A literature review mapping research on entrepreneurial competencies and inclusive education

Labor market demands are changing considerably amidst modern developments. Furthermore, societies are becoming increasingly diverse economically, socially, and culturally. Transformative learning is needed to address these economic and societal challenges and capitalize on the increasing diversity in society. This could be supported by the development of entrepreneurial competencies. While the importance of entrepreneurial education for developing entrepreneurial competencies in higher education is known, current entrepreneurial education approaches are not tailored to the growing diversity. Consequently, higher education institutions may benefit from consulting other disciplines, such as inclusive education, to enhance entrepreneurial competencies. While extensive research has been conducted separately on entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial competencies, and inclusive education, less work has focused on their integration. This study maps the literature on inclusive education, defined as tailoring education to ensure all learners’ participation and teaching students to contribute to an inclusive environment, and entrepreneurial competencies, defined as knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable individuals to turn ideas into action, in higher education. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to map the predictors and outcomes of inclusive education and the predictors of entrepreneurial competencies using various databases. We selected, coded, and analyzed 106 articles. Thematic analysis suggests that inclusive education may support the development of students’ collaborative competency, self-efficacy, intercultural competency, empathy, and critical thinking. Building on these findings, we integrated the results into an Entrepreneurial-Competencies-through-Inclusive-Education (ECIE) framework. This study offers new perspectives on developing entrepreneurial competencies through inclusive education, thereby going beyond the Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (EntreComp) and supporting transformative learning.