Assessment and development of coachability in entrepreneurship education

As coaching and alumni mentoring are used to develop student startup talent the coachability of students becomes an enabling factor for reflection- and action-based learning methods in entrepreneurship education. There is limited research on how to assess and develop coachability, especially in entrepreneurship education. This paper aims to narrow the gap. This study adopts a competency-based approach by devising competency assessment tools, undertaking a coachability survey and using Behavioral Event Interviews. It thus adopts a mixed method design, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques. Our exploratory research shows that coachability has a positive relationship with educational outcomes and that coachability competencies, such as self-awareness and flexibility, are important. We show that coachability can be developed through experiential learning and that such learning enables the acquisition of competencies, such as transferring learning into action and taking initiative. The opportunity to develop coachability through entrepreneurship education fosters the design of experiential learning and strengthens students' coachability competencies, thereby aiding graduates’ capacity to attract venture funding. We make an original contribution to assessing coachability by adopting a multi-method and multi-perspective approach and provide a way of creating greater impact when assessing and developing coachability. •This study adopts a competency-based approach to study coachability in entrepreneurship education.•Competency assessment tools, such as Behavioral Event Interviews, are used to assess coachability.•The study adopts a mixed-methods design combining quantitative and qualitative techniques.•The research shows that coachability has a positive relationship with educational outcomes.•Experiential learning can contribute to the development of coachability competencies.