Digital entrepreneurship education in universities through the lens of educators: evidence from the United Arab Emirates

This study aims to comprehend the present status and provide future directions regarding digital entrepreneurship education by analyzing the perspectives of entrepreneurship educators based in universities across the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The adoption of an inductive, social constructivist approach sets this research apart. Primary data was collected by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with educators affiliated with public and private universities. Participants were selected using random sampling and snowballing techniques. This research not only highlights a gap between digital entrepreneurship education and fast-paced industry expectations but also underscores its potential impact on the UAE's entrepreneurial ecosystem. It expands the knowledge and literature in entrepreneurship and higher education domains and provides a common view for scholars, academics, and other beneficiaries to undertake further in-depth studies. Remedial measures suggested in this study would enable the nurturing of effective digital entrepreneurial competencies among students, who could successfully contribute to the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and economic diversification. Moreover, this study provides valuable insights into the digital entrepreneurship education landscape across universities in the UAE through the lens of educators, which has not been presented to date.