Impacts of school context and formal teaching on entrepreneurial attributes: a social learning perspective
Impacts of school context and formal teaching on entrepreneurial attributes: a social learning perspective
We used social learning theory to examine whether a supportive school environment and formal entrepreneurship education (EE) are linked to secondary school students’ entrepreneurial attributes. We obtained responses to survey questions from 850 students from a total of 28 secondary schools in Hong Kong. We then employed structural equation modelling to test the associations of formal teaching and the school environment with students’ entrepreneurial attributes. Entrepreneurship consists of four distinct constructs: opportunity recognition, innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness. Students in supportive school environment show greater entrepreneurial attributes, but those receiving formal teaching of entrepreneurship show fewer entrepreneurial attributes. These findings provide important insights that can be used for reassessing notions of entrepreneurship in school students, particularly in secondary school students. Our application of social learning theory helped to clarify the effects of EE, and identified the secondary school context as a critical element to consider when designing EE for secondary students.
education, effectiveness factor, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial attributes, Entrepreneurship education, secondary schools, social learning theory
Ho, Chun Sing Maxwell
3da82f3c-1cfa-4027-a447-830a192f4304
Man, Thomas Wing Yan
372e9757-b24f-453a-9f67-8288070bdecb
Chiu, Ming Ming
35ec004b-0047-4c6e-8ce2-ebbf1428aa8f
Choi, Tae Hee
3cec7c93-92cd-4329-b0a7-3b208c65dcb7
Ho, Chun Sing Maxwell
3da82f3c-1cfa-4027-a447-830a192f4304
Man, Thomas Wing Yan
372e9757-b24f-453a-9f67-8288070bdecb
Chiu, Ming Ming
35ec004b-0047-4c6e-8ce2-ebbf1428aa8f
Choi, Tae Hee
3cec7c93-92cd-4329-b0a7-3b208c65dcb7
Ho, Chun Sing Maxwell, Man, Thomas Wing Yan, Chiu, Ming Ming and Choi, Tae Hee
(2025)
Impacts of school context and formal teaching on entrepreneurial attributes: a social learning perspective.
Educational Studies.
(doi:10.1080/03055698.2025.2540438).
Abstract
We used social learning theory to examine whether a supportive school environment and formal entrepreneurship education (EE) are linked to secondary school students’ entrepreneurial attributes. We obtained responses to survey questions from 850 students from a total of 28 secondary schools in Hong Kong. We then employed structural equation modelling to test the associations of formal teaching and the school environment with students’ entrepreneurial attributes. Entrepreneurship consists of four distinct constructs: opportunity recognition, innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness. Students in supportive school environment show greater entrepreneurial attributes, but those receiving formal teaching of entrepreneurship show fewer entrepreneurial attributes. These findings provide important insights that can be used for reassessing notions of entrepreneurship in school students, particularly in secondary school students. Our application of social learning theory helped to clarify the effects of EE, and identified the secondary school context as a critical element to consider when designing EE for secondary students.
Text
Ho et al 2025
- Accepted Manuscript
Restricted to Repository staff only until 26 January 2027.
Request a copy
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 22 July 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 26 July 2025
Keywords:
education, effectiveness factor, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial attributes, Entrepreneurship education, secondary schools, social learning theory
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 505431
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/505431
ISSN: 0305-5698
PURE UUID: 83551320-48da-4cae-8496-135056111ec5
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 08 Oct 2025 16:36
Last modified: 09 Oct 2025 02:16
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Chun Sing Maxwell Ho
Author:
Thomas Wing Yan Man
Author:
Ming Ming Chiu
Author:
Tae Hee Choi
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics