Characteristics and Effects of Entrepreneurship Education Programs: a Systematic Review

In recent decades, due to the unprecedented enthusiasm for processes related to teaching entrepreneurship, the subject of “entrepreneurship education” has been widely investigated. Several entrepreneurship education programs have been developed and tested under the hypothesis that it is possible to teach entrepreneurship and that such training is effective to develop both entrepreneurs and their ventures. Several studies, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses, have sought to understand the relationship between the interventions proposed in entrepreneurship education programs and their potential outcomes, such as the acquisition of different behavioral repertoires and business growth. In contrast, the content developed in different programs has not received attention. The aim of this systematic review is to describe aspects related to the interventions proposed in entrepreneurship education programs; specifically, this review aimed at determining what the interventions intended to develop, the characteristics of pedagogical strategies employed in these interventions, and the types of outcomes of such interventions. The results of the review showed that some important aspects, such as personalized learning in some stages of the interventions, the target audience, the formal preparation of mentors, and the development of specific content for achieving intended goals, need better consideration for the improvement of entrepreneurship education programs.