Peer Effects in Entrepreneurship Education Field Experimental Evidence on the Role of Gender and Team Emotional Intelligence

This study builds on the assumption that the common experiential design of entrepreneurship education stimulates entrepreneurial learning via social interaction with peers.  The first part of the analysis focuses on gendered peer effects at the pre-nascent stage of the entrepreneurial process, as having same-gender entrepreneurial peers in the team positively influences the development of entrepreneurial intentions, attitudes, as well as entrepreneurial self-efficacy.  The second part of the analysis deals with the role of team emotional intelligence in the context of entrepreneurship education.  This analysis provides some indications for positive same-gender peer effects, especially when it comes to the development of entrepreneurial self-efficacy among female students. Further, team emotional intelligence is found to be not only an antecedent of entrepreneurial propensity, but also being assigned to a team with emotionally intelligent peers positively influences entrepreneurial learning and may even mitigate same-gender effects.

Policy implications 
Same-gender team mates was found to positively influence the development of entrepreneurial self-efficacy, as well as attitudes towards entrepreneurship. Furthermore, same-gender peer effects tend to be slightly more important for female students. Moreover, high levels of individual and peers’ team emotional intelligence positively influence the development of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Thereby, high levels of team emotional intelligence can even balance out positive effects of having same-gender peer.
Reference 
Bechthold, L.A. and Rosendahl Huber, L., 2020. Peer Effects in Entrepreneurship Education Field Experimental Evidence on the Role of Gender and Team Emotional Intelligence. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2020, No. 1, p. 17175). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.