Only 177 PhDs in entrepreneurship in last 16 yrs: Study

As per the study, which covered PhD output across 740 recognised universities in the country, only 66 universities awarded PhDs in entrepreneurship.

Ahmedabad, Dec 1: Despite government's efforts to promote entrepreneurship, doctoral research on the subject is yet to pick up in Indian universities as only 177 PhDs have been awarded in it compared to 20,271 in social sciences during last 16 years, says a study.

As per the study, which covered PhD output across 740 recognised universities in the country, only 66 universities awarded PhDs in entrepreneurship.

It also identified "women entrepreneurship" as the most preferred areas of research. The study was conducted by Kavita Saxena, a faculty member of Gandhinagar-based Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII).

It noted that out of 177 PhDs in the subject, 104 were done by male researchers and 73 by female researchers. Also, 167 of these PhDs were done in English language while the remaining 10 were done in Hindi.

In state-wise comparison, universities in Maharashtra awarded the largest number of PhDs--25--during this period, followed by Karnataka with 18, Madhya Pradesh 15, and Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 12 each.

The objectives of the study were to identify the nature and direction of entrepreneurship research in last 16 years, to identify quantitative growth of entrepreneurship research as compared to social sciences.

It was conducted to also know the contribution of universities in awarding of doctoral degrees in entrepreneurship and to find out state-wise, gender-wise and language-wise distribution of research in entrepreneurship. "Women entrepreneurship remains the most preferred area of research," Saxena said.

Research can also be done in areas such as entrepreneurial movement, state-level entrepreneurship policies among others, which are emerging with the growing focus on the subject, she said.

The study called for more focus by Indian universities on research in entrepreneurship, along with training in the subject. It said linkages of universities with existing corporate and family business enterprises can be established so as to explore evidence-based research.

"Doctoral programmes in entrepreneurship can be promoted as a platform to connect researchers with start ups which are keen on conducting market research for business opportunity identification, business plan preparation and other important areas of starting an enterprise," the study said.

PTI