The Economic Benefits of Inclusive Entrepreneurship Education: A Systematic Review of Entrepreneurial Competence Development for Students with Disabilities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14419/xnncwf37Published
14-11-2025Keywords:
Inclusive entrepreneurship education; Students with disabilities; Entrepreneurial competence development; Economic empowerment; Universal Design for Learning.Abstract
The world over, people with disabilities are highly disadvantaged in the labor market, with the employment rate of 44% as opposed to 75% of persons without disabilities. Disabilities affect more than 1.3 billion individuals, who constitute 16% of the world population, and still, these individuals face systemic obstacles that keep them economically marginalized. Entrepreneurship education provides an additional avenue for economic empowerment, but evidence remains fragmented regarding inclusive programs. This systematic review explored the economic rationale behind inclusive entrepreneurship education by assessing the manner in which inclusive entrepreneurship education develops entrepreneurial skills in students with disabilities and the ability to convert such skills into quantifiable economic results. In accordance with PRISMA 2020, a systematic search was performed in Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, and Google Scholar of articles published between January 2015 and June 2025. Out of 200 original records, 61 empirical studies in 18 countries were selected following stringent screening. The extracted data were analyzed thematically first with a standardized matrix and evaluated in terms of quality with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Inclusive entrepreneurship education also has a significant positive impact on entrepreneurial self-efficacy (in 77% of the studies, Cohen’s d ≈ 0.68), business planning (85.2%), and financial literacy (72.1%). The reported range for venture creation rates was 22% to 35%, with an average of 28% of graduates starting businesses within twelve months compared to 9% of control groups. The pedagogies that were effective were experiential learning, formal mentoring, digital accessibility tools, and the Universal Design for Learning frameworks. Inclusive entrepreneurship education is a good way of building entrepreneurial competencies and promoting economic participation, but the generalizability is limited by methodological heterogeneity and geographic concentration. The results highlight the transformational nature of the available pedagogies in minimizing economic inequalities.
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