Generalizability of alignment and sorting effects in secondary education: Evaluation of the effectiveness of an activity for the entrepreneurial competence promotion

Abstract

The entrepreneurial initiative is considered a key competence to be developed in secondary education. However, research on the effectiveness of entrepreneurial exposure activities in adolescence still being scarce. The results can be misinterpreted if hidden effects such as sorting and alignment are not considered. The aim of this study is twofold. First, to test for the effectiveness of an entrepreneurial exposure activity developed in a Spanish secondary school. Second, to study the presence of sorting and alignment effects on adolescent population. A quasi-experimental design with a control group is conducted on 225 participant students, 158 were randomly assigned according to a cluster sampling to the intervention group (M = 13.19 ± 0.91 years old, ranging between 11 and 15; 57.6% boys) and 67 to the control (M = 13.33 ± 0.88 years old, ranging between 11 to 15; 59.7% boys). Relevant variables such as entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, attitude towards entrepreneurship, subjective norm, psychological capital, prosocial behavior, and certainty about future studies choices were assessed pre and post-intervention. The entrepreneurship exposure activity involved six sessions where the students in teams were asked to develop an entrepreneurial idea that helps to solve a social problem. The results considering the group means only show statistically significant differences in attitudes towards entrepreneurship. The intervention acts as a buffer for the decline in this variable in the intervention group. Additionally, the analysis verified the generalizability of alignment and sorting effects while assessing entrepreneurial intention in entrepreneurship exposure activities with adolescents. Implications for other vocational orientation activities are discussed.