Evaluation of Factors Influencing Entrepreneurship Education at the Elementary Level
Keywords:
Entrepreneurship education, elementary schools, entrepreneurship education policies, entrepreneurial cultureAbstract
The present study aimed to evaluate and prioritize the factors influencing entrepreneurship education in elementary schools and to identify the causal and structural relationships among these factors using DEMATEL and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM). This applied study adopted an exploratory mixed-methods design. The research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, causal relationships among factors were analyzed using the DEMATEL technique, while in the second phase, the identified factors were hierarchically structured through ISM. The statistical population for the DEMATEL phase consisted of 35 experts and specialists in entrepreneurship education selected through purposive snowball sampling. Additionally, 15 of these experts participated in the ISM phase. Data were collected using an eight-factor pairwise comparison questionnaire. A review of the literature identified eight major factors affecting entrepreneurship education at the elementary level, including entrepreneurship-related policies and regulations, networking and stakeholder engagement, entrepreneurship teaching methods, organizational structure, entrepreneurial curriculum content, teachers’ competencies and roles, entrepreneurial school culture, and school leadership characteristics. The DEMATEL results revealed that “entrepreneurship teaching methods,” “networking and stakeholder engagement,” and “entrepreneurial school culture” were the most influential factors within the system. In contrast, “teachers’ competencies and roles,” “entrepreneurship-related policies and regulations,” “entrepreneurial curriculum content,” “organizational structure,” and “school leadership characteristics” were identified as the most affected variables. Furthermore, ISM findings demonstrated that “school leadership characteristics” and “entrepreneurship teaching methods” functioned as dependent variables, while “organizational structure,” “entrepreneurial school culture,” “teachers’ characteristics,” and “entrepreneurial curriculum content” were linkage variables. “Policies and regulations” and “stakeholder networking” were classified as independent variables. The structural model organized the identified factors into a four-level hierarchy, where policies and regulations occupied the foundational level and entrepreneurial culture and teaching methods were positioned among the most dependent variables. The findings indicate that the successful development of entrepreneurship education in elementary schools depends on supportive educational policies, effective networking with external stakeholders, the promotion of an entrepreneurial school culture, and the implementation of innovative entrepreneurship teaching methods. Moreover, school leaders and teachers play a decisive role in the successful implementation of entrepreneurship education programs. Therefore, educational policymakers should focus on structural reforms and targeted policy development to foster entrepreneurial schools and cultivate innovative and creative future generations.
Downloads
References
Afolabi, M. O., Kareem, F. A., Okubanjo, I. O., Ogunbanjo, O. A., & Aninkan, O. O. (2017). Effect of entrepreneurship education on self-employment initiatives among Nigerian science & technology students. Journal of Education and Practice, 8(15), 44-51.
Agboola, O. W. (2021). Framework for school stage entrepreneurship education in Nigeria. Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, 4(3), 312-345. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515127419899484
Aladağ, S. (2017). The views of class teachers on acquisition of entrepreneurship ability. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 5, 51-61. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v5i8.2457
André, C., & Silveira, M. (2019). Promoting Regional Development Through a Collaborative Project in Entrepreneurship Education: Lessons from a Regional Experiment to Develop Entrepreneurial Competencies in Children and Youngsters. In New Paths of Entrepreneurship Development (pp. 207). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96032-6_11
Baltacı, A. (2017). Relations between prejudice, cultural intelligence and level of entrepreneurship: A study of school principals. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 9, 645-666.
Bourgeois, A., & Balcon, M.-P. (2016). Entrepreneurship Education at School in Europe. Eurydice Report.
Brüne, N., & Lutz, E. (2020). The effect of entrepreneurship education in schools on entrepreneurial outcomes: A systematic review. Management Review Quarterly, 70, 275-305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-019-00168-3
Cárcamo-Solís, M. d. L., Arroyo-López, M. d. P., Alvarez-Castañón, L. d. C., & García-López, E. (2017). Developing entrepreneurship in primary schools. The Mexican experience of "My first enterprise: Entrepreneurship by playing". Teaching and Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.02.013
Chotisarn, N., & Phuthong, T. (2026). Reducing Gaps in Digital Entrepreneurship Education: A Systematic Review of Innovative Learning Strategies and Their Institutional Impact. The International Journal of Management Education, 24(1), 101283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2025.101283
Delinesheva, M. (2019). Entrepreneurship education in the national curriculum for primary level in Bulgaria. KNOWLEDGE-International Journal, 34(1), 277-282. https://doi.org/10.35120/kij34010277d
Deveci, İ. (2019). A Review of Entrepreneurship Education in Teacher Education. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, 15, 105-148. https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2018.15.1.5
Dorji, T. (2021). Content analysis of entrepreneurship education in primary and secondary school textbooks. Research in Educational Policy and Management, 3(1), 42-59. https://doi.org/10.46303/repam.2021.3
Elsa, D., Islami, N., Mahdum, M., Copriady, J., & Putra, Z. H. (2026). Transforming Entrepreneurship Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Bibliometric Review and Future Research Agenda. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41959-026-00174-z
Ememe, O. N., Ezeh, S. C., & Ekemezie, C. A. (2013). The role of head-teacher in the development of entrepreneurship education in primary schools. Academic Research International, 4, 242.
Falck, O., Gold, R., & Heblich, S. (2017). Lifting the iron curtain: school-age education and entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Economic Geography, 17(5), 1111-1148. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbw026
Figueiredo-Nery, M. A. N., & Figueiredo, P. N. (2008). Forming entrepreneurial mindsets? Preliminary evidence of teaching practices from primary schools in a developing area in South America. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation, 3, 1-17.
Ghazali, S. S., Kadir, S. A., Asimiran, S., & Eric, S. (2019). Entrepreneurial school culture model development: Centralized implementation in Malaysian schools. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9(2), 599-616. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v9-i2/5594
Gurr, D., & Drysdale, L. (2016). Successful school leadership: case studies of four Singapore primary schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 54, 270-287. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-03-2015-0022
Habidin, N. F., Salleh, M. I., Latip, N. A. M., Jusoh, O., Azman, M. N. A., Fuzi, N. M., & Ong, S. Y. Y. (2016). Kids entrepreneurship for learning and assessment systems (KELAS) for early childhood institution: critical success factor analysis and decision-making systems. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 6(9), 399-420. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v6-i9/2418
Heilbrunn, S. (2010). Advancing entrepreneurship in an elementary school: A case study. International Education Studies, 3, 174-184. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v3n2p174
Huber, L. R., Sloof, R., & Van Praag, M. (2014). The effect of early entrepreneurship education: Evidence from a field experiment. European Economic Review, 72, 76-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2014.09.002
Humsona, R., & Yuliani, S. (2018). How does Entrepreneurship Education Develop Soft Skills? IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/306/1/012107
Iskandar, D., Allolinggi, L. R., & Hamdani, A. R. (2017). Analysis Learning Social Science Charged the Values of Entrepreneurship in Primary School: Case Study in Social Science Education in Class IV SDPN Pajagalan 58 Bandung. Jurnal Pipsi (Jurnal Pendidikan Ips Indonesia), 1, 23-34. https://doi.org/10.26737/jpipsi.v1i2.268
Johansen, V., & Schanke, T. (2013). Entrepreneurship education in secondary education and training. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 57(4), 357-368. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2012.656280
Jusoh, R. (2012). Effects of Teachers' Readiness in Teaching and Learning of Entrepreneurship Education in Primary Schools. International Interdisciplinary Journal of Education, 1, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.12816/0002885
Kholis, N., Ayuningtyas, R., & Rifa'i, M. K. (2022). Entrepreneurship Development in Islamic Elementary Schools: Supports and Challenges. Nazhruna: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 5(3), 1013-1024. https://doi.org/10.31538/nzh.v5i3.2270
Korhonen, M., Komulainen, K., & Räty, H. (2012). Not everyone is cut out to be the entrepreneur type: How Finnish school teachers construct the meaning of entrepreneurship education and the related abilities of the pupils. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 56, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2011.567393
Lackéus, M., Lundqvist, M., & Williams Middleton, K. (2015). Opening up the black box of entrepreneurial education. 3E Conference,
Liguori, E., Corbin, R., Lackeus, M., & Solomon, S. J. (2019). Under-researched domains in entrepreneurship and enterprise education: primary school, community colleges and vocational education and training programs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-04-2019-402
Lin, S., & Xu, Z. (2017). The factors that influence the development of entrepreneurship education: based on the case of China. Management Decision, 55(7), 1351-1370. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-06-2016-0416
Liñán, F., & Fayolle, A. (2015). A systematic literature review on entrepreneurial intentions: citation, thematic analyses, and research agenda. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 11, 907-933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-015-0356-5
Liñán, F., Rodríguez-Cohard, J. C., & Rueda-Cantuche, J. M. (2011). Factors affecting entrepreneurial intention levels: a role for education. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 7, 195-218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-010-0154-z
Miller, P. W. (2018). School Leadership Is Enterprising and Entrepreneurial. In The Nature of School Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70105-9_6
Naila, I., Jatmiko, B., & Sudibyo, E. (2020). Training Elementary Students' Collaborative and Entrepreneurship Skills Using Science Student Worksheet Based on Project Learning. 1st Borobudur International Symposium on Humanities, Economics and Social Sciences (BIS-HESS 2019), https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200529.129
Ndou, V., Secundo, G., Schiuma, G., & Passiante, G. (2018). Insights for shaping entrepreneurship education: Evidence from the European entrepreneurship centers. Sustainability, 10(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/su10114323
Oplatka, I. (2014). Understanding teacher entrepreneurship in the globalized society: Some lessons from self-starter Israeli school teachers in road safety education. Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 8, 20-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-06-2013-0016
Pereira, A., Martins, P., Morgado, L., Fonseca, B., & Esteves, M. (2018). A technological proposal using virtual worlds to support entrepreneurship education for primary school children. In Teaching and Learning in a Digital World: Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (pp. 70-77). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73210-7_9
Ratten, V., & Jones, P. (2021). Entrepreneurship and management education: Exploring trends and gaps. The International Journal of Management Education, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2020.100431
Rixon, A., Phelan, A., Ekberg, S., Senyard, J., Mashahady, A., Shaw, A., & Birdthistle, N. (2026). Entrepreneurship education for nurses and healthcare professionals: A scoping review and future research agenda. Nurse Education in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2026.104716
Ruskovaara, E., Hämäläinen, M., & Pihkala, T. (2016). Head teachers managing entrepreneurship education: Empirical evidence from general education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 55, 155-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.01.004
Ruskovaara, E., & Pihkala, T. (2015). Entrepreneurship education in schools: Empirical evidence on the teacher's role. The Journal of Educational Research, 108(3), 236-249. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2013.878301
Saptono, A., Wibowo, A., Widyastuti, U., Narmaditya, B. S., & Yanto, H. (2021). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy among elementary students: the role of entrepreneurship education. Heliyon, 7(9). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07995
Wahyuningsih, S. E., Sugiyo, Samsudi, Widowati, T., & Kamis, A. (2018). Model of local excellence-based on entrepreneurship education management for prospective vocational school teachers. International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 24(4), 448-461. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJIL.2018.095383
Wardana, L. W., Narmaditya, B. S., Wibowo, A., Mahendra, A. M., Wibowo, N. A., Harwida, G., & Rohman, A. N. (2020). The impact of entrepreneurship education and students' entrepreneurial mindset: the mediating role of attitude and self-efficacy. Heliyon, 6(9). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04922
Wardani, E. K., Suharini, E., & Setiawan, D. (2019). The effectiveness of role playing based entrepreneurial pedagogy approach on the values of entrepreneurship in elementary school. Journal of Primary Education, 8(1), 43-50.
Whitlock, A. M. (2019). Elementary school entrepreneurs. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 13, 7. https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1780
Widodo, W., Baswedan, A. R., Suyata, P., & Saputra, W. N. E. (2025). Entrepreneurship Education in Vocational Schools: An Indonesian Model. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (Ijere), 14(1), 373. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijere.v14i1.32317
Wiklund, J., Nikolaev, B., Shir, N., Foo, M. D., & Bradley, S. (2019). Entrepreneurship and well-being: Past, present, and future. Journal of Business Venturing, 34(4), 579-588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2019.01.002
Wilson, V. (2009). The role of the teaching headteacher: A question of support? Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 482-489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.09.009
Winarno, A., Aini, D. N., Fuad, M., & Salleh, N. H. M. (2025). The Relationship of Entrepreneurial Education, Social Institutions and Business Experience to the Growth of Small and Medium Industries (Malang Regency Case, Indonesia). JLSDGR, 5(5), e06432. https://doi.org/10.47172/2965-730x.sdgsreview.v5.n05.pe06432
Yasmeen, T. (2025). Perspective Chapter: The Role of Educational Leadership in Promoting Entrepreneurship Education in Higher Education – Evidence From Pakistan. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.1012846
Downloads
Published
Submitted
Revised
Accepted
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Najmeh Mashrouhifard (Author); Parivash Jafari; Seyed Rasoul Hosseini (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
