Gender and learning: relationship in entrepreneurship and business plans

The competency-based educational approach implemented by the Bologna Declaration, implies a shift of focus from contents to competencies, which have become a crucial element of the learning process.

This new approach evaluates competencies as a result of learning and has promoted practical changes to the university model, affecting the organization, objectives and activities of universities and adjusting the focus from acquisition of knowledge to acquisition of competencies.

This topic is what the scientific publication that we analyze today talks about, which is written by Raquel Ferreras Garcia and Enric Serradell López, members of Management & e-Learning (MeL) research group, together with Ana Beatriz Hernández Lara. The article was published in the journal Studies in Higher Education in 2021.

Objectives and Methodology

This study aims to analyze the potential influence of entrepreneurial competencies, acquired through business plan projects, on the learning outcomes of students, with a focus on gender disparities. Data were gathered through questionnaires distributed among 425 students enrolled in the Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

Utilizing exploratory factor analyzes, the researchers compared competencies and learning outcomes between male and female students. Additionally, linear regression analyses were conducted to ascertain the impact of both gender and competencies on the learning process.

Results and Conclusions

The results indicated that competencies such as managing risk, creativity, innovation, and focusing on results were crucial in entrepreneurship education. However, the acquisition of competencies was distinguished from learning outcomes, allowing for a more comprehensive analysis of the learning process. By emphasizing these differences, the study provided valuable insights into the relationship between competencies developed in a business plan and student learning processes.

The findings regarding the impact of competencies on learning process results fail to confirm differences between men and women. This aligns with previous research indicating no significant differences in the perception of entrepreneurial competencies between genders, although many studies in this field have highlighted men’s tendency to outperform women in terms of entrepreneurial competencies.

Nonetheless, the study delves deeper, analyzing not only entrepreneurial competencies but also considering their impact on the entire learning process. Thus, irrespective of who possesses more competencies, no disparities were perceived between men and women in terms of how these competencies influence learning process outcomes.

Consult the study

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