Entrepreneurship education and development as an integral part of the enterprise system in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The impact of entrepreneurial activity on the economies of both industrialised and developing countries has been well established and theorised in the normative literature. However, it is besides eminent that the development of entrepreneurial activities and behaviour, through facilitation of education institutions, is less understood. As an engine of economic growth, there is intense interest from policy makers and academicians towards entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education. Many economists and politicians agree that entrepreneurship stimulates the generation of employment opportunities and wealth creation. As a result of these theorised conceptions, this paper takes a step forward and explores the role of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in entrepreneurship education and development in the context of Saudi Arabian economy. In doing so, the authors propose their conceptual framework that incorporates facets (based on entrepreneurship/experience and entrepreneurship education) of two theoretical frameworks. In summarising the conclusions, the authors present their research approach employed for validating their conceptual research framework.