Baking In Purpose: How Activist Pedagogies Can Transform Entrepreneurship Education for Collective Impact

Abstract

Entrepreneurship education stands at a crossroads. Societal challenges, such as climate collapse, deepening inequality, and systemic instability, require creative collaboration and interdisciplinary solutions. Yet, the dominant model of entrepreneurship education is grounded in venture creation-focused models that privilege economic growth as its primary determinant of success. As this approach may be insufficient to equip students for the complex realities of entrepreneurship, this editorial calls for a reexamination of the purpose of entrepreneurship education. Drawing on activist pedagogies that challenge conventional paradigms, we propose baking in social and sustainability considerations as fundamental components, rather than optional add-ons to entrepreneurship education. Activist pedagogies may offer a path to shift from extraction to regeneration, from individual gain to collective impact. Instead of teaching students how to win in a structurally imbalanced system, entrepreneurship educators must teach them how to transform it. Through a synthesis of emerging frameworks, practical strategies, and entrepreneurship education scholarship, we outline what it means to prepare agentic, critically conscious entrepreneurs and leaders for a world in crisis. Business as usual is not only outdated but dangerous, and entrepreneurship education must become a site of purpose-driven and transformative action.