Educators' conceptualization of entrepreneurship in Omani entrepreneurship education practice

Abstract

The delivery of entrepreneurship education can present a challenge for educators unfamiliar with entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial process in practice. It is not uncommon for educators to be pushed toward teaching entrepreneurship, despite having limited or no personal experience of entrepreneurship. This is commonly the case in Oman, which has introduced mandatory entrepreneurship classes for all higher education students as a part of the Oman 2040 vision, which seeks to increase the level of entrepreneurship within the country. Arising from this, there is the potential for a disconnect between educators’ discourse and conceptualization of entrepreneurship in their teaching practice and the actual practice of entrepreneurship. This research explores how Omani educators conceptualize entrepreneurship in their delivery of entrepreneurship education, through 80 hours of ethnographic observation of two mandatory online entrepreneurship education classes in Oman, delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings highlight that the educators conceptualized entrepreneurship as the process of business creation, a central pillar of economic growth, a linear process, and as a career. These conceptualizations underpin a classical and narrow view of entrepreneurship. Identifying educators’ conceptualization and understanding of entrepreneurship within their teaching practice can highlight potential misalignment between entrepreneurship as it is taught, and how it is practiced.