Education, entrepreneurial mindset and innovation: necessary ingredients for increasing entrepreneurial activity in South Africa

Ekaete Akpan Benedict and Percy Frederick Venter

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2010, vol. 11, issue 2, 239-253

Abstract: This paper attempts to explain the major reasons for the low levels of entrepreneurship in South Africa. The paper challenges the commonly held notion that entrepreneurial success is correlated to educational achievement, even though entrepreneurship is heavily reliant on innovation processes. This paper uses the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) study reports on South Africa as a reference framework for its theoretical analysis and raises issues related to ethnicity, education and innovation as possible factors for success. In addition, the paper reiterates that innovation need not be technical but also social and call on the government to enhance the entrepreneurial mindsets of its people.

Keywords: educational achievement; entrepreneurialism; innovation management; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; South Africa; Global Entrepreneurship Monitor; GEM; ethnicity; education; social factors; government initiatives; entrepreneurial mindsets. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=30071 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijeima:v:11:y:2010:i:2:p:239-253

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().