Enhancing entrepreneurial outcomes: The role of experiential pedagogy in compulsory entrepreneurship education in developing economies

The growing interest in entrepreneurship education has fuelled debate on when compulsory programs ‘work.’ Drawing the theory of planned behavior, this study explores the relationships between experiential pedagogy used in a compulsory program, students’ intention to innovate, and entrepreneurial intent. Using structural equation modeling to analyzing survey data from 361 students in Nigeria enrolled in compulsory entrepreneurship courses at public and private universities, we find that compulsory entrepreneurship education alone has limited impact on entrepreneurial intent and innovation intention. However, experiential pedagogy, particularly engaging faculty and out-of-class experiences, significantly influences entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors across university types. Notably, out-of-class experiences enhance innovation intentions, mediated by behavioral control. These findings underscore the importance of experiential learning in fostering entrepreneurial competencies, especially in resource-constrained settings. This study advances entrepreneurship education scholarship and provides policy implications for optimizing pedagogy to cultivate entrepreneurial and innovation intentions in developing economies.