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Education that connects: the development of founders' social capital through entrepreneurship education programs
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Edouard, Linda. Education that connects: the development of founders' social capital through entrepreneurship education programs. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-e430-w688

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TitleEducation that connects: the development of founders' social capital through entrepreneurship education programs
NameEdouard, Linda (author); Robinson, Jeffrey (chair); Bailey, Anastasia (member); Kim, Jerry (member); Doerfel, Marya (member); Rutgers University; Graduate School - Newark
Date Created2023
Other Date2023-01 (degree)
SubjectEntrepreneurship, Organization theory, Adult education, Entrepreneurship education, Network dynamics, Social capital, Social networks
Extent196 pages : illustrations
DescriptionIn this dissertation, I argue that the entrepreneurship education literature might be undersocialized in its understanding of how entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) impact entrepreneurial outcomes. I contend that this organizational context and the pedagogical approaches undertaken can arguably facilitate not only the development of founders' human capital --as research has emphasized-- but also their social capital. I introduce into the entrepreneurship education literature, a social capital perspective to answer the questions 1) how do EEPs facilitate the development of founders’ social capital and 2) how do founders’ initial social capital influence their firm founding activities in the EEP? To address these questions, I conducted a mixed method, embedded case study of three EEPs. I drew upon interviews, observations, social network surveys, and documentation to test preliminary propositions and induct theory on potential mechanisms that facilitate founders’ social capital development. The findings show that the chosen pedagogical models utilized in the training sessions may play a role in the structural social capital founders generate within the programs. Furthermore, I propose and offer description of three additional mechanisms by which EEPs facilitate founders' networking – namely: facilitating the acquisition of relational knowledge, brokering access to players, and social cost reduction. Moreover, I find that founders leverage their existing network while engaging in the program’s directed activities. I explain that this may in part explain some of the reasons for mixed findings in research that examine the impact of entrepreneurship education. Taken together, I contribute to the literature on entrepreneurship education an embedded perspective on EEPs. I also offer to the literature on social networks and entrepreneurship insight into how organizations can facilitate the development of founders’ social capital.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-e430-w688
LanguageEnglish
CollectionGraduate School - Newark Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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