Opportunity Recognition Capability in Entrepreneurial Education Research: A Critical Gap in Literature

Entrepreneurship starts with identifying a business opportunity so this ability must be taught. However, opportunity recognition (OR) research in entrepreneurial education literature is scarce. The purpose of this work is to explore that gap. First, we searched in the Web of Science (WoS) database using the keywords “entrepreneur*” and “educat*” obtaining 9,264 records. Bibliometric indicators were developed. Later, we searched in WoS using the keywords “entrepreneur*” and “educat*” and “opportunit* recognit*”. We obtained 146 papers. All abstracts were read and 18 papers were selected. First, we find that entrepreneurial education has evolved from didactic to experiential learning. Second, there is no consensus about the nature of OR. Finally, the impact of entrepreneurial education on OR is doubtful. We discuss the results to make some research questions and inferences about a theoretical causal relationship.