A Preliminary Exploration of the Development of Wisdom in Entrepreneurship Education

Jeffrey McNally; Benson Honig; Bruce Martin

doi:10.14211/regepe.v7i1.797

Authors

Jeffrey McNally University of New Brunswick - UNB.
Benson Honig Stanford McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
Bruce Martin University College Dublin - Ireland.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14211/regepe.v7i1.797

Keywords:

Wisdom, entrepreneurship education, management education, syllabi, course outlines, textbooks

Abstract

Though the development of wisdom is a primary goal of higher education, it has received little empirical attention in an entrepreneurship education (EE) context. We conduct a preliminary, exploratory investigation into the teaching of wisdom in EE. Applying Sternberg’s (1998) balance theory of wisdom, we examine whether entrepreneurship courses deliver on the potential of wisdom development by studying the syllabi of 50 university entrepreneurship courses from around the world. We also examine the contents of the major entrepreneurship textbooks used in EE classrooms today. We find that both textbook use and course design are negatively related to the development of wisdom in the classroom. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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Author Biographies

Jeffrey McNally, University of New Brunswick - UNB.

Ph.D. Faculty of Business Administration, University of New Brunswick Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Co-Founder/Researcher • Entrepreneurship Education Evaluation Project. Associate Professor, joined the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of New Brunswick in 2011. He teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in the BBA and MBA programs at UNB.

Benson Honig, Stanford McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.

Ph.D. Stanford University, Member of the Active Board of the Africa Academy of Management.

Bruce Martin, University College Dublin - Ireland.

PhD in Business Administration from McMaster University in Canada. Smurfit Graduate Business School. Department of Management, University College Dublin, Ireland.

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