The Modern Educational Paradigm in India: Integrating Social Entrepreneurship into Higher Education

Background: Social entrepreneurship education (SEE) is gaining global prominence as a mechanism for developing competencies to address complex social challenges. Despite urgent socioeconomic needs, SEE in India remains fragmented and marginalised in higher education curricula. Research objectives: This article examines competencies required for social entrepreneurship; the role of society in nurturing these competencies; factors influencing SEE; benefits of SEE at economic, social, and environmental levels; and required reforms in pedagogy, curriculum, and policy in the Indian higher education context. Research design and methods: Qualitative content analysis (QCA) of 70 peer-reviewed sources and the application of an inductive approach guided by the study objectives. Results: We identified five interconnected competency clusters: psychological, cognitive, functional, social, and meta. Society operates as an ecosystem enabler across four roles. Influencing factors are organised at external-environmental, organisational, individual, and contextual levels. Nine pedagogical approaches and five curricular components were synthesised, with six policy recommendations anchored in NEP 2020. Conclusions: Effective embedding of SEE in Indian higher education requires simultaneous reform in pedagogy, curriculum, and policy. NEP 2020 provides a relevant enabling framework, but significant implementation gaps remain to be addressed, particularly in faculty capacity and institutional resources.