The context of entrepreneurship education in Ethiopian universities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore and evaluate entrepreneurship education in public universities in Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on the data obtained from 16 public universities in the country. The undergraduate curriculum of each university was examined to understand the departments in which entrepreneurship course(s) is/are offered. The syllabus for entrepreneurship course was examined to understand the focus areas and objectives of the entrepreneurship education. A questionnaire based on the literature was used to gather information about the background of entrepreneurship instructors, the teaching and evaluation methods employed in entrepreneurship courses. Findings – The results show that entrepreneurship education is in its early phase of development in Ethiopian public universities. Entrepreneurship education was mainly offered in business schools and agricultural colleges, though recently it started to be included in the curricula of other schools too, mainly technology institutes/colleges. Traditional teaching and evaluation methods are dominant in teaching and assessing entrepreneurship courses in Ethiopian universities. Ethiopian public universities are also characterized by a dearth of entrepreneurship promotion centers. Research limitations/implications – The study is based on the analysis of curricula and course syllabi and the evaluation of academic staff involved in teaching of entrepreneurship. The study would have been more complete had it included the perception of students. Practical implications – The findings suggest the need for incorporating entrepreneurship education in all disciplines and the need to further improve the teaching and evaluation methods utilized in the courses. The findings also suggest the need to enhance the capacity of academic staff involved in teaching entrepreneurship. Originality/value – The paper is the first to examine the state of entrepreneurship education in Ethiopian public universities in a detailed way.