Enhancing Undergraduate Entrepreneurial Education: The Role of Project-Based Learning, Mentorship and Resilience

Higher education institutions are increasingly prioritizing entrepreneurial education (EE) to enhance their graduates' employability. Although prior studies have examined the effects of teaching practices and individual traits on entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), findings remain inconsistent and often neglect curriculum-level perspectives. This study addressed this gap by grounding its theoretical framework in the social cognitive theory and analyzing survey responses from 123 undergraduate students at a Chinese international university enrolled in a work-integrated curriculum combining project-based learning (PBL) with workplace mentorship (WM) from industry experts. Using PLS-SEM multi-group analysis and hierarchical regression models, the findings show that university-organized PBL did not significantly improve students’ ESE. In contrast, WM and student resilience were positively associated with ESE, which in turn predicted entrepreneurial intention (EI). These results highlight the critical roles of mentorship and resilience in shaping students’ entrepreneurial confidence, while also suggesting that the impact of PBL depends on its context-centered integration. The study contributes to EE research by clarifying conditions under which curriculum elements influence ESE and EI. For practice, it highlights the importance of mentor training, careful mentor–student matching, and structured activities that make mentorship more meaningful, as well as resilience-building strategies, which serve as a learning outcome to better prepare students for entrepreneurial competence.