Entrepreneurship at the École Hôtelière de Lausanne: what teaching model?

This article is an exploratory case study of the École Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) and its teaching model for entrepreneurship education, drawing on the conceptual framework developed by Fayolle and Gailly (2008). In view of its history and favourable environment for entrepreneurship, the École Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) appears as a relevant field of study for this initial descriptive approach. The study shows that the ontological dimension of entrepreneurship teaching at EHL is homogeneous and shared by all the actors involved. On a didactic level, no obvious contradiction was noted between the various stakeholders’ points of view. However, the objectives, assessment criteria, course contents and pedagogical methods were found to differ depending on the entrepreneurship courses taught. Based on the conceptual framework developed by Fayolle and Gailly (2008), the overall teaching model nevertheless appeared coherent and structured. Implications for future research: This article can lead to a broader study of entrepreneurship teaching models for the hospitality industry. Similar studies could be conducted on a representative sample of European hotel schools to establish if there is a specific teaching model for entrepreneurship education in European Hospitality schools. More generally, this article could lead to expanding our knowledge of the teaching models in use for entrepreneurship education