Un détour par l’imaginaire pour comprendre les fondements psychosociocognitifs de l’éducation entrepreneuriale

This article aims to shed light on the apparent consensus about the desirability of entrepreneurial education (EE). More specifically, we study the socio-psychological and socio-cognitive dynamics that underpin educational actions. We build our research on the concept of social imaginary (Castoriadis, 1975). This concept provides a dynamic conceptual framework of social change based on shared imaginary significations. We conducted our study in two phases. The first qualitative step consisted of analyzing imaginary scenarios about future entrepreneurial education produced by 65 groups involving different EE stakeholders. The second step consisted of a survey conducted with 343 EE stakeholders. This facilitated the process of measuring the statistical representativeness of the four typical scenarios resulting from the first phase. Results show that the social imaginary of EE revolves around a utopian representational core. However, this dominant core conceals three competing imaginary contents characterized by strong oppositions of values and vastly different perceptions of desirability. Our research thus highlights the ambivalence of EE?s objectives?which can be imagined either as a societal renewal factor, or as an ideological vehicle reproducing social institutions.