Exploring the Barriers to the Development of Technology-Oriented Entrepreneurship in the Education System
Abstract
Objective: The rapid expansion of digital technologies and the consolidation of a knowledge-based economy have transformed the role of the education system from merely transmitting knowledge to cultivating creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial human capital. In this context, technology-oriented entrepreneurship—linking entrepreneurial thinking with technological competencies—has become a fundamental requirement for preparing future generations. Despite the emphasis of upstream policy documents and educational reform programs on fostering innovation and technological skills, evidence indicates that schools face multiple structural, cultural, and institutional challenges in institutionalizing technology-oriented entrepreneurship education. These challenges create a gap between the formal goals of the education system and the practical realities of schools, thereby hindering the formation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem within learning environments. Accordingly, the present study aims to explore the barriers to the development of technology-oriented entrepreneurship in the education system in order to provide a comprehensive picture of existing obstacles and the interactions among them.
Materials and Methods: This study adopted a qualitative approach using thematic analysis to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences and perceptions of educational experts regarding the barriers to developing technology-oriented entrepreneurship. The participants consisted of 15 individuals, including leading teachers, school principals, technology experts, and university faculty members specializing in entrepreneurship education, who were selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and fully transcribed. Data analysis was conducted following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase framework, including familiarization with the data, initial coding, searching for themes, reviewing and merging themes, defining final themes, and reporting. To enhance credibility, independent coding, inter-coder agreement, expert validation, and theoretical saturation were employed. Finally, the extracted themes were analyzed using MAXQDA software and organized into three levels—basic, organizing, and overarching themes—and a schematic conceptual map derived from the data was developed.
Discussion and Conclusion: The findings revealed that the Barriers to the Development of Technology-Oriented Entrepreneurship in the Education System are multidimensional and interconnected, and can be explained across four main domains: policy gaps and institutional misalignment, infrastructural limitations and resource governance challenges, gaps in professional competencies and cultural-organizational resistance, and network disconnection and ecosystem isolation. In the policy domain, administrative centralization, managerial instability, the absence of innovation evaluation indicators, and an instrumental view of technology have reduced entrepreneurial programs to symbolic and unsustainable activities, leaving schools with limited autonomy to implement innovative initiatives. In the infrastructural domain, the lack of technological equipment, weak internet access, absence of practical learning spaces, and limited innovation funding have reduced opportunities for hands-on techno-entrepreneurial experiences and widened the gap between idea and implementation. This situation reflects weaknesses in resource governance and a lack of prioritization for investment in productive technological infrastructures.
In the professional domain, the skill gap among teachers and the lack of specialized training in technology and entrepreneurship have constrained their facilitative role in guiding innovative projects. Furthermore, a conservative organizational culture, fear of failure, resistance to innovation, and a reductionist understanding of entrepreneurship have hindered the acceptance of technology-oriented approaches. In the ecosystem domain, the absence of systematic links between schools and industry, universities, and technology-based companies has turned learning environments into closed spaces disconnected from real labor market needs. This network disconnection has prevented students’ latent capacities in innovation and technology-based product development from being actualized. Overall, the findings indicate that the development of technology-oriented entrepreneurship in the education system requires a systemic and coordinated approach involving simultaneous reform of educational policies, provision of technological infrastructure, professional empowerment of teachers, and the establishment of sustainable linkages with the innovation ecosystem. Otherwise, school-level innovative efforts will fail to yield sustainable outcomes due to persistent institutional and cultural barriers.