Education program and experiential learning in Chinese entrepreneurship education : a year-long Social Cognitive Theory intervention's impact on self-efficacy and intention

Entrepreneurship education helps young people create their first job, typically through either experiential learning or education programs. Our study evaluated the effect of integrating both methods in a single intervention involving 40 people aged 18 to 25. Our research intervention was grounded in the Social Cognitive Theory. We assessed its impact via ANCOVA analyses. We looked for shifts in entrepreneurial self-efficacy (across six subdimensions) and intention of 20 intervention participants compared with an equal number of control participants. The results indicated statistically significant changes in all the measures except initiating investor relationships and building an innovative environment. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to examine the effect of delivering entrepreneurial education in non-formal Chinese settings. It also pioneers exploring the impact of education programs and experiential learning in a single intervention. Finally, it assesses this impact over one year, sharply contrasting with the more typical exploring of relationships at a single time point. Our findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on the efficacy of entrepreneurship education programs in China, providing support for offering such programs outside formal education. Our results also emphasize the significance of comprehending the surroundings in which the programs are being delivered and the potential external forces that participants may be exposed to.