Enhancing human development through social entrepreneurship: the case of enactus in South African higher education institutions

Abstract

In a world marked by significant socioeconomic inequalities and skills mismatches among graduates, there is an increasing focus on social entrepreneurship (SE) as a viable pathway to bridge the skills gap and create employment opportunities, thereby improving graduates' self-esteem, dignity, and social inclusion. However, SE’s potential to connect academic learning with real-world challenges remains underexplored, particularly its ability to advance the non-instrumental dimensions of education valued by students and graduates.

My thesis examined how SE, using Enactus, a student-led social entrepreneurial organisation, enhances human development among students in South African higher education institutions. My study is timely given contemporary development issues in South Africa and Africa. Issues such as high youth unemployment, digital transformation, a changing political landscape, and increased calls for global partnerships, among others, require a higher education that responds to these needs.

To comprehensively analyse students' experiences, I drew on concepts from the capability approach, such as capabilities, functionings, agency, and conversion factors. I also provide an interpretation using the five human development pillars: empowerment, participation, sustainability, productivity and efficiency, equity and equality to explore how students and graduates' participation in Enactus creates opportunities for them to think, engage and act in ways that impact society, extending beyond academic qualifications. This approach allowed for understanding the potential for participation in both the individual student's opportunities and choices and the potential contribution to broader societal development.

I applied an interpretivist paradigm, using qualitative methods to gather data through engaging with 55 participants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 students from two universities, 18 Enactus alumni, two Faculty Advisors, and one Enactus representative. Three focus group discussions with 18 students, report reviews, and notes taken during the 2023 and 2024 Enactus national exhibitions and Indaba were also part of the data collection.

Three key findings emerged from the data. Firstly, SE fosters entrepreneurial agency, which is the ability to make decisions, take initiative, and create business ideas to improve life and create impact. Secondly, SE enhances student functionings, which refers to skills gained and social problems solved by social entrepreneurial action. Thirdly, student entrepreneurial initiatives depend on conversion factors, which influence how people use what they have to achieve what they value. These findings highlight higher education’s role in fostering holistic development through an experiential, socially engaged learning environment. The conceptualisation of entrepreneurial agency allows us to capture the web of engagement that shifts from an individual focus to a collective response when thinking about solutions. The link that holds together is the relationality of individuals in SE. All these can result in a transformative agency that might be useful in human development. It helps people take charge of their lives, make wise choices, and work together to improve their communities and future. It turns what people can do into what they actually do.

Based on the findings, my study offers a conceptual contribution through proposing the Social Entrepreneurship Capability Framework (SECF). I argue that higher education ought to evolve with the times to drive experientially oriented learning, fostering graduate adaptability to the complex needs. A higher education ecosystem that addresses inequalities, empowers graduates beyond their qualification, promotes sustainable innovation and encourages entrepreneurial thinking, which is important in sustainable human development.