Abstract
The paper aims (1) to trace the present status of Entrepreneurship Education and Training (EET) in Saudi Arabia and (2) to assess the design of the Entrepreneurship training programs offered by public and private institutes, and Entrepreneurship education programs offered at universities in Saudi Arabia. The design of the EET programs is evaluated in line with the Azim and Al-Kahtani's EET Model (Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development 6(22):112-127, 2015). Data were collected from the academic instructors and trainers of EET programs through a structured questionnaire based on the Model. It is observed that there are a number of initiatives from the public and private sectors in Saudi Arabia in the form of training, counseling, funding, incubation and other advisory and material supports to the potential as well as nascent entrepreneurs. However, it is observed that no formal course on entrepreneurship is offered either in secondary schools or in technical institutes. Most of the Saudi universities offer an entrepreneurship course for business students only. Moreover, such courses are usually optional rather than mandatory. The study reveals that the facilitators of the programs have less conviction to see their participants as potential entrepreneurs. As far as the contents and approaches of EET programs are concerned, it is found that the interactive and experiential activities like games, competition, role-plays, and creative exercises are relatively less used in EET programs which reduce the efficacy of the program to develop the much-needed psychosocial abilities in the participants. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations regarding overall improvement of EET in Saudi Arabia. The uniqueness of the paper lies with its pioneering attempt to provide a bird's eye view of overall EET efforts in Saudi Arabia and evaluation of such efforts in terms of contents, approaches of delivery and facilitator characteristics.