A GUIDING FRAMEWORK FOR ESTABLISHING ENTREPRENEURIAL HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

ABSTRACT South Africa continues to face entrenched socio‑economic challenges, including persistent poverty, unemployment and inequality, despite successive policy interventions aimed at strengthening entrepreneurship and the SMME sector. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are uniquely positioned to address these challenges by fostering entrepreneurial mindsets, yet their impact remains constrained by cultural barriers, structural rigidities, limited resources and curricula that insufficiently integrate entrepreneurial learning. This article examines the strategic role of HEIs in promoting entrepreneurship and proposes a guiding conceptual framework tailored to the South African context. Drawing on thematic analysis of contemporary scholarship and reflective inquiry based on practitioner experience, the study identifies key inhibitors to effective entrepreneurship education, including inadequate leadership orientation, fragmented institutional support and a lack of inclusive, experiential pedagogical approaches. The conceptual framework presented highlights five core components: entrepreneurial culture, leadership and governance, dynamic curriculum design, entrepreneurial teaching methods and strengthened quadruple helix partnerships, that collectively support an enabling entrepreneurship ecosystem. The study contributes to higher education research by advancing a context‑specific, practically applicable model that responds to South Africa’s distinct developmental realities and institutional constraints. The findings offer actionable guidance for HEIs seeking to embed entrepreneurship as a core institutional value and cultivate graduates capable of driving inclusive economic growth and social innovation. Keywords: entrepreneurship, higher education, South Africa, conceptual framework, innovation