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Entrepreneurship education and training are an increasingly widespread component of governmental and nongovernmental efforts to address the interrelated challenges of youth unemployment and poverty reduction. In the absence of consensus regarding how best to design learning opportunities that effectively prepare youth to improve their livelihoods, this chapter explores the central debates surrounding three components that are integrated into most entrepreneurship training initiatives: learning, earning, and saving. Drawing on existing literature and considering three entrepreneurship training programs underway in East Africa, the authors argue that the effectiveness of any particular youth entrepreneurship program is highly dependent on a variety of contextual considerations, many of which are beyond the control of individual youth and program managers. Implications of this are that (a) program managers need to be modest in their expectations of program effects and avoid overpromising, (b) training is needed to help prepare youth to recognize, understand, and cope with various contextual factors that impact their livelihoods, and (c) NGOs and other private organizations that implement such programs are in a position to address certain contextual factors. By highlighting key debates relevant to the design of entrepreneurship training programs, this chapter contributes to the development of entrepreneurship training initiatives that are responsive to contextual realities, thereby increasing the potential effectiveness of entrepreneurship training as a poverty alleviation strategy.

This paper sets out to apply practically the constructs of the entrepreneurial performance training model to three different training interventions, known as the business start‐up, basic entrepreneurship, and advanced entrepreneurship programmes. Furthermore, the paper aims to measure the business performance indicators and skills transfer that took place after the training interventions.

Quantitative research was conducted, using three validated research questionnaires. The research design consists of a pre‐test, post‐test and post‐post test (ten weeks after the training interventions took place). Factor analysis was done, descriptive statistics arising from opinions and expressions are presented and statistical tests such as the Chi‐square test and ANOVA provide inferential statistics.

The business performance indicators improved for all three training groups after they attended the training interventions. Furthermore, it was proved that skills transfer took place after the respondents attended the training interventions.

The training groups can be measured again after 18 months of three years to really determine the impact of the training interventions. The results of the three training programmes can be compared to see whether the basic entrepreneurship groups gained more skills and their business performance indicators increased more than the business start‐up or advanced entrepreneurship programmes.

The outcomes and implications of this research paper emphasise that it is imperative to design training programmes based on training models that have been tested. This paper highlights some aspects of how constructs used within the training models can be tested.

The entrepreneurial performance‐training model was practically applied and provides a set of expectations for other entrepreneurship models as well as presenting a benchmark against which programme performance can be measured. A unique teaching methodology is portrayed that contributes to the overall effectiveness of the training model.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how self-employed entrepreneurs commit themselves to an entrepreneurship training programme and how such commitment relates to their perceptions of learning.

The data were collected through qualitative, inductive methods by interviewing and observing six entrepreneurs who took part in an entrepreneurship training programme.

The study reveals that entrepreneurial activities and a strong attachment to entrepreneurship may detach entrepreneurs from an entrepreneurship community. Generally, participants appreciated the social aspect of learning, peer support, and confidence-building provided by the programme and the learning community. Nevertheless, the participation was a double-edged sword: it allowed those who were not active in entrepreneurship to explore entrepreneurship, but for those who were active in entrepreneurship and in professional communities, their participation represented a potential liability and a threat to their image as a credible entrepreneur.

More research is needed on the social aspect related to training programmes particularly focusing on potential adverse outcomes, such as over-embeddedness in the community.

Training programme organizers could benefit from understanding the social aspects of learning in emphasizing the role of peer support but also of the potential dark sides of socializing.

The study offers insight into the relationship between commitment and learning in micro firms, and it contributes to a deeper understanding of the way community and social relationships facilitate or impede learning by self-employed entrepreneurs. There is a risk that the social aspect of peer support and the community replaces entrepreneurs’ need to “go out there” and expose themselves to learning from experience.

Addressing a gap in entrepreneurial training programs, the main objective of this study was to introduce a hybrid training model that provides training to entrepreneurs after they have started their operations and before they become large and/or well established. The presented model consist of a full entrepreneurship training program suited to serve entrepreneurs who have been operating for no less than 2 years, have 1–14 employees, and need basic training to further achieve their operational goals. This format allows for progressive learning while encouraging networking among participants. Using a case study, 5 years of data are presented describing this program and its value for its participants including urban entrepreneurs.

The purpose of this paper is to understand in a qualitative context, the importance of the EMPRETEC entrepreneurship training in an emerging country context of Brazil. This helps to understand the capacity of entrepreneurship education to improve the ability of individuals to generate new business opportunities.

The data were collected through three semi-structured interview scripts and analyzed with the support of the NVIVO qualitative analysis software using Bardin content analysis.

The findings support the assertion that in emerging economies, entrepreneurship education is increasingly important in transforming society through enabling individuals to progress in their careers and life.

It was concluded that the EMPRETEC course fulfilled the objective of encouraging entrepreneurial behavior and stimulating the trainees to contribute to the economic growth of the country. The implication was that participation in entrepreneurship education is strictly interconnected to the success of the trainees.

The study found that there are positive practical outcomes for the trainees’, teachers’ and managers’ perceptions involved in the Entrepreneurship Training Program – EMPRETEC.

The paper helps understand the role of the trainees’ (EMPRETECos), teachers’ and managers’ perceptions of the Program at SEBRAE/Recife about the impact of the Entrepreneurship Training Program – EMPRETEC.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate an entrepreneurship training and education programme, which has already had five editions in the Sabor region of Portugal’s northern interior. This evaluation was conducted in order to propose new guidelines to improve the Sabor Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP).

The research included primary data collection using mixed methods (i.e. quantitative and qualitative). Questionnaires were distributed to 103 entrepreneurs who participated in the SEP, and interviews were conducted with entities involved in developing this programme. The data were processed using cross-sectional content analysis of the interviews and descriptive analysis of the completed questionnaires in order to ascertain the opinions of all the parties involved in the SEP.

The results show that the SEP has been modified throughout the five editions, which has contributed to better performance. Based on the findings, new guidelines were proposed for the programme, such as the implementation of new phases and improvement of various methods used. The proposed phases include the validation and full development of business ideas, management decision training for entrepreneurs, help with financing solutions and support during new companies’ first three years. The results also indicate that the SEP needs to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that includes public policies and the involvement of other local entities that are active in the region and that have the skills entrepreneurs need.

This study’s findings have theoretical and practical implications, which provide empirical evidence of how evaluating entrepreneurship education and training programmes can make them more effective and efficient. In addition, the results contribute to the evolution of the existing knowledge about entrepreneurial ecosystems.

A growing body of academic research has examined the effectiveness of entrepreneurship training and support initiatives, with recent studies focusing on the provision of training and other skills development opportunities. An important theme that has emerged from this work is the failure of many programmes and initiatives to take on board the particular needs of the entrepreneurs in developing training and support systems. By extending research in this area, this article considers the importance of education and training to the economy and focuses on the particular value of entrepreneurship education and training. Some of the fundamental themes in the literature are reviewed, including the difficulties involved in categorising entrepreneurship education and training; the issue of whether or not entrepreneurship can be taught; the content of entrepreneurship programmes and the cultural and evaluative considerations. The article discusses and compares training and support provision for entrepreneurs in Ireland and The Netherlands.

Entrepreneurship creates wealth and reduces unemployment. Entrepreneurs contribute to industrialisation as well as to economic growth; they improve living standards and tax revenues from their enterprises contribute to a nation’s treasury. Not surprisingly, then, governments have been spending considerable sums trying to create entrepreneurs. The question remains, however, Can entrepreneurship really be taught? To provide a response of any value, one must address the definition of entrepreneurship. As evident from the literature, there is no universally‐accepted definition of entrepreneurs or of entrepreneurship. If entrepreneurship is equated with the causing of economic disequilibrium – as per the Schumpeterian literature – then one can argue that entrepreneurs tend to be born, rather than made. In contrast, if relying on the definition provided by the Austrian School of Economics, it is possible to train entrepreneurs to identify opportunities and act thereon. Thus, while it can be argued that it is difficult to teach Schumpeterian entrepreneurship, efforts to teach Kirznerian entrepreneurship appear to have achieved some levels of success. However, to be truly successful, training programmes must be relevant to the host environment. It would be a fallacy to assume that a programme that has been functional in one environment will necessarily have the same effect elsewhere. A great danger lies in attempting to trans‐locate training programmes. This article provides a survey of education and training of entrepreneurs in different contexts across Asia.

Ex-prisoners often experience negative stigma from society, making it difficult to find employment upon release. Prison institutions play an active role in building character and improving prisoners' skills by providing various empowerment programs to increase opportunities for their economic potential. However, these programs are considered not optimal in increasing the entrepreneurial intentions of prisoners. This study aims to identify the effects of prison entrepreneurship programs, entrepreneurial resilience and self-efficacy as drivers in increasing prisoners' entrepreneurial intentions. This study also examines the effect of these variables focusing on prisoners with neither entrepreneurial experience nor entrepreneurial training.

This study deployed a quantitative method by distributing a questionnaire to prisoners involved in talent and skill development activities (called BIMKER, an abbreviation in Indonesian, which means Work Guidance), a compulsory program provided by prison institutions. A total of 204 prisoners, including 70 with no entrepreneurial experience, completed the research questionnaire in one of the prison institutions in Indonesia. Partial least sequential-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used as the analytical technique.

The study findings show that the prison entrepreneurship program has not been able to influence prisoners' entrepreneurial intentions directly. However, the prison entrepreneurship program has a positive and significant effect on increasing prisoners' self-efficacy and entrepreneurial resilience that ultimately encourages the emergence of entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurial resilience was found not to affect entrepreneurial intentions for prisoners with no entrepreneurial experience and who have never attended entrepreneurship training.

This study identifies the drivers of prisoners' entrepreneurial intentions, including prison entrepreneurship programs, self-efficacy and entrepreneurial resilience. These can be used as references to build understanding at the theoretical level and can be adopted practically. This study expands the social cognitive theory (SCT) and entrepreneurial intention models (EIMs) by adding new insights into the context of prison entrepreneurship that underline the potential of prisoners engaging in entrepreneurship, once released, to expand opportunities, learning and employment. This study highlights the importance of implementing prison entrepreneurship programs to reduce crime, recidivism rates, poverty and inequality.