The role of social entrepreneurs’ metacognitive awareness on the sustainability of social enterprises in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Social Enterprises (SEs) are increasingly becoming viable solutions for tackling the world's most pressing social problems. However, their sustainability is hindered by several external factors such as limited funding opportunities, market acceptance and human resources. While previous entrepreneurial studies have focused on these external factors, this study shifts the focus to social entrepreneurs and investigates the role of their metacognitive awareness in the sustainability of their social enterprises.

Using a cross-sectional and quantitative method that adopted the post-positivist approach, this study collected primary data through an online questionnaire from a sample size of 300 social entrepreneurs in Nairobi, Kenya. Descriptive, correlational, and multiple regression analyses were employed to analyze the study’s data. The findings revealed that social entrepreneurs’ metacognitive experiences positively influence the sustainability of their social ventures. In other words, their unique experiences, emotions and feelings are predictors of their social enterprises’ sustainability.

Additionally, the findings also revealed that goal orientation, metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive experience, metacognitive choice and metacognitive monitoring are not sufficient predictors of social enterprises’ sustainability. By contextualizing the metacognitive awareness model within the social entrepreneurship field, this study offers relevant contributions towards expansion of knowledge within the field. Moreover, the study’s findings address the data gap that exists within the Kenyan social entrepreneurship landscape.

This study provides practical suggestions to business development service providers (BDSs), investors, government and policy makers. This is to encourage these stakeholders to tailor their training and supportive structures to suit the needs of social enterprises in Kenya. Leveraging on social entrepreneurs’ metacognitive awareness as an entrepreneurial resource is highlighted as a pathway towards enabling more social enterprises become sustainable.