This study examines the influence of higher education institutions’ (HEIs’) ecosystem on entrepreneurship education (EE) and attempts to map the complex relationship between both. It also captures the actual practice of EE in HEIs. A two-stage empirical approach was used in the research design. Drawing upon literature, a conceptual framework was developed to relate HEIs’ ecosystem and EE in the first stage. This framework was tested with the data obtained from 264 academicians. The findings yielded eight factors of HEIs’ ecosystem and six factors of EE. In the second stage, opinion of 15 experts in the area of EE was sought to develop cause–effect relationships between the two constructs. The decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach was used to examine the cause–effect relationship. Findings indicate that entrepreneurship promotion activity and institutions’ attitude towards entrepreneurship is important causal factors leading to effective EE. The research contributes to literature by fusing two theoretical paradigms. The outcomes of the study have a strong implication for HEIs to build a conducive educational ecosystem for entrepreneurship development.

本研究考察了高等教育机构（HEIs）生态系统对创业教育（EE）的影响，并试图绘制两者之间的复杂关系。它还捕获了HEI中EE的实际实践。在研究设计中使用了两阶段的经验方法。在第一阶段，根据文献，开发了一个概念框架以将HEI的生态系统和EE联系起来。该框架已使用264位院士提供的数据进行了测试。研究结果产生了HEIs生态系统的八个因素和EE的六个因素。在第二阶段，寻求EE领域的15位专家的意见，以发展这两种结构之间的因果关系。决策试验和评估实验室（DEMATEL）方法用于检查因果关系。研究结果表明，企业家精神的促进活动和机构对企业家精神的态度是导致有效EE的重要原因。该研究通过融合两个理论范式为文学做出了贡献。研究结果对高校建立有利于企业家精神发展的教育生态系统具有重要意义。