The Role of Nurturing Technopreneurship Education and Building University Students’ Entrepreneurial Mindsets and Skill Sets in Fostering Digital Innovation and Augmenting the Tech Start-Up Ecosystem in Bahrain

This paper examines the relationship between the success of tech start-ups and the educational backgrounds of their owners. To better comprehend and encourage technopreneurial growth, it is essential to understand the educational background of tech start-up founders in Bahrain. The paper attempts to explore whether or not different educational qualifications of tech start-up founders are associated with their success. It also aims to investigate the pedagogical approaches, strategies, skills, and objectives that may have contributed to the success of leading technopreneurs, locally and globally in an effort to suggest the right practices to implement in Bahrain in order to emulate their educational experiences. The research qualitatively investigates the perceptions and academic experiences of the founders of five innovative Bahraini digital applications in an attempt to explore the role of their education in their success and growth. In addition, twelve support organizations in Bahrain were interviewed to examine the influence of higher education on entrepreneurial success. The paper argues that education is very essential to entrepreneurial success, and its findings provide clear evidence of the impact of education which focuses on fostering creative thinking, innovation, and team-working skills on technopreneurial success. These findings may have implications for universities in Bahrain to promote successful entrepreneurs through integrating the best practices in innovation and entrepreneurship education into the curriculum, and strengthening their cooperation with the government and various support organizations.  Finally, the paper provides higher education institutions with guidelines and recommendations to maximize their role in the tech start-up ecosystem in Bahrain. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.6.8