Persistence and Acuteness of Research Gaps in Entrepreneurship Education: A Systematic Content Analysis of Previous Reviews (1987-2017)

Abstract

This paper provides insight into the persistence and acuteness of subject-related and methodological research gaps in the field of entrepreneurship education through a systematic content analysis of all review papers from 1987 until 2017 (N=16). The goal is to create an overview of study subjects and methods for future studies that would advance the field. Content analysis and coding are executed by a single coder in three consecutive rounds to increase reliability. The subcategories for subjects are ‘objectives’, ‘impact measurement’, ‘audience’, ‘content (curriculum and pedagogy)’, ‘instructors’ and ‘institutional context’. The subcategories for methods are ‘type of research methods’, ‘quality of research methods’, ‘(inter)disciplinary approach’ and ‘geographical setting’. The paper outlines the value of addressing these gaps and proposes future studies that are interdisciplinary, context-sensitive and comparative with high quality, mixed method study designs. How long it will take to close these gaps depends on the combined support of researchers, grant-awarding institutions and editors.