Learning pathways to entrepreneurial passion in venture creation programs: A configurational study of experiential and temporal conditions

• Explores how direct and vicarious learning lead to high entrepreneurial passion. • Uses fsQCA to uncover complex causal patterns of learning experiences. • Identifies common conditions among graduates with different learning pathways. • Emphasizes the role of time in how learning experiences foster entrepreneurial passion. • Contributes to entrepreneurship education and experiential learning theories. This study adopts a configurational approach to discover conditions common to graduates from venture creation programs who take a particular learning pathway to high entrepreneurial passion. Our theoretical framework identifies two primary sources of experiential learning (direct and vicarious experience) and three temporal vantage points (pre-, peri-, and post-education) conducive to such conditions. Employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of graduates from a Swedish university yields four configurations of present or absent conditions that are sufficient for producing high entrepreneurial passion. A uniting feature across all four configurations is the interplay between direct and vicarious experiences with core conditions closer rather than farther away in time. The identified configurations resulting from fsQCA thus imply intricate interdependencies of time-specific direct and vicarious experiences attributed to high entrepreneurial passion.