Interlinking Experiential Learning, Adaptability and Entrepreneurial Mindset in Higher Education: An Adaptive Experiential Learning Framework

Experiential pedagogies are increasingly used in entrepreneurship education to develop the entrepreneurial mindset. However, participation in entrepreneurial activities does not automatically result in meaningful entrepreneurial learning. This conceptual paper explores how entrepreneurial experiences may foster the development of an entrepreneurial mindset through processes of adaptability. This paper proposes an Adaptive Experiential Learning Framework for Entrepreneurial Mindset Development through an integrative review of the literature on entrepreneurial mindset, experiential learning, and adaptability. The framework proposes four dominant developmental associations based on Kolb’s experiential-learning cycle: concrete experience with emotional adaptability, reflective observation with cognitive adaptability, abstract conceptualization with strategic adaptability, and active experimentation with behavioral adaptability. These associations are not presented as exclusive or sequential causal pathways; rather, emotional, cognitive, strategic and behavioral adaptability are conceptualized as interlinked processes operating recursively across repeated experiential-learning cycles. Five conceptual propositions are offered as guides for future empirical investigation. The framework advances entrepreneurship education by highlighting the role of adaptiveness as a developmental mechanism linking entrepreneurial experience with entrepreneurial mindset, and by differentiating among various types of adaptive change that take place during experiential learning. It also implies that experiential activities should be designed and assessed not just based on participation or successful entrepreneurial outputs but based on learners’ ability to regulate responses to uncertainty, rethink assumptions, reframe strategies and change subsequent behavior. The framework is still conceptual and needs to be empirically validated through longitudinal, mixed-methods, and experimental research