جعفر باپيري

Entrepreneurial identity is one of the fundamental components in shaping individuals’ entrepreneurial attitudes, decisions, and behaviors, and it plays an important role in both entry into and the continuation of entrepreneurial activities. In this context, entrepreneurship education can be effective only when it goes beyond the mere transmission of theoretical knowledge and provides learners with opportunities for experience, participation, and active learning. Therefore, experiential entrepreneurship education, as an effective approach, has strong potential to shape and strengthen entrepreneurial identity. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of experiential entrepreneurship education on the formation of entrepreneurial identity. This research is applied in purpose and was conducted using a qualitative approach. A hermeneutic phenomenological research design was chosen to explore in depth the participants’ lived experiences of the experiential entrepreneurship education process. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and purposive sampling was employed. From among the participants of the Omid Entrepreneurship event, 20 individuals were selected as the study sample based on the criterion of theoretical saturation, and the data collection process continued until theoretical saturation was reached. The study data were analyzed using thematic analysis with the assistance of MAXQDA. The findings indicated that experiential entrepreneurship education comprised four influential pillars—learning, mentoring, networking, and the prevailing climate-each of which contributed to the formation of entrepreneurial identity in students through four mechanisms: empowering, reconstructive, liberating, and generative. The structure of this identity included cognitive, emotional, behavioral, social, and collective dimensions. Strengthening this identity, in turn, influenced students’ entrepreneurial intentions and increased their inclination toward entrepreneurial activities. The findings of this study can serve as a basis for the design and improvement of experiential entrepreneurship education programs.