| Summary: | Entrepreneurship within the U.S. economy has long been established as a source of economic growth for job creation. According to "The Facts about Small Business," small businesses contribute up to 75 percent of new jobs Entrepreneurial Centers (EC) are tools that can develop a culture of entrepreneurship, increase human capital skills, and increase revenue, thus, contributing to the entrepreneurial ecosystems via the networks established. Although higher education has developed a platform curating innovation within Entrepreneurship Centers (EC), there is a limited amount of information regarding the experience of directors and leadership responsible for creating and expanding these centers within an academic environment. The purpose of this qualitative, interpretive phenomenological analysis is to uncover how Entrepreneurship Centers Directors, within a post-secondary institution, describe their learning over time. Guided by Entrepreneurial Learning Theory (ELT), the study incorporates a conceptual framework of entrepreneurial learning as an experiential process that addresses four phases of transition in entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial work experience, the transformation process, and factors influencing the transformation process. Semi-structured interviews adopted from IPA. Four themes emerged included: a sense of support, proficiency, limitations, and impact. Leadership within secondary institutions and Entrepreneurship Centers can benefit from this study. This research explores the problem, encourages discussion, and introduces ways to improve and cultivate an EC's potential.--Author's abstract
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