Evaluating the impact of social enterprise education on students' enterprising characteristics in the United Arab Emirates

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naveed Yasin ◽  
Zeinab Khansari

PurposeThis study evaluates the effectiveness of an enterprise education (social innovation and enterprise) learning programme on the enterprising characteristics among interdisciplinary undergraduate enterprise education students from a general (without considering gender) and gender-specific perspective at a higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates.Design/methodology/approachBased on a convenience sampling approach, pre- and post-surveys were distributed among 180 undergraduate students from January to April 2019. An independent-samples t-test was utilised to evaluate the impact of enterprise education on students' learning for three sample classifications, which were (1) general or gender-neutral (no gender consideration), (2) male and (3) female.FindingsThis study found significant improvements in the enterprising characteristics of students as a result of undertaking the learning programme in enterprise education. There was a greater improvement among female students in comparison to male students. However, contrasts in enterprising enhancement trends between female and male students were recognised. While the greatest improvement for male students were identified in their risk-taking characteristics, for female students, the risk-taking characteristic evidenced the least influence. The differences between the enterprising levels in risk-taking, and locus of control, between male and female students, were prominent post completion of the learning programme.Research limitations/implicationsConsidering that a quantitative method of inquiry was adopted to address the dearth of research evaluating the effectiveness of our learning programmes in enterprise education (i.e. social innovation) on students' psychological traits through a gendered lens, qualitative insights could enrich the depth of the research findings. As this study was conducted on a limited number of students at a single university, the results do not claim generalisation to other contexts.Practical implicationsThe outcomes of this research deliver valuable insights about the divergent influences of enterprise learning programmes on male and female students. The implications of the study suggest that policymakers and stakeholders should consider gender diversities when designing an effective and equitable entrepreneurship and enterprise learning programme that fosters and stimulates students' enterprising mindset and confidence for both male and female students. The implications are for academics, educational instructors and policymakers.Originality/valueThis study presents a literature review on the impact of entrepreneurship education by focusing on the key enterprising psychological characteristics and educational systems over the last two decades, and illustrates that most studies in the field of entrepreneurship are based on either general (gender-neutral) or gender-specified investigations. This work provides a comparison between these two perspectives in a relatively underexplored region of the UAE and demonstrates that relying solely on gender-neutral analyses hinders the opportunity to enhance and effectively harness females' entrepreneurial potential.

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
Carlos Bazan ◽  
Hannah Gaultois ◽  
Arifusalam Shaikh ◽  
Katie Gillespie ◽  
Sean Frederick ◽  
...  

PurposeThe study aims to test the applicability of a variant of the model proposed by Hockerts (2017) for assessing the social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) of male and female students. It extends the model by incorporating the university's environment and support system (ESS) as an additional more distal construct. The university's ESS, coupled with the experience with social, cultural and environmental issues can affect SEI by influencing the more proximal precursors of empathy towards others, perceived self-efficacy, perceived community support and social, cultural and environmental responsibility.Design/methodology/approachA structured non-disguised questionnaire was administered to students at a Canadian university. A sample of 485 usable responses was analysed by means of second-order structural equation modelling.FindingsThe results provide confirmation that the proposed model is a multi-group invariant and appropriate for analysing the SEI of male and female students. They also show that the university's ESS helps predict SEI indirectly through the complete mediation of the more proximal antecedents.Research limitations/implicationsThe questionnaire is limited to universities with social innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives.Practical implicationsOutcomes of the study can help universities assess the efficacy of their social innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives for instilling a social entrepreneurial mind-set in students. Consequently, universities will be better equipped to raise the perceptions of venture feasibility and desirability, thus increasing students' perceptions of opportunity.Originality/valueThe study advances the social entrepreneurial knowledge of the university's effect on the precursors of SEI.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Puxin Zhang ◽  
Lian Wang ◽  
Chun Liu

PurposeExisting researches find that a gender difference exists in terms of Internet usage. In China, the singleton daughters resulting from China's one-child policy enjoy unprecedented parental support. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether singleton daughters can, to some extent, break through the predicament of the digital divide.Design/methodology/approachThe study collected data from a sample of 865 college students and obtained 811 valid questionnaires. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used to identify clusters of Internet usage from the perspective of statistical associations in various daily online activities. Two-way ANOVA and mean-comparison tests are used to analyze how singleton and non-singleton students use the Internet differently.FindingsThis study finds that singleton female students showed no significant differences from male students in aspirational activities of informational, educational use and social media use, which means that singleton female students have caught up with male students in these activities. However, female college students from multi-child families were still found to be disadvantaged in those activities.Originality/valueThere is a lack of consensus on the classification of Internet activities. We used EFA to cluster the varieties of Internet activities into three types: utilitarian use, exploratory use and aspirational use. The three identified types of Internet usage require different degrees of user initiative. We argue that initiative provides a useful lens through which to classify Internet usage. In addition, this study is among the few studies to investigate the impact of the one-child policy on the gender digital divide.


Author(s):  
Rachid Zeffane

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of trust, personality and risk taking on entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). In this perspective, it explores gender differences among nascent and actual entrepreneurs in the context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected from two sets of populations: 370 students attending business courses in a university in the UAE (as proxies to nascent entrepreneurs) and 324 small business owners/operators (as proxies to actual entrepreneurs). The scales used in the study were borrowed from previous research and were also empirically confirmed through reliability tests. Findings – In support of previous research, analyses of variance confirmed the hypotheses that females are less inclined to become entrepreneurs and are less likely to take risk. Females were also found to be less trusting than males. Regression analysis revealed that, the intention to engage in entrepreneurship is most significantly affected by the propensity to trust. These confirm the study hypotheses. Research limitations/implications – This study is set in a single country and as such, its findings may be constrained by cultural/national specificities. Future research could consider examining the variables of this study (particularly gender differences and their relevance to the effects of trust and risk taking on EIs) in a wider cross-national context. Practical implications – The findings of this study clearly indicate that trust is an important variable that can be cultivated at the pre-entrepreneurial stage so that future entrepreneurs (females in particular) are appropriately equipped and geared to cope with risk in entrepreneurship activities. Originality/value – Research on gender, trust, risk taking and entrepreneurial behaviors in the UAE/Middle East context remains lacking. Also, studies using samples of both actual and nascent entrepreneurs remain lacking. This study fills these gaps and also provides a platform for further understanding the importance of gender differences in relation to trust, personality, risk taking and EIs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-54
Author(s):  
Grygoriy P. Griban ◽  
Vladyslav A. Smiianov ◽  
Natalia A. Lyakhova ◽  
Pavlo P. Tkachenko ◽  
Alla M. Harlinska ◽  
...  

Aim: To study the nutritional quality and its impact on the health of the students of higher education institutions. Material and methods: 647 students were interviewed. A questionnaire, which contains 17 questions and is aimed at studying the quality of students’ nutrition, was created by authors. Experimental (EG, n = 60) and control (CG, n = 60) groups were formed. The EG included the students whose diet was rational while studying, the CG included the students whose diet was irrational. The level of students’ health was examined at the end of studying according to the methodology of professor G.L. Apanasenko. Results: It was found that only 30.6% of students ate 3-4 times a day, 14.4% – twice a day, 49.8% did not follow any dietary regimen, and 7.9% of students would not eat breakfast at al 43.7% of male students and 53.3% of female students did not follow a dietary regimen at all. A comparative analysis of the physical health of students of EG and CG showed that among both male and female students, the students whose diet was rational had significantly better (p<0.001) level of health. Conclusions: It was determined that the majority of students had low nutritional quality while studying: nutrition was irrational, incomplete, and not varied. This does not contribute to a healthy lifestyle of modern students and can negatively affect the efficiency of their future professional activities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Rienke van Ewijk ◽  
Sophia Belghiti-Mahut

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how gender differences in entrepreneurial intentions (EI) change when entrepreneurship education (EE) is added to the force field of macro-social stimulants and inhibitors of female EI in the particular context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a pre-post survey with entrepreneurship students and students with a similar profile enrolled in other courses (N = 246) at three universities. The three main hypotheses are evaluated through independent-samplest-tests and a hierarchical multiple regression analysis.FindingsThe findings indicate a negative effect of gender stereotypes on female students’ EI in the UAE, regardless of the course type. Furthermore, entrepreneurship courses appear to be more successful than other courses in raising the EI of students in general and female students in particular. Finally, adding EE to the equation of macro-social inhibitors and stimulants of female EI in the UAE seems to tip the balance in favor of the influence of economic affluence, rapid modernization and proactive governmental policies to stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit among female residents. That is, at the end of the entrepreneurship courses, there was no significant gender difference in EI anymore and female students are significantly more likely to experience a positive change in EI than male students.Research limitations/implicationsThe literature review identifies the need for future studies to evaluate the impact of variability in sampling and methods among previous studies on gender effects in EE. Building on the findings, future studies could identify which aspects of EE are pivotal for customizing female students’ specific local interests and needs. The study is limited in the sense that the data set did not enable tests of moderators at the course level (which mostly requires more qualitative data) and individual level. In addition, the sample is not representative for all female residents in the UAE at large.Practical implicationsThis study might stimulate (UAE) policymakers to increase the scope and quality of EE. In turn, university administrators are recommended to find ways to compensate the self-selection effect (overcome likely opt-out by female students) when entrepreneurship courses are elective.Originality/valueThis exploration was inspired by the strong emphasis that Julie Weeks put on the gendered impact of macro-level factors in business enabling environments (Weeks, 2011). The empirical analysis builds on a conceptual framework that integrates Krueger’s model of EI, theory on gender stereotypes in entrepreneurship and previous literature on the role of EE (reinforcing or mitigating stereotypes). The study is executed in the relatively unexplored context of the UAE, which offers strong macro-social inhibitors for ánd stimulants of female entrepreneurship.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkat R. Krishnan

Purpose The purpose of this study is to see if women value power less than men do and if MBA education reduces this gender difference in power value. Design/methodology/approach The impact of a two-year residential full-time MBA program on students’ values was studied using a longitudinal design and data collected over two years from a business school in India. Values were measured when students entered the program and again when they graduated. The sample consisted of 230 students (90 women and 140 men). Findings While entering the MBA program, female students considered power less important than male students did. Results of matched sample t-tests show that power, hedonism, stimulation and tradition become more important and benevolence, universalism, conformity and security become less important over two years of MBA education. The increase in the importance of power value is significantly higher for women than for men. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to show that women’s value ratings for power value increase much more than that of men over two years of management education.


Author(s):  
Sunita Arya ◽  
Parmod Kumar

The study was conducted to determine the relationship between abstract intelligence of graduate students in relation to their risk taking behaviour. The participants were 600 degree college students of Haryana state studying in different streams viz. Art, Science, Commerce, Pharmacy and Education. Cattell and Cattell Culture Fair (Free) intelligence Scale by Kapoor, Rao and Singh. {Scale III(CFIS-III)} for measuring abstract intelligence and Risk Taking Questionnaire (RTQ) by V.N.Sinha and P.N.Arora were used for the study. Mean, Standard Deviation and ‘z’ test were used for compare the values among different groups. The result of the study shows that the male students were significantly differ in abstract intelligence than the female students studying at graduate level while the male and female students studying in professional courses at graduate level does not differ in abstract intelligence whereas male male students were significantly differ in abstract intelligence than the female students studying in non professional courses at graduate level


Author(s):  
Sunita Arya ◽  
Parmod Kumar

The study was conducted to determine the relationship between parental encouragement of graduate students in relation to their risk taking behaviour. The participants were 600 degree college students of Haryana state studying in different streams viz. Art, Science, Commerce, Pharmacy and Education. Parental encouragement scale by Kusum Agrawal and Risk Taking Questionnaire (RTQ) by V.N.Sinha and P.N.Arora were used for the study. Mean, Standard Deviation and ‘z’ test were used for compare the values among different groups. The result of the study shows that the female students were significantly differ in parental encouragement than the male students studying at graduate level while the male and female students studying in professional and non professional courses at graduate level does not differ in parental encouragement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 01-10
Author(s):  
Alpansyah Alpansyah ◽  
Abdul Talib Hasim

The aims of this study were: (1) to identify an increase in students' understanding of the value of mutual cooperation through the use of reader response rules in Indonesian Language Learning (KRPDPBI); (2) identifying the use of the reader response principle in Indonesian Language learning (KRPDPBI) there are differences between male and female students. The design of this study used a quasi-experimental study with two different methods. The results showed that (1) the achievement of the score of understanding the value of mutual cooperation for students taught by KRPDPBI was better than for students taught by regular learning according to the curriculum; (2) the achievement of the understanding of the value of male students' mutual cooperation is no better than that of female students.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathanael Sitanggang ◽  
Abdul Hasan Saragih

Abstrak: Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mentetahui karakteristik SMA dan SMK di Medan. Karakteristik yang diteliti adalah: neuroticism, extraversion, keterbukaan, keramahan, dan hati nurani. Dengan penelitian ini kita mendapatkan data perbedaan karakter di SMA dan SMK siswa. Mendapatkan perbedaan karakter antara pria dan wanita dalam setiap kelompok sekolah. Penelitian ini di SMA dan SMK di Medan, 2008. Sampel penelitian 600 siswa. Metode Penelitian kuantitatif. Data diperoleh melalui kuesioner. Kuesioner dicoba dengan nilai koefisien reliabilitas (r=0,875). Hasil penelitian adalah: (1) Karakteristik siswa SMA (Neuroticsm, extraversion, keterbukaan, keramahan, dan hati nurani) sudah cukup dan kategori tinggi, (2) Karakteristik siswa SMK (Neuroticsm, extraversion, keterbukaan, keramahan, dan hati nurani) cukup tinggi dan kategori; (3) Para siswa perempuan SMA lebih tinggi hati nurani daripada siswa laki-laki; (4) Neuroticsm, extraversion, keterbukaan, dan keramahan antara siswa laki-laki secara signifikan tidak berbeda dengan siswa perempuan di SMA; (5) Neuroticsm, extraversion, keterbukaan, keramahan, dan conscientiousness antara mahasiswa laki-laki secara signifikan tidak berbeda dengan siswa perempuan di SMK.   Kata kunci : karakteristik siswa, SMA, SMK.   Abstract: This research was aimed to: investigate the Senior High School Studen’t Characteristic in Medan. The characteristic which investigated are: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. By this research we can get the accurate data that describe the differences of characters in SMA and SMK students. And then we can get the differences of characters among the male and female in each group of school. This research was taking place in SMA and SMK in Medan, 2008. The sample of this research is 600 pupils. The research was taken in the quantitative method. The data that we have got from the questioner. Questioner has been tried with the value of reliability coefficient (r=0,875). The results of the research are: (1) The SMA Studen’t Characteristic in Medan (Neuroticsm, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) is enough and high categories; (2) The SMK Student Characteristic in Medan (Neuroticsm, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) is enough and high categories; (3) The female SMA students are more conscientiousness than male students; (4) Neuroticsm, extraversion, openness, and agreeableness between male students significantly is not different with female students in SMA; (5) Neuroticsm, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness between male students significantly is not different with female students in SMK. Keywords: characteristics of students, SMA, SMK


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