Entrepreneurship Education and Emancipation: A Political Perspective

The starting point for this study is our interest in the broader scope of EE, specifically how it extends beyond the economic sphere. We consider EE to align with many of the precepts of critical pedagogy and a liberal humanist education in its focus on autonomy, individual freedom and empowerment/emancipation. In this study we aim to pursue this idea by exploring the extent to which entrepreneurship education develops in students a number of political attributes associated with emancipation: socio-political control, political interest, civic engagement and changes in political orientation. A pre/post-test design underpins our study whereby we deliver a survey to a cohort of Danish students at the start and end of a semester in which they take an entrepreneurship module. We believe our research will offer insights into a hitherto only minimally-explored aspect of EE, thereby providing some ground for further investigation.