IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/adi/ijbess/v7y2025i3p195-203.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring youth entrepreneurial cognition: opportunities and challenges in the South African context

Author

Listed:
  • Elvis Madondo

    (University of Johannesburg)

Abstract

The increasing unemployment rates in South Africa and other parts of the continent underscore the critical importance of youth involvement in entrepreneurship to sustain the economy and enhance living standards. Despite this, youth participation in entrepreneurship remains low. This study aimed to investigate the entrepreneurial cognition of opportunities and challenges among the youth in the South African context. Exploratory design using a qualitative research approach, focusing on a cross-sectional data collection method through structured online interviews was employed. A sample of twelve South African youth. The findings show that engagement in entrepreneurial activities remains limited due to significant cognitive challenges which stem from historical inequalities that have marginalized many from economic participation and from present systems that are less supportive of the youth. The study recommends promoting an entrepreneurial mindset focused on seizing opportunities and overcoming historical constraints to stimulate start-up creation and reduce unemployment. Key Words:entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial cognition, youth, South Africa, perceptions, challenges, opportunities

Suggested Citation

  • Elvis Madondo, 2025. "Exploring youth entrepreneurial cognition: opportunities and challenges in the South African context," International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293), Bussecon International Academy, vol. 7(3), pages 195-203, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:adi:ijbess:v:7:y:2025:i:3:p:195-203
    DOI: 10.36096/ijbes.v7i3.767
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.bussecon.com/ojs/index.php/ijbes/article/view/767/482
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.36096/ijbes.v7i3.767
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.36096/ijbes.v7i3.767?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:adi:ijbess:v:7:y:2025:i:3:p:195-203. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Umit Hacioglu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ibihutr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.