Creating Entrepreneurial Campuses

Heather GibsonEnhancement Team

QAA Scotland

QAA Scotland

•Reflecting education as being a devolved responsibility of Scottish Parliament

•Develop and operate assurance and enhancement to meet needs of Scottish HEIs

•Enhancement Led Institutional Review

•Quality Enhancement Themes

•Flexible Learning - Recognition of Prior Learning- Work Based Learning- Entrepreneurship and Enterprise

Quality Enhancement Themes

Way for Scottish HEIs, practitioners and students to work together to enhance T&L

Supported by QAA Scotland

9 Past Themes including: Employability, Flexible Delivery, Graduate attributes, Developing & Supporting the Curriculum and new Theme: Student Transitions

‘However it is clear that it (EEE) is most effective where there is distinct institutional leadership for enterprise and entrepreneurship, as shown in the concept of 'The Entrepreneurial University‘ ‘(p. 6)

Colin MasonUniversity of Glasgow

Case studies from:University of the Highlands & IslandsEdinburgh NapierSt AndrewsStrathclyde

The case for entrepreneurial campuses

• pressure from Government

• pressure from students and parents

• changes in the labour market

• changes in business environment

Benefits of entrepreneurial campuses

• Entrepreneurial start-ups contribute to the local economy

• Differentiate and distinguish the University in increasingly competitive market

• Attract potential entrepreneurial students

• Entrepreneurial alumni donate, provide mentoring and contribute to provision

Objectives of entrepreneurship education

produce graduates who are capable of  • identifying opportunities • developing ventures through setting

up new businesses or • developing and growing existing

ventures.  

How can these graduates be developed?

•Can entrepreneurship be taught?

•Nature v nurture

•Entrepreneurial attributes

How can these graduates be developed?

Entrepreneurial attributes

Developing an entrepreneurial campus

The curriculum strand

Key questions

• what is taught?• how it is taught?• who is teaching it and who is being

taught?

 

Entrepreneurship education - what is taught?

Development of entrepreneurship courses• know what, which covers functional

management skills such as finance, accounting and marketing

• know why, which addresses motivational issues, developing favourable attitudes towards entrepreneurship

• know how, which addresses soft skills such as creativity, networking, negotiation and selling. 

 

Entrepreneurship education – how is it taught?

Development of entrepreneurship coursesCriticised for ‘ineffectiveness’

• classroom-based focus and 'lecture teaching methodology

• reliance on theories, content and pedagogical approaches borrowed from business management. 

• focus on the new venture business plan

 

 

Entrepreneurship education – how is it taught?

• active and experiential• emphasis on selling – unpacks to

negiotiation, communication and relationship skills

• Authentic, reflects/engages with real-life

• Move from transmitter to facilitator

 

 

Entrepreneurship education – how is it taught?

pedagogy that encourages learning by:•  doing; •  exchange; •  copying (and learning from the

experience); •  experimentation; •  risk taking and 'positive' mistake making; •  creative problem solving; •  feedback through social interaction; •  dramatisation and role playing; •  close exposure to role models; and, in

particular, interaction with the outside/adult world.

 

 

Entrepreneurship education – how is it taught?

Examples of experiential learning activities • consulting project

• business simulations

• students start a business

 

 

Entrepreneurship education – how is it taught? Issues for teachers and students

• Assessment

• Reflection

• Who controls content?

• Role of the teacher

• Relationship to the disciplines

 

 

Entrepreneurship education – who teaches it and who is being taught?

Institutional models- offered by Business School- dedicated institutional centre – ‘Enterprise centres’- diffuse model - presence in schools with 'enterprise champions'-Disciplines – across, multi, within?-How many courses?Which is the best model for embedding it across institution?

 

 

Entrepreneurship education – who teaches it and who is being taught?

•staff are engaged with the entrepreneurial community and have an empathy with entrepreneurs

•guest lecturers

•pracademic (practitioner-academic)

 

 

Developing an entrepreneurial campus

The extra - curriculum strand

-Important for several reasons- Unlikely all students will access to courses

- Some students may be uncertain about taking a course

- Offer learning opportunities beyond formal courses

- Support for entrepreneurial activity beyond a formal course ,i.e., start-up

 

Developing an entrepreneurial campus

The extra - curriculum strand

Entrepreneurs interact with students – entrepreneur-in-residenceEntrepreneurial activities

- Networking- Boot-camps- Competitions- Societies and clubs

-Business start-up support, incubators, hatcheries

 

Conclusions

Universities expected to make clear contribution to national, regional and local economy

Students are changing – demographics, expectations and interest in entrepreneurship

Need to create an supportive ‘eco-system’ that supports E&E – in and out of the ‘curriculum’

E&E needs institutional commitment at all levels

Need for Universities to share practice & collaborate

 

Some reflective questions•In terms of pedagogy what is the difference between EEE and

experiential learning approaches?

•How does ‘learning from failure’ square with ‘getting it right’?

•What is the role of the discipline in entrepreneurship?• How does entrepreneurship contribute to

disciplines? • How do the disciplines contribute to

entrepreneurship?

•Is entrepreneurial education about setting up enterprises? Or is it about a wider contribution to the individual (qualities and skills) and HEI (society and economy)?

•What is the relationship between entrepreneurship and employability?

•How do we engage more staff and students?

Thank you!