Scoping Review of Nexus Between Entrepreneurial Competencies and Graduate Attributes

This scoping review examines the interplay between entrepreneurial competencies (ECs) opportunity recognition, calculated risk-taking, resilience, resourcefulness, and decisive action and graduate attributes (GAs) such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, adaptability, teamwork, lifelong learning, and ethical awareness in contemporary higher education, with particular focus on global trends and the South African context. Using a PRISMA-guided systematic search across Scopus, Web of Science, IBSS, and DOAJ, 40 peer-reviewed studies were analysed. Findings reveal substantial overlap in transferable skills, yet significant gaps persist in cultivating high-level, venture-specific entrepreneurial competencies. Although graduate attributes provide a strong foundation, traditional curricula and risk-averse institutional cultures frequently fail to develop proactive behaviours essential for entrepreneurship. Experiential pedagogies including lean start-up methodologies, incubators, real-world projects, and ecosystem engagement, significantly boost entrepreneurial intentions and self-efficacy, explaining 27–57% of variance under the Theory of Planned Behaviour, whereas lecture-based approaches show limited impact. In South Africa and similar emerging economies, key barriers include shortages of experienced educators, over-reliance on theory, weak industry–ecosystem linkages, and resource constraints. Promising interventions involve challenge-based learning, community engagement, and integrated university entrepreneurial ecosystems. Notably, longitudinal evidence linking enhanced ECs and GAs to actual venture creation and sustainability remains scarce. Achieving meaningful alignment demands systemic reform: embedding experiential learning, recruiting practitioner-educators, explicitly assessing traits like resilience and risk-taking, and aligning policies, funding, and accreditation with measurable entrepreneurial outcomes. Without deliberate reform, higher education will continue producing employable but rarely entrepreneurial graduates, constraining their contribution to economic development.