The Influence of Action-Oriented Andragogy on Entrepreneurial Intentions among University Students in Kenya Implications for Competency-Based Higher Education
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Abstract
Entrepreneurship education has increasingly become a strategic intervention to address graduate unemployment, stimulate innovation, and promote sustainable economic development. Despite substantial investment in entrepreneurship programmes within universities, graduate participation in entrepreneurial ventures remains comparatively low, suggesting that conventional instructional approaches may be inadequate in developing entrepreneurial competencies. This study investigated the influence of action-oriented andragogy on entrepreneurial intentions among final-year undergraduate students in Kenyan public universities and examined the implications of the findings for the emerging Competency-Based Higher Education (CBHE) agenda. Guided by Experiential Learning Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the study adopted a positivist philosophy and a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from 322 final-year undergraduate business students drawn from 29 public universities using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Version 24. The findings revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between action-oriented andragogy and entrepreneurial intentions. Action-oriented pedagogy emerged as the strongest predictor of entrepreneurial intentions (β = 0.918, p < 0.001), while the integrated model explained 82.3% of the variation in entrepreneurial intentions (Adjusted R² = 0.821). Although entrepreneurship curricula were well established, mentorship programmes, business incubation, industry engagement, and entrepreneurial ecosystems remained comparatively underdeveloped. The study concludes that universities should move beyond curriculum delivery towards learner-centred, experiential pedagogies that integrate authentic learning, mentorship, and university–industry collaboration. Such pedagogical transformation offers a practical pathway for implementing Competency-Based Higher Education while strengthening graduate employability, innovation, and enterprise creation.
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