Entrepreneurship education for women through project-based flipped learning: The impact of innovativeness and risk-taking on course satisfaction.

• Author: Yoo, Seung-chul

INTRODUCTION

In the past decade, the business landscape has experienced substantial changes, ushering in a notable increase in the participation of women entrepreneurs. This upward trend aligns with growing societal demands for enhanced gender diversity in the workforce. Indeed, women have proven to be markedly effective in the business environment, excelling in numerous emotional and social intelligence competencies (Korn Ferry Hay Group, 2017). These competencies, coupled with the value-adding influence of women in leadership roles (Adams & Ferreira, 2009), underscore the imperative to further women's representation in entrepreneurship.

Our study is situated within the context of South Korea, a country that has seen remarkable strides in technological advancement and digital media consumption. This focus on South Korea is academically significant as it offers a unique opportunity to explore the dynamics of women's entrepreneurship education in an environment that is at once technologically progressive and traditionally conservative. From a practical standpoint, understanding this context could offer valuable insights for other societies undergoing similar transitions. This paper specifically investigates the media industry, an area that has seen an unprecedented boom in South Korea and globally. The choice of the media industry is particularly apt for our study as it is a field where creativity and innovation--key traits fostered through entrepreneurship education--play significant roles. Furthermore, with its wide influence and reach, the media industry can serve as an effective platform to encourage and showcase women's entrepreneurship. Through the lens of Project-Based Flipped Learning (PBFL), we examine the influences of learners' characteristic factors, such as innovativeness and risk-taking, on the perceived value and satisfaction of PBFL classes. Our research aims to contribute to the field of entrepreneurship education by providing insights into how PBFL can be utilized to cultivate these competencies in women, particularly in the media industry.

In the consumer market landscape, a notable shift in gender roles, particularly with women assuming responsibility for household finances, has been observed to impact purchasing decisions significantly. Female entrepreneurs, harnessing their inherent understanding of female consumer behavior, have substantially augmented the landscape of business management (Adams & Ferreira, 2009). The development of well-educated female professionals, equipped with astute business acumen, addresses the extant lacuna in potential female entrepreneurial leadership. In the global discourse, the United Nations (2020) has underscored the paramount importance of attaininggender equilibrium as a critical element for substantial and sustainable development. Workplace gender parity has been on a steady upsurge in recent decades, indicative of enhanced inclusivity. Grant Thornton's Women in Business report elucidates an encouraging increment in the proportion of women occupying executive positions globally. The representation of women in senior leadership escalated from 24% to 29% in 2018 (Thornton, 2019). It is compelling to note that corporations that have proactively fostered female leadership and encouraged gender diversity have also reaped competitive benefits and triggered economic innovation. A striking correlation between increased female representation and higher profitability was reported by Credit Suisse (2016). Businesses where women constituted at least 15% of senior managerial roles exhibited an 18% increment in profitability in contrast to those with less than 10% female representation. Furthermore, enterprises led by female CEOs registered a 19% increase in profitability. Parallelly, an MSCI study (2015) indicated that firms with a minimum of three women on their boards reported premium annual returns of equity (10.1%) and superior average valuation (1.76%) as opposed to those bereft of strong female leadership (7.4% and 1.56%, respectively).

Despite the positive strides, a significant gender disparity remains pervasive among entrepreneurs. As reported by Business Insider, the probability of women penetrating the echelons of elite business ranks stands at merely 28% compared to their male counterparts (Sherwin, 2014). Recent data depicts that a scant 6% of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies are women (Zarya, 2017). An investigation by RobecoSAM (2015) discovered a clear underrepresentation of women in managerial roles across all industries, when juxtaposed with their workforce participation. Particularly in technology-based startups, female leadership remains woefully deficient. Within the technology hardware and equipment industry, there exists a glaring imbalance between the ratio of women at junior and senior management levels (around 10%) and their representation in the broader workforce (approximately 28%).

A comprehensive assessment by Credit Suisse of female senior managers across over 3,150 global companies spanning all industries indicated that while the upper echelons have begun to widen for women, a considerable change in the overall structure has not materialized. This inertia has been attributed, in part, to women's propensity towards stability- and harmony-oriented characteristics when making decisions in business contexts (Embrey & Fox, 1997). Conversely, it has been posited that ingrained gender stereotypes, perpetuated through education, incline women towards safer or more harmony-focused behaviors (Marinova, 2003). This polarization of viewpoints continues to be a topic of scholarly debate (Marinova, 2003; Embrey & Fox, 1997). In summation, both intrinsic attributes of women and educational factors have significant implications on their capacity to assume leadership roles in the business domain.

Within the prevailing context, the call for female entrepreneurship continues to swell, yet numerous obstacles persistently impede their progressive advancement. One potential solution to surmount these barriers resides within the educational structures of universities, specifically by fostering dedicated training programs aimed at nurturing female entrepreneurship. This approach could serve as a catalyst, bolstering women's leadership roles within burgeoning startup ecosystems. As such, the call for entrepreneurship education becomes critical, most notably amongst incoming female university students. However, in spite of these pressing necessities, the current educational landscape in South Korea remains deeply entrenched in theory-oriented pedagogy, favoring knowledge transference over experiential learning and skill acquisition.

This paradigm presents a particular deficit within the media and content fields, sectors where female entrepreneurship's significance is underscored (Byerly, 2011). In these domains, a notable void in education that cultivates managerial skills exists, indicating an urgent need to rethink and reimagine current educational practices to respond to the rapidly evolving demands of these sectors effectively.

In acknowledgement of the growing recognition of women's pivotal roles in entrepreneurship, a critical instrument of societal advancement and economic evolution (Harris & Gibson, 2007; Bolton & Lane, 2012), it becomes imperative to address the distinct challenges and the gender disparities they encounter. It has been posited that these issues can be effectively attenuated through comprehensive, female-centric educational programs that not only offer specialized content, but also training tailored to their unique entrepreneurial contexts (Bell, 2010). In our discourse on gender dynamics in entrepreneurship, education emerges as a compelling nexus. Detailed and bespoke training for female entrepreneurs can expedite their progress towards achieving parity in a traditionally male-dominated arena, thereby fostering a culture of inclusive and successful entrepreneurship (Bell, 2010).

In the realm of entrepreneurship education, various pedagogical innovations have been trialed, with Project-Based Learning (PBL) emerging as a particularly effective tool (Pan et al., 2020). PBL's integrative approach, coupling curriculum with real-world projects, catalyzes the acquisition of knowledge and the development of competencies, thus promoting critical thinking, cooperation, and independent learning. This stands in stark contrast with the passive reception of knowledge typical of traditional learning methods (Gultekin, 2005). The focus of our investigation on PBL, rather than Project-Based Flipped Learning (PBFL), stems from PBL's broader impact and pervasive application in entrepreneurship education (Thomas, 2000; Larmer & Mergendoller, 2010).

From an academic perspective, our work provides a fresh lens through which to examine the efficacy of PBL in fostering entrepreneurship education among women--an area yet to be exhaustively researched (Okudan, 2006; Cho & Brown, 2013). The benefits of PBL are manifold, including the enhancement of practical skills such as problem-solving, communication, and organization (Fitzsimons & Turner, 2013; Konrad et al., 2020), underscoring its effectiveness as an educational methodology for nascent entrepreneurs, especially women (Dragoumanos et al., 2017).

In light of the seismic shift towards online education in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic (Baeten et al., 2010; Barak & Dori, 2005), the pedagogical implications of PBL and the potential extension of this approach to PBFL in a hybrid educational model become of cardinal academic and practical interest. A unique facet of our study lies in its exploration of the reciprocity between entrepreneurial characteristics and the outcomes of PBL classes--a research angle that remains under-explored (Shih & Tsai, 2016; Ye et al., 2017).

The main research questions (RQs) are:

RQ1) How do students' entrepreneurial-orientated characteristics such as...