What does it mean to think as an entrepreneur? Using threshold concept theory to inform entrepreneurship education

This chapter contributes to the call for more research grounded discussion on the quality and effectiveness of entrepreneurship education initiatives. Designing curricula around the threshold concepts in entrepreneurship will enable educators to offer particular support in areas where students are likely to get ‘stuck’ and will facilitate constructive alignment with assessment.Using a Delphi-style method with twelve entrepreneurs, five candidate entrepreneurship threshold concepts are identified. Threshold concepts have a powerfully transformative effect on the learner, and important integrative qualities, allowing the learner to make sense of previously isolated pockets of knowledge. A “new world-view” or episteme can be constructed - a kind of disciplinary thinking, peculiar in this case, to entrepreneurs. This chapter contributes to the call for more research grounded discussion on the quality and effectiveness of entrepreneurship education initiatives. Designing curricula around the threshold concepts in entrepreneurship will enable educators to offer particular support in areas where students are likely to become “stuck” and will facilitate constructive alignment with assessment