Mona Mensmann

Mona Mensmann is an Associate Professor of Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of Cologne's Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences (WiSo-Fakultät), Department of Corporate Development. She has been a Cluster member of ECONtribute: Markets & Public Policy since 2021, which is Germany's first Cluster of Excellence in economics, jointly funded by the University of Bonn and the University of Cologne.

Her educational background includes a PhD from Leuphana University of Lüneburg (2013-2017), a Master of Science in Psychology from the University of Heidelberg (2011-2013), and a Bachelor of Science in Business Psychology from the University of Lüneburg (2007-2011).

Professor Mensmann's research focuses on the psychology of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial mindset, and entrepreneurship training. Her work primarily uses RCT-based methodologies to investigate how people can be helped to think and act in more entrepreneurial ways. Her main research topics include entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurship in low- and middle-income countries, and gender and entrepreneurship. Her research often examines how personal initiative training impacts entrepreneurial success, particularly in developing contexts.

Her publications reveal a strong trend toward interdisciplinary research combining psychology, economics, and entrepreneurship. Many studies employ randomized controlled trials to assess the effectiveness of entrepreneurial training interventions, particularly in developing countries. Her work spans cognitive psychology aspects (examining how need for cognition affects entrepreneurial persistence), educational interventions (studying remote learning during the pandemic), and development economics (analyzing entrepreneurship training in West Africa).

Professor Mensmann has contributed to high-impact journals including Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Her work has received media attention from major outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Wirtschaftswoche.

Before joining the University of Cologne in July 2021, she served as an Associate Professor at Warwick Business School in the UK (2020-2021) and as an Assistant Professor there (2018-2020). She previously worked as a Research Associate at Leuphana University of Lüneburg and as a Consultant for Innovations for Poverty Action.

As a member of the ECONtribute Cluster of Excellence, she contributes to research at the intersection of business, politics, and society, focusing on how markets function within broader societal contexts and how policy interventions can address challenges like economic inequality and political polarization.