To consider whether the growth in management and entrepreneurship education is driven by (external) demand or (internal) academic supply.

Three key elements of the intellectual context of management and entrepreneurship education are considered: the apparent causal relationship between improved management and economic performance; the privilege afforded to management as an agent of change in the context of globalisation; reforms in the public sector which define problems in terms of management rather than resources.

There is a lack of clarity as to whether the purpose of entrepreneurship education is about promoting higher levels of activity or better recognising entrepreneurial activity.

The paper offers an alternative perspective on entrepreneurship education through an examination of its purpose rather than its form and content.