Unveiling the Entrepreneurial Mindset: A New Approach to Education

Entrepreneurial competencies

Bridging the gap in entrepreneurial education, our newly developed framework, comprising 15 principal competencies, offers universities a comprehensive tool to intentionally cultivate the entrepreneurial mindset. This innovative tool ensures a targeted, nuanced approach to fostering entrepreneurship, replacing hopeful coverage with intentional teaching.

Note: from this introduction page you can click through to our interactive framework where you may explore all the principal competencies and their sub-competencies. You are also able to download a pdf of the full framework from there.

Certain competencies distinguish the mindset of the successful entrepreneur

The entrepreneurial landscape, ever-changing and thrilling, is a captivating world of possibilities and challenges. At its heart lie certain competencies and capabilities that constitute the quintessential entrepreneurial mindset. It is these traits that often distinguish a successful founder and their venture. Moreover, even for those not intending to delve into entrepreneurship, these characteristics can prove invaluable. They are sought after by corporates and organizations alike, underscoring their broader relevance.

Understanding these competencies allows us to know what and how to teach entrepreneurship

As educators vested in the realm of entrepreneurial pedagogy, the comprehension of these competencies becomes crucial. It serves two fundamental purposes: it enlightens us on what to teach, and perhaps more importantly, how to teach it. The competencies, a blend of cognitive and non-cognitive elements, are not merely subjects to be communicated but traits to be nurtured. A deeper understanding of these elements provides us with a robust metric to gauge the efficacy of our educational programs in cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset.

A framework to help design, develop and measure programs has remained elusive

Indeed, significant work has already been undertaken in this sphere. Noteworthy examples include Saras Sarasvathy’s exploration of “effectuation,” the European Union’s EntreComp framework, and the initiatives by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NTFE). Yet, despite these substantial efforts, a comprehensive framework catering to the unique requirements of designing, developing, and implementing high experiential programs remains elusive.

“Standing on the shoulders of giants” we have developed a framework for program designers

Addressing this gap, we have synthesized our experiences and insights from existing research to develop a set of 15 principal competencies, each supported by several sub-competencies. The product of rigorous research, partially funded by an EU-based Higher Education Initiative, this framework promises a nuanced and holistic approach to entrepreneurial education.

We invite you to use this framework in your programs

We extend an invitation to universities developing and implementing entrepreneurial programs to utilize our work. Whether these programs form part of the accredited curriculum or are extra-curricular initiatives like accelerators or incubators, the framework can prove beneficial. Of course, the complexity and extensiveness of the framework mean it may not be fully covered by all programs, especially shorter ones. However, the framework enables educators to consciously choose which competencies to focus on, replacing reliance on hopeful coverage with targeted teaching.

Let us reshape entrepreneurial education together

Discover our framework at Mashauri Entrepreneurial Competency Framework  (MecFrame ) and join us on this exciting journey to reshape entrepreneurial education. We hope that, through deliberate design based on our framework, we can collectively nurture future entrepreneurs, equipped with the knowledge, skills, and mindset they need to succeed.

The global education tech landscape

Admittedly, this may be more interesting to investors in education technology and/or entrepreneurs operating in this space, but even educators themselves may find this a fascinating read. If nothing else it points to some of the way our lives as entrepreneurial educators might change in the future.

I am referring to the work done by Navitas in mapping edtech initiatives around the world. In the process, they have also devised a system of categorisation which no doubt will change over time, but gives a good start to helping us think about innovation in education.

They have 16 clusters which they allocate across 6 themes:

  1. Content – Publishers, Content Distribution and Digital Learning
  2. Platforms – LMS, Analytics and Social Learning
  3. Access – Recruitment and Employment, Admissions and Financing
  4. Immersion – VR/AR and China Edtech
  5. Learning – Formal/ Accredited and Informal/ Non Accredited
  6. Progression – Peer to Peer and Tutoring, Language and Literacy, and Testing and Credentialing.

In summary, Landscape 3.0 maps 26 clusters of innovation across 15,000 companies in the next generation learning lifecycle and $50 billion of investment around the world. There are over 60 pages of market maps and profiles including analysis of each cluster on the dimensions of scale, investment, traction and disruptive potential. It offers analysis across eight stages of the next generation learning lifecycle, providing insights into market size and investment, innovation traction and disruptive potential .

The report is downloadable at: Global Tech Landscape 3.0


Mashauri supplies cost-effective online acceleration programs to universities to support them in developing "entrepreneurial effectiveness" among students and graduates. Please contact me at simon.gifford@mashauri.org for more information - or simply have a look around our website.