Steffen Farny

A CULTure of Entrepreneurship Education

Abstract High hopes are invested in a rapid institutionalization of an enterprise culture in Higher Education (HE). This has heightened the importance of entrepreneurship education (EE) in most Western societies; however, how values and beliefs about entrepreneurship are institutionalized in EE remains relatively unchallenged. This study applies the lens of the cult, in particular three elements Rituals, Deities and the Promise of Salvation, to reflect on the production and reproduction of entrepreneurship in EE. In doing so, the paper addresses uncontested values and beliefs that form a hidden curriculum prevalent in EE. We argue for greater appreciation of reflexive practices to challenge normative promotions of beliefs and values that compare with forms of evangelizing, detrimental to objectives of HE. Consequently, we call for a more critical pedagogy to counteract a ‘cultification’ of entrepreneurship in EE.

Volunteer Retention in Prosocial Venturing: The Role of Emotional Connectivity:

This study develops an understanding of the role of emotional connectivity for volunteer retention in prosocial business venturing. By embedding it in organizational ambivalence theory, our analysis of four volunteer-dependent community ventures reveals two mechanisms through which entrepreneurs strengthen volunteers’ emotional connectivity. We first identify emotion-focused practices that form volunteers’ emotional attachment to the venture, and then demonstrate how duality-focused practices, in the form of managing inherent organizational duality, complement emotion-focused practices to foster volunteers’ emotional loyalty to the venture. Theorizing from our findings, we introduce a model of managing volunteers’ emotional connectivity, and conclude by discussing its implications for prosocial venture research on volunteerism and affective commitment.