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Abstract Entrepreneurship educators (EEs) are critical in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation in emerging economies, as they play a vital part in developing talent, which further contributes to a knowledge-based economy. The value of EEs is in promoting entrepreneurship education and highlighting the significance of developing an entrepreneurial mindset among students. Primary data was collected by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews involving educators affiliated with public and private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UAE. Participants were selected by adopting random sampling and snowballing techniques. Our findings not only shed light on the challenges faced by EEs but also underscore the urgent need for better support from institutions. This support is crucial for EEs to make an effective contribution to developing a professional workforce that can significantly impact students and the community. We also advocate strategies for fostering experiential learning, which include giving EEs more autonomy and support by establishing dedicated entrepreneurship centers. This work is a call to action, contributing to the further development of the literature on EE, which has received much lesser academic attention than it deserves. It also lays a foundation for further cross-country studies.

Entrepreneurship educators (EEs) are critical in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation in emerging economies, as they play a vital part in developing talent, which further contributes to a knowledge-based economy. The value of EEs is in promoting entrepreneurship education and highlighting the significance of developing an entrepreneurial mindset among students. Primary data was collected by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews involving educators affiliated with public and private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UAE. Participants were selected by adopting random sampling and snowballing techniques. Our findings not only shed light on the challenges faced by EEs but also underscore the urgent need for better support from institutions. This support is crucial for EEs to make an effective contribution to developing a professional workforce that can significantly impact students and the community. We also advocate strategies for fostering experiential learning, which include giving EEs more autonomy and support by establishing dedicated entrepreneurship centers. This work is a call to action, contributing to the further development of the literature on EE, which has received much lesser academic attention than it deserves. It also lays a foundation for further cross-country studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to comprehend the present status and provide future directions regarding digital entrepreneurship education by analyzing the perspectives of entrepreneurship educators based in universities across the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The adoption of an inductive, social constructivist approach sets this research apart. Primary data was collected by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with educators affiliated with public and private universities. Participants were selected using random sampling and snowballing techniques. This research not only highlights a gap between digital entrepreneurship education and fast-paced industry expectations but also underscores its potential impact on the UAE's entrepreneurial ecosystem. It expands the knowledge and literature in entrepreneurship and higher education domains and provides a common view for scholars, academics, and other beneficiaries to undertake further in-depth studies. Remedial measures suggested in this study would enable the nurturing of effective digital entrepreneurial competencies among students, who could successfully contribute to the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and economic diversification. Moreover, this study provides valuable insights into the digital entrepreneurship education landscape across universities in the UAE through the lens of educators, which has not been presented to date.

The context of this research is based on the European reference framework, which presented 'Entrepreneurship and a sense of initiative' as one of eight key competences for lifelong learning that citizens require in a knowledge-based society. The key competence 'sense of initiative and entrepreneurship' is defined as "an individual's ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives" (EU, 2013, p.8). These European developments and initiatives contribute to the growing evidence of the need for individually based entrepreneurial learning and for more entrepreneurship educators. "Teachers are key actors", (EU, 2015, p.89). Duening (2010) has attempted to develop the five minds of the future specifically to the five minds of the entrepreneurial future. However, realising that there is a difference between the cognitive thinking process for an entrepreneur and for a non entrepreneur means we will need to provide entrepreneurship educators "with a conviction that we know why we are doing and what we are doing in the entrepreneurship classroom", (Duening, 2010, p. 20). Wilson and Beard (2003) have developed the learning combination lock model which acknowledges the inclusion of the five elements in the model: stimuli, our senses, the filtering process, interpretation and responses. This model is a key component to this research. This paper is a small initial exploratory study based on a literature review and on four interviews across the primary, secondary and tertiary education levels to help establish a platform for a deeper analysis at the tertiary education level. To date, reflective based interviews using the Pictor Technique have helped to understand the role of learning, experience and key influencers in becoming an entrepreneurship educator. The proposed deeper analysis will continue this approach in an attempt to develop the typology (ies) of an entrepreneurship educator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]