Competency-based training within the prison system: enhancing the likelihood of entrepreneurial activity upon release

Abstract

Recidivism rates across the world remain high, and one of the key reasons for this situation is that people leaving the prison system have great difficulty in securing employment. Addressing this issue must be explored from a broad perspective, but one potential career option that is under- explored is self-employment, with few entrepreneurship programmes available within prison systems. This study explores a competency-based approach to training, examining the knowledge, skills, and behaviours needed to enhance the prospects of persons with lived experience of prison becoming entrepreneurs. Using thematic analysis on ten in-depth interviews, this article identifies three categories of competency (generic, specific, and existing) that need to be developed, honed and leveraged through an in-prison entrepreneurship programme designed to enhance the likelihood of participants undertaking entrepreneurial activity upon release. Such findings aim to contribute to the competency-based approach to training, to the minority entrepreneurship domain, and to the entrepreneurship education literature.