?Study shows in the last 16 years only 177 PhDs in entrepreneurship

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

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.

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).

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.

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.

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