Abstract
The growing interest in social entrepreneurship has prompted European business schools to integrate social enterprise content into their curricula. This article presents a comparative analysis of social entrepreneurship education programmes across 12 business schools in France, Germany, the UK, and Greece. We examine programme design, pedagogical approaches, and student outcomes to assess how business education institutions are responding to the social enterprise agenda.
Key Findings
The study identifies significant variation in how social entrepreneurship is conceptualised and taught across national contexts. UK and French institutions tend to adopt more critical and practice-oriented approaches, while German and Greek programmes often embed social entrepreneurship within broader management curricula. Student surveys indicate that exposure to social entrepreneurship education positively influences career intentions toward social enterprises, though the effect varies by programme design and national context.
Methodology
The research combines documentary analysis of programme curricula with surveys of 680 students and semi-structured interviews with 24 programme directors and instructors. Pre- and post-course surveys measure changes in student attitudes toward social entrepreneurship.
Implications
The findings suggest that effective social entrepreneurship education requires a combination of theoretical grounding, practical engagement with social enterprises, and critical reflection on the relationship between market mechanisms and social value creation.
