Closing the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Through Experiential Education

Drawing from a large longitudinal data set from an experiential entrepreneurship course offered across multiple universities, we investigate the impact of experiential entrepreneurship on entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and how this impact varies between genders. Similar to prior research which has shown that women, when compared to men, are more likely to honestly self-assess their levels of ESE, this study finds that women initially rate their ESE lower than men. However, the gap reduces after participating in the course. The research is based on a large sample of 3,243 students across 119 institutions and employs a robust methodological approach using pre- and post-measures. We find evidence that experiential entrepreneurship education can positively affect elements of ESE, especially for women. By informing practice in entrepreneurship education the study contributes essential insight into the gender gap in entrepreneurial ESE.