International Conference on Entrepreneurial Education: call for contributions

On the 27^th of October 2026, HOGENT E-Lab organizes its 2^nd International Conference on Entrepreneurial Education. This conference aims to create a space for ‘loyal contrarianism’: a spirit of constructive dissent, critical curiosity, and committed challenge within the growing field of entrepreneurial education.

Entrepreneurial education has matured as a field over the past decades. Numerous models, frameworks, and pedagogical approaches have been developed, tested, and disseminated. However, if entrepreneurial education aims to remain relevant, it must continue to question itself, renew its practices, and open space for new ways of thinking.

The international conference is organized in collaboration with VLAIO, Innovation Space, Xerius-HOGENT Research chair Entrepreneurial learning VUB and ECHE Research Group VUB and is part of the U!nnovate staff training and students summer school.

The conference’s keynote will be Prof. Xiaozhou Xu (Zhejiang University). He will give UNESCO Chairholder in Entrepreneurship Education and Distinguished Yangtze River Scholar Professor of Zhejiang University. He will provide us with insight on the topic ‘Challenges and Strategies: Entrepreneurship Education Innovation in the AI Era.’

We invite educators and researchers from around the world to sharing practice, questioning assumptions, and exploring new directions in entrepreneurial education. The conference is built around two complementary tracks, each designed to foster meaningful exchange and intellectual openness.

Two tracks

In addition to the keynote, the conference has two tracks:

Track 1: Practice: educators in entrepreneurial education.

This track is dedicated to educators who actively design and teach entrepreneurial education in higher education, professional education, or other learning environments.

Participants are invited to submit practice-based abstracts presenting:

Innovative teaching approaches
Experiential learning formats
Curriculum designs or pedagogical interventions
Lessons learned from implementing entrepreneurial education in real educational settings
Successes, failures, and reflections on teaching practice

The goal of this track is to create a community of practice, where educators can openly share experiences, learn from each other’s approaches, and exchange concrete best practices that strengthen the field.

Submissions should therefore come from colleagues who are directly involved in teaching entrepreneurial education and who are willing to reflect critically on their educational practice.

To help you submit your contribution, we strongly recommend that you structure your abstract under the following headings:

Paper title
Objectives of the course: what were the learning goals?
Description and implementation of the course: provide a detailed description of the key building blocks of the course. We encourage you to "open the black box" of your entrepreneurial course.
Results: how did you measure the impact of your approach on students or learning outcomes?
Lessons learned: what are the key takeaways that you wish to share with the broader community?
What challenges did you encounter, and what questions would you like the community to discuss?

Please keep in mind that abstracts should not exceed two single-spaced pages or 800 words (excluding references). The author(s) name and information should not appear anywhere in the abstract.

Important dates:

Submission abstract deadline: 1 Sept 2026

Acceptance notification: 15 Sept 2026

Conference day: 27 Oct 2026

Mail your abstract to: elab@hogent.be

Track 2: Research: reimagining entrepreneurial education Research.

The research track is dedicated to scholarly work that pushes the boundaries of current entrepreneurial education research.

We particularly welcome abstracts that:

Present innovative research approaches to entrepreneurial education
Introduce new theoretical perspectives or conceptual frameworks
Critically and constructively challenge existing models, assumptions, or dominant paradigms in the field
Offer loyally contrarian perspectives that stimulate deeper reflection and intellectual progress
Explore radically new directions for research in entrepreneurial education

Our ambition is to create a forum where the field can move beyond well-trodden paths and engage in unconstrained, intellectually courageous dialogue.

At the same time, methodological rigor remains essential. All research abstracts will therefore undergo a two-stage review process:

Methodological quality review: ensuring that submissions meet established scientific standards.
Intellectual contribution review: evaluating the degree to which the work offers innovative, disruptive, or constructively contrarian insights that help move the field forward.

We are looking for research that is bold in its thinking yet rigorous in its execution.