Student entrepreneurship support at South African universities

South Africa as a country experiences some of the highest levels of unemployment in the world. High levels of unemployment are especially evident among the youth and graduating students. Entrepreneurship in general, including student entrepreneurship, is seen as a solution to these high levels of unemployment because of its positive impact on job creation, economic growth, and the adoption of new technologies and innovation capabilities. However, as student start-up numbers remain stagnant in South Africa, the effectiveness of university-based student entrepreneurship support is questioned. Furthermore, despite the significance of student entrepreneurship and the support provided to them by universities, research on the subject is limited, especially in a developing country context. Against this background, the primary objective of the current study was to assess the state of university-based student entrepreneurship support at South African public universities. Based on the literature and underpinned by organisational theory, a university-based entrepreneurship ecosystem (U-BEE) framework was conceptualised. This framework, together with Good, Knockaert, Soppe and Wright’s (2018) organisational design elements, namely purpose, activities, structure, and people, was used to guide the empirical investigation. The current study adopted an interpretivist philosophical stance and is situated in an interpretive research paradigm. An abductive approach to theory development was used and given that the purpose of the study was exploratory, a multi-method qualitative research method was chosen. In addition to a desk research, a multiple-case study research strategy was used, and the study was cross-sectional in nature. Deductive codes and thematic analysis, following the steps of Braun and Clark (2020), were used to analyse the data. The findings of this study were presented in terms of cross-case issues, rather than being case specific to ensure anonymity. Based on the desk research, the total number of student entrepreneurship support activities offered by each university were calculated and the 26 public universities in South Africa were then ranked from most active to least active in terms of offering these activities. Although actual rankings could not be given, the findings show that the most active universities are much older and also larger in terms of faculty, staff and student numbers, than the least active universities are, suggesting that those ranked at the top have been doing so for much longer, effectively giving them more time to have established such support structures and to obtain the necessary to do so. The findings also suggest that several of the least active universities are historically disadvantaged institutions, which could also influence the nature and extent of support being offered to their student entrepreneurs. Based on this ranking the four most active and the four least active universities in terms of student entrepreneurship support were identified, and these eight universities served as the cases on which further investigation was undertaken. The findings of this study highlight the challenges experienced by student entrepreneurs during the establishment of their student ventures, as well as those challenges that they are currently experiencing. Challenges during establishment worth noting include the lack of a network, finance, and information on how to start a business; the inability to access the market; and a lack of legal assistance and encouragement from people around them. Moreover, challenges currently being experienced by student entrepreneurs were identified as working long hours, followed by a lack of collateral and a lack of legal assistance. The findings relating to each of the elements within the conceptualised U-BEE highlight the need for entrepreneurship to be a strategic priority at South African public universities, accompanied by top management buy-in to increase awareness and encourage entrepreneurship among staff, students and other stakeholders. Moreover, the findings call attention to the importance of having a team led by a student entrepreneurship champion whose primary role is to facilitate and coordinate activities relating to student entrepreneurship. Through entrepreneurship being prioritised by universities, having top management buy-in, and a student entrepreneurship champion being appointed, the required resources, support and infrastructure could follow, most notably an entrepreneurship policy, financial support, and an entrepreneurship centre (a central hub for entrepreneurship related activities). As these support structures are established and resources made available, more frequent collaborations among internal entrepreneurship stakeholders themselves could be experienced, as well those with external partnerships. Increased collaborations could in turn lead to improved communication, greater coordination and increased awareness among all existing entrepreneurship stakeholders as well as future student entrepreneurs.Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, 202