Study Background

This is a continuation of the first analysis that was conducted and presented by Prof. Melodi Botha from Department of Business Management, University of Pretoria. The main objective of the experiment was to assess the change in learners’ level of Entrepreneurial Competencies (ECs) prior to and after they were exposed to the Wavumbuzi Entrepreneurship Challenge (WEC). In summary, herewith is a brief overview of the experiment.

• The study was a Pretest–Posttest experimental design, where measurements were taken prior to administering some treatment, followed by a posttest on the same measure after treatment occurs.
• The baseline (pre-test) sample was tested before exposure to the WEC and consisted of 1 504 usable surveys filled by high school learners from over 200 schools spanning over 40 counties in Kenya.
• The endline (post-test) sample was tested after the respondents were exposed to the WEC, and this sample size consists of 637 usable responses.
• Therefore, for this study, a sample of 447 respondents completed both surveys and are included in the inferential analysis.
• This experimental design enabled us to determine whether the respondents’ level of ECs improved after they were exposed to the WEC.
• Data were collected over a six-week period from 16 August 2021 to 20 October 2021 (excluding weeks where the learners wrote exams and school holidays) using an online, self-administered survey hosted using Wavumbuzi AWS platform.

Experiment Results

Out of the 19 validated competencies that were assessed, six entrepreneurial competencies improved. Improvement was assessed by taking the average difference between the post-test (endline) ECs score and the pre-test (baseline) ECs score. Entrepreneurial competencies with positive average differences between baseline (Pre) and endline (Post) is presented below:

• “Entrepreneurial experience”,
• “Intend to start-up (Entrepreneurial intention – EI 2)”,
• “Future business planning (Entrepreneurial intention – EI 3)”,
• “Structured tasks and following others’ rules (Entrepreneurial mindset – EM 2)”,
• “Positive entrepreneurial mindset (Entrepreneurial mindset – EM 1)”,
• “Taking action and initiative”

Table 1: Pre-Post results

Table 1 presents a comparative analysis between baseline and endline scores of all the 19 validated entrepreneurial competencies.

For more details on the methodology, results, and zoom recording for the first analysis, please use these links below :

• Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1Nfql2eT2I3Z7IPyCU05kOpQj4TYvcO4Y

Scope and Objective

As this is a continuation of the initial analysis, the objective of this analysis is centered around questions and suggestions discussed during the presentation. The three main recommendations are outlined below:

• Assess the level of engagement and intensity of gameplay within study participants.
• Disaggregate the distribution of treatment exposure by location: counties and schools
• Exclude learners who were exposed to the intervention (WEC gameplay) after the baseline survey was administered

# Counties

26

# Schools

45

# Students

446

Public School (% Students)

60

Private School (% Students)

36

International School (% Students)

4

CEMASTEA (# Students)

249

Educate! (# Students)

30

KPSA (# Students)

161

KAIS (# Students)

0

Own Volition (# Students)

0

Non-Partner (# Students)

6

Learners Distribution by County

Avg. # challenges submitted (counts)

91

Median # challenges submitted

112

Students submitted more than 91 challenges (> mean)

269

Students submitted more than 112 challenges (> median)

223

Students submitted more than 64 challenges (> Q1)

336

Students submitted 120 challenges (> Q3)

191

Avg. # challenges submitted per county

Avg. # challenges submitted per school

Learners completed baseline survey prior to treatment exposure

0

Learners completed baseline survey within 1W of treatment exposure

49

Learners completed baseline survey within 2W of treatment exposure

118

Learners completed baseline survey within 3W of treatment exposure

312

Learners completed baseline survey within 4W of treatment exposure

348

Learners completed baseline survey prior to endline survey

422

Avg # of days apart between the endline and baseline

53

Min # of days apart between endline and baseline

-14

Max # of days apart between endline and baseline

79

Avg # challenges submitted within 1W of treatment exposure

87

Avg # challenges submitted within 2W of treatment exposure

97

Avg # challenges submitted prior to endline survey

93

Learners Distribution by County | 118 Learners NOT Exposed to >2W of Treatment

Learners Distribution by County | 312 Learners NOT Exposed to >3W of Treatment

Entrepreneurial competencies with positive difference between baseline (Pre) and endline (Post):

• “Entrepreneurial experience”,
• “Intend to start-up (Entrepreneurial intention – EI 2)”,
• “Future business planning (Entrepreneurial intention – EI 3)”,
• “Structured tasks and following others’ rules (Entrepreneurial mindset – EM 2)”,
• “Positive entrepreneurial mindset (Entrepreneurial mindset – EM 1)”,
• “Taking action and initiative”

Note: This is similar to Prof. Botha’s analysis (447 learners)

Entrepreneurial competencies with positive difference between baseline (Pre) and endline (Post):

• “Entrepreneurial experience”,
• “Future business planning (Entrepreneurial intention – EI 3)”,
• “Positive entrepreneurial mindset (Entrepreneurial mindset – EM 1)”,
• “Taking action and initiative”,
• “Opportunity assessment”,
• “Innovative problem-solving”,
• “Resourcefulness”,
• “Money sense”

Key Takeaways

The treatment effect increases significantly when learners start to engage early on during the first few weeks of the challenge versus playing during the last few weeks.

The number of entrepreneurial competencies grasped by learners increases significantly when learners start to engage early on during the first week of the challenge versus playing during the last few weeks of the challenge.

The risk of learners getting negative /adverse treatment effects increases substantially when they only start to engage with WEC intervention during the last few weeks of the challenge.

In light of the above, how can we sensitize our clients (learners, teachers, partners) to start engaging with WEC interventions early on during the first week of the challenge versus last few weeks?