Improving Entrepreneurial Education through Self-Regulatory Skills

A mixed methods study investigated the role of self-regulation in entrepreneurial decision-making, including the significance of learning in relation to those processes. Findings from survey data measuring three existing self-regulatory constructs—regulatory pride, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and metacognitive awareness—suggest that entrepreneurs are distinguished from other managers by a distinctive pattern of self-regulation. Prior studies suggest that such a pattern of self-regulation is strongly related to effective use of intuition, heuristics, and learning processes. Furthermore, when analysed in combination with interview data, the results suggest a strong relationship between self-regulation and prior learning experiences in decision-making. At the same time, educational research has shown that self-regulatory skills are critical for achieving learning outcomes and that those skills can be enhanced by appropriate interventions. Consequently, the findings suggest that entrepreneurial education and training can be enhanced by incorporating techniques that improve a range of self-regulatory skills.