How Omani entrepreneurship educators conceptualize entrepreneurship

What is it about?

The study examines the conceptualization of entrepreneurship by Omani educators in the context of delivering entrepreneurship education. The research involved conducting 80 hours of ethnographic observation in Oman, specifically focusing on two mandatory online entrepreneurship education classes that were conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results of the study indicate that the educators perceived entrepreneurship as the act of establishing a business, and a fundamental driver of economic development. They also viewed it as a linear process and a potential full time career path. The aforementioned conceptualizations serve as the foundation for a traditional and narrow perspective of entrepreneurship. The examination of educators' conception and comprehension of entrepreneurship in their instructional methods reveal potential discrepancies between the teaching and common reality of entrepreneurship.

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Why is it important?

The provision of entrepreneurship education may provide a difficulty for instructors who lack familiarity with entrepreneurship and the practical aspects of the entrepreneurial process. Educators can encounter pressure to incorporate entrepreneurship into their teaching practises, even in cases when they possess minimal or non-existent firsthand exposure of entrepreneurial endeavours. This is often the case in Oman, where it is prevailing practise to implement compulsory entrepreneurship courses for all tertiary education students as a component of the Oman 2040 vision, aimed at augmenting the prevalence of entrepreneurship within the nation. As a result of this, there exists the possibility of a divergence between the rhetoric and understanding of entrepreneurship among educators in their instructional methods and the practical implementation of entrepreneurship.