Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis: an innovative female entrepreneurship education ecosystem in China

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to add a gender perspective to the current ecosystem of entrepreneurship education whereby an innovative model of the female entrepreneurship education ecosystem (FEEE) consisting of five stakeholders (university, government, society, enterprise and the international community) is examined. Design/methodology/approach The study conducted an online questionnaire among 505 respondents from two universities and one higher vocational college in China. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the correlation between factors and structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the five hypotheses proposed in the study. Findings The results indicated that the five stakeholders (the university, government, society, enterprise and international community) positively affect FEEE. The study emphasizes the urgent demand to consider gender perspectives in the ecosystem of entrepreneurship education and provides plausible ways to conduct female-targeted education with the joint efforts of different stakeholders. Practical implications The study aims to increase the number of future female entrepreneurs, enhance the future skills of female students in the digital era and ultimately advance humankind. The study emphasizes the urgent demand to consider gender-perspective in the entrepreneurship education ecosystem and provides plausible ways to conduct female-targeted education with the joint efforts of different stakeholders. Originality/value This paper sheds light on evaluating FEEE through five stakeholders' dimensions, which explores the solutions to the current female entrepreneurship education (FEE) issues.