Exploring female representation in the entrepreneurship education curriculum and pedagogy in the further education and training phase

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explored the disjuncture between female learners’ strong academic performance in entrepreneurial-related subjects and their limited participation and success in entrepreneurial activities in South Africa. Female entrepreneurship contributes to economic diversity and growth, highlighting the need for a gender-equitable approach in entrepreneurship education (EE). However, pedagogies and a curriculum influences learners’ self-perceptions and entrepreneurial intentions. Basic EE equips learners with entrepreneurial skills; however, specialised EE is needed to foster confidence and self-efficacy necessary for the pursuit of entrepreneurial activities (EA) by all learners. An entrepreneurial culture (EC) within schools is essential to motivate female learners to view themselves as entrepreneurial. The purpose of this study was to examine female representation within the Further Education and Training (FET) phase’s EE curriculum in South Africa’s public school system, focusing specifically on whether the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) curriculum enables female learners to locate themselves within the EE curriculum. The study also examined whether the FET CAPS could allow for a more holistic pedagogical approach to foster an equitable and EC-friendly classroom. The research finally aimed to explore the influence of educators’ embedded social norms on female learners’ entrepreneurial self-confidence and self-efficacy. The objectives of this study were to explore the level of female representation in language usage within the FET EE pedagogy, to determine if the FET EE curriculum is flexible enough to allow for a more holistic and equitable approach to an EC, and to explore the embedded gender norms and worldviews of educators’ influence on EE. The research questions considered how representative the FET EE pedagogy and curriculum in public schools in South Africa are of female entrepreneurs, how flexible the FET EE curriculum is to allow for the incorporation of an EC, and how educators’ gendered worldviews and social norms influence their FET EE pedagogies in public schools in South Africa. This research undertook an empirical, qualitative research methodology, for which the epistemology was interpretivism. The conceptual framework for this study was critical theory (CT), and a case study approach was used. Data collection methods included both semi-structured interviews and documentation analysis, and was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (RTA). Findings revealed that participants are oblivious to the critical view of gender bias, indicating limited awareness regarding gender issues, thereby implicitly sustaining, and reproducing them. The absence of female role models in Learning and Teaching Support Materials (LTSM) and pedagogies reinforces normative gendered assumptions that may influence female learners’ educational and career choices. The association of entrepreneurial success with masculine traits, perpetuates patriarchal structures within the educational and entrepreneurial spheres of South Africa, therefore restricting female learners’ self-identification as potential entrepreneurs. This study contributes to knowledge concerning EE by exposing systematic curricular and pedagogical gaps that could limit the development of inclusive EE and EC. The findings also highlight how traditional views of entrepreneurial traits and male-firstness reinforces gender inequities, gender performativity, and limits female learners’ participation in schooling. Lastly, the research emphasises the importance of integrating gender-responsive pedagogies (GRP), the need for gender-related professional development, and the integration of an EC within the public school system.

Grantor dc:publisher

Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Nel, Amore

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• America, Carina G.

Language dc:language.iso

en_ZA

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/136103

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/136103