp; Ndofirepi, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Other challenges include cultural attitudes towards entrepreneurship. According to Calza et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), cultural attitudes about entrepreneurship can affect its acceptance as a feasible alternative career path to traditional employment. HEIs must engage in focused awareness and education campaigns that dispel these beliefs.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e5.2.4 Support programmes for disadvantaged students could include the following:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eEntrepreneurship centres: Designated centres on campus for entrepreneurship development can serve as a focal points for entrepreneurial activities. These centres can provide students with the requisite tools, guidance and support services to help them develop and introduce their business ideas (Rae \u0026amp; Carswell, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEncouraging entrepreneurial mindsets: To advance entrepreneurship as a worthwhile career path, students must be guided to develop entrepreneurial attitudes and acumen. This would entail fostering their imagination, originality, willingness to take chances and problem-solving abilities (Daspit et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePolicy advocacy: HEIs must support the implementation of policies that enable entrepreneurial ventures on university campuses and, in so doing, create an environment in which new ventures can thrive. With the collaboration of other key stakeholders in the private sector and government, HEIs can assist with drafting policies that reduce barriers to entrepreneurial activities and provide incentives for startup businesses (Buffart et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndustry collaboration, role models and mentorship: According to Kettunen et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), collaborative projects with industry partners provide students with experiential learning opportunities to help them understand the ecosystem of entrepreneurship better. Mentorship programmes can provide students with opportunities to engage with experienced business owners. Mentors can provide invaluable insights into entrepreneurship practice and assist mentees to navigate the challenges of starting new ventures.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInvolving entrepreneurial role models: Students\u0026rsquo; opinions of entrepreneurship can be significantly affected by the presence of entrepreneurial role models in the classroom. Students can gain personal insights into the difficulties and rewards of launching a business through guest lectures, panel discussions and networking events that feature accomplished business owners.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMedia and communications: Sharing success stories from entrepreneurs on social media, university websites and newsletters can influence cultural perceptions. HEIs should cultivate a culture that appreciates and encourages entrepreneurial activity by continuously disseminating good narratives about entrepreneurship.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"6. Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e) provides a guiding framework that has been widely adopted across the European Union to assess universities\u0026rsquo; entrepreneurship orientation. This framework serves as a self-assessment tool for universities that seek guidance and inspiration to manage institutional change. It evaluates institutions across seven key dimensions: leadership and governance, organisational capacity, people and incentives, entrepreneurship in teaching and learning, pathways for entrepreneurs, university\u0026ndash;business knowledge exchange, internationalisation, and impact measurement. While this framework offers a robust model for European universities, its applicability in developing countries may be limited by contextual differences. Therefore, an alternative conceptual model is proposed to match the unique challenges and opportunities in these regions.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis conceptual model illustrates the key components for fostering entrepreneurship development in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), particularly in developing countries. The model is structured around a central core, supported by foundational pillars, pedagogical approaches, external partnerships, and desired outcomes.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e presents an enhanced conceptual model for fostering entrepreneurship development within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), particularly in developing country contexts. At its core, the model emphasizes the cultivation of entrepreneurial culture, orientation, behaviour, and acumen among students. This central goal is supported by three interdependent pillars:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInstitutional Settings \u0026ndash; including visionary leadership, strategic resource allocation, and entrepreneurship-embedded policies to create an entrepreneurship culture.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRelevant content / Curriculum Design \u0026ndash; dynamic, interdisciplinary, and experiential, integrating entrepreneurial thinking across all fields.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTeaching methods to create Entrepreneurial Academics \u0026ndash; educators who champion innovation, mentor students, and model entrepreneurial mindsets.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese pillars collectively create an enabling environment that nurtures entrepreneurial capabilities and fosters student engagement. The model also underscores the importance of pedagogical approaches that develop both hard and soft skills\u0026mdash;such as creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability\u0026mdash;essential for entrepreneurial success. To remain relevant and transformative, HEIs must adopt strategic, institution-wide approaches to entrepreneurship. This includes appointing qualified leaders who can embed entrepreneurship into institutional strategies and practices. Leadership must articulate a clear vision, supported by senior executives and documented in institutional frameworks. Resources\u0026mdash;financial, infrastructural, and human\u0026mdash;are critical enablers. These support initiatives such as incubators, innovation hubs, and mentorship programs. The curriculum must be agile and responsive, promoting experiential learning and real-world problem-solving. Entrepreneurial academics play a pivotal role in delivering content, mentoring students, and fostering a culture of innovation. Their ability to integrate relevant content and innovative pedagogies is essential for embedding entrepreneurship values. The model also highlights the importance of external partnerships, particularly through quadruple helix collaborations involving academia, industry, government, and civil society. These partnerships enhance knowledge exchange, provide real-world engagement opportunities, and align educational outcomes with societal needs. While governments are not direct job creators, they play a vital role in creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurship and enterprise development. Collaboration among all quadruple helix actors is essential for sustainable impact.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUltimately, when these components are effectively aligned, HEIs can significantly enhance student engagement in entrepreneurship, contribute to social innovation, and address pressing societal challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and inequality\u0026mdash;thereby contributing to inclusive economic growth.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"7. Recommendations","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec19\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e7.1 Integrate entrepreneurship into HEI strategic plans\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eHEIs encounter a variety of challenges, including producing unemployable graduates and producing research that is neither entirely innovative nor impactful to society, but merely serves to gain research credit and government subsidies. HEIs need to re-examine their approach to entrepreneurship education and institute plans to continuously evaluate the resources and efforts invested in entrepreneurship programmes. The focus must be firmly on culture, leadership and people, support and resources and curriculum.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec20\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e7.2 Train academic staff in pedagogy that is entrepreneurial\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eEntrepreneurship can be learned (Peters \u0026amp; Naicker, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) and HEIs must serve as contributors to such learning. To enhance entrepreneurship education and learning among students, it is vital for academics who teach entrepreneurship to be entrepreneurial themselves, and not only to possess the theoretical knowledge gained through their own studies. To achieve the desired outcomes, pedagogy must also be addressed. In addition to academic work, a strong focus must be the soft skills required to establish the values, attitudes and change that would ensure an entrepreneurial culture, orientation and the requisite skills to address the social narrative. An entrepreneurial mindset is a set of skills, attitudes and traits that are essential for starting and running a successful business (entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial). It involves identifying opportunities, taking calculated risks and thinking creatively to solve problems. Programmes such as hackathons, business plan competitions and collaborative projects with industry partners could play a significant role in experiential learning. These initiatives encourage students to develop innovative solutions to real-world problems and to foster a spirit of creativity and entrepreneurship. For example, annual entrepreneurship competitions at South African universities have led to the creation of successful startups that address local and global challenges (Maaravi et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec21\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e7.3 Allocate resources for entrepreneurship centres and incubators\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eHEIs need leadership with the requisite expertise and understanding to successfully guide an entrepreneurship and innovation agenda. To develop an entrepreneurship culture and, ultimately, acumen, HEIs must genuinely embrace the drive towards becoming entrepreneurial instead of being merely centres of bureaucracy. Entrepreneurship should be ingrained in the university\u0026rsquo;s core values and operations and go beyond surface-level policies and programmes. Resources also need to be allocated to these initiatives, as the process will be more difficult in the absence of the requisite resources.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec22\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e7.4 Foster partnerships with industry, government and civil society\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eConnecting students with successful entrepreneurs and industry experts through mentorship programmes can provide valuable guidance and inspiration. Mentors can offer insights into the entrepreneurial journey and help students navigate challenges and seize opportunities. These programmes can also facilitate valuable networking opportunities by linking students with potential investors, partners and customers. Students can gain a firsthand understanding of the difficulties and complexities of operating a business through internships at startups and well-established companies. Analogously, project-based learning, in which students tackle real-world issues, can develop their capacity for critical analysis and problem-solving. Students can develop and test their ideas for businesses in a supportive atmosphere through startup incubators and accelerators at HEIs. These incubators could give access to resources, including capital, office space, networking opportunities and mentoring.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec23\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e7.5 Promote inclusive entrepreneurship through targeted support programmes\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eHEIs provide platforms for entrepreneurial mindsets to grow. HEI must comprehend that entrepreneurial mindsets are constructed on positive and resilient thinking and are characterised by the ability to see new opportunities where others only see risk. Compulsory entrepreneurship programmes and startups must be encouraged and supported at HEIs. Close ties must be initiated with private and public sector partners to support this process through work-integrated learning programmes, business forums, advisory boards and mentorships.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"8. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe purpose of government is to create an enabling environment through the provision of social and economic infrastructures that are capable of attracting new venture formation and development. HEIs must receive adequate funding to support the entrepreneurship agenda. The government can reallocate the funding it earmarks for entrepreneurship training of potential and existing SMME owners, to HEIs instead.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHEIs are better positioned to offer and evaluate entrepreneurship training courses than small service providers and government departments. HEIs need to be more closely allied to government, corporate and other key stakeholders, to encourage greater collaboration among partners, as set out in the quadruple helix model. Efforts must be intensified to produce entrepreneurial graduates who are capable of adapting to an ever-changing environment. This requires HEIs to have entrepreneurship education as a top priority focus area.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is a need to develop new teaching techniques to enhance students' abilities, such as problem-based/experiential learning, industrial attachment/mentorships and training. The appropriate teaching methods and the most relevant learning processes must be pursued to ensure the success of entrepreneurship education programmes. Finally, efforts must be made to ensure that all academics who specialise in entrepreneurship are trained properly and entrepreneurial themselves, and well-motivated, because the success of the entire programme depends on their inputs.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn conclusion, HEIs in South Africa must evolve into entrepreneurial institutions to address socio-economic challenges. By aligning leadership, resources, curricula and partnerships, they can cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets and drive innovation. The proposed framework offers a roadmap for institutional transformation and sustainable development.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch2\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe author declares that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced the writing of this article.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eAuthors\u0026rsquo; contributions\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRMP, CF, TP coauthored the article. The authors identified constraints at HEIs facing entrepreneurship education and proposed suggestions on how to improve the status quo. The authors also identified strategies for success and developed a conceptual framework.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eContribution of the article\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEfforts by HEIs in South Africa to enhance entrepreneurship training have, in the main, been underwhelming. In response to these challenges, this article engages in an academic discourse on the inhibitors to success and suggests strategies and a conceptual model that contextualises the required entrepreneurship education ecosystem that should be implemented to ensure success.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eEthical considerations\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEthical Clearance granted \u0026ndash; SREC 0239/2024j\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eFunding information\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo funding was received from any sources.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAgbaje, O. (2023). 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A review of culture and leadership in cross-cultural context: Linking Hofstede\u0026rsquo;s theory. \u003cem\u003eWorld Academics Journal of Management Review Paper\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e9\u003c/em\u003e(3), 33\u0026ndash;36.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"entrepreneurship, higher education, South Africa, conceptual framework, innovation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7288402/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7288402/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSouth Africa faces the persistent challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, which endanger societal stability. Despite policy efforts, entrepreneurship and the small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector have not yet created a sufficiently enabling environment and many businesses struggle to survive due to challenges like limited access to finance, market access, regulatory burdens, or lack of business skills. The SMME sector may not be contributing as effectively to job creation and economic growth as it could. According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor research, South Africa's most significant obstacle remains a lack of general education and training. Enhancing the overall standard of education and training while promoting entrepreneurship has become imperative for decades. Thirty years into a new democracy, the support of government policies and activities and the concept of entrepreneurship and the SMME sector has yet to generate an enabling environment that alleviates poverty, unemployment and inequality in South Africa. Higher education institutions have a critical role to play in addressing these challenges through entrepreneurship education. Unfortunately, to date, this sector has not made a sufficiently significant contribution to tackling these social ills. Numerous factors, such as culture, leadership, support and resources and curriculum rigidities, contribute to this failure. Higher education institutions must cultivate a greater number of entrepreneurial and innovative minds. In addition to identifying the inhibitors of success, this study suggests a conceptual framework with recommendations that contextualise the required entrepreneurship education ecosystem. This article presents a conceptual framework tailored to the South African context, identifies key barriers, and offers recommendations to enhance the entrepreneurial orientation of higher education institutions.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"A Guiding Framework for Establishing Entrepreneurial Higher Education Institutions in South Africa","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-25 08:18:41","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7288402/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"969300ae-4d7d-47d1-9cbb-3e0d6dab88a1","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 25th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-15T09:38:08+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-25 08:18:41","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7288402","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7288402","identity":"rs-7288402","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}