Tag Archives: Employability

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Entrepreneurship Education in the UK: Impact and Future Research Directions

Dive into the world of entrepreneurship education in the UK. This blog post unpacks the key findings from a recent study, analyzing the real impact nationally of Entrepreneurship Education Programmes (EEP) on students and identifying future research areas.

Entrepreneurship education has become a cornerstone in shaping the business leaders of tomorrow. But, how effective is it, really? This recent study I conducted with colleagues delved into this question, examining UK’s undergraduate entrepreneurship programmes. Let’s uncover what they found and what it means for the future.

The research article is titled “Does Entrepreneurship Education Deliver? A Review of Entrepreneurship Education University Programmes in the UK” and explores the impact of undergraduate entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) in the UK. It examines the structure, student satisfaction, and outcomes of these programmes. The study is conducted using publicly available data and aims to offer insights on the effectiveness of EEPs in terms of student continuation, satisfaction, and employability. The paper contributes new findings to the field, particularly relevant for researchers, educators, and policymakers involved in entrepreneurship education. For more details, you can view the full article here.

The article concludes that while Entrepreneurship Education Programmes (EEPs) in UK universities are generally well-received by students, their effectiveness in enhancing employability and entrepreneurial skills varies. The study highlights the need for a more standardized approach in evaluating these programmes and suggests a greater emphasis on practical, experiential learning to improve outcomes. It also points out the potential for these programmes to better align with industry requirements and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

For a comprehensive understanding, don’t forget to check out the full study here.

Blog, Enterprise Education, Skills Development

Experience , Employability, Enterprise

Having worked with a number of universities over the last five years, the motivation for providing any sort of entrepreneurial development is coming down to three core KPIs.

When we consider the student within a university, they seek these three important indicators.

Experience

This aspect some years ago was the key reputation of the university. Now its about the enjoyment provided by the student’s union and the quality of the lecturing staff in providing an educational service. When you analysis the recent survey, the clear winners are those regional city universities which have professional on campus student services. The bottom of the table are those in major cities whose can not compete with the volume of other activities which the city offers.

However, the table shows interesting deviations which when you compare with enterprise support at that university. For an increasing number of students the size of the student bar or the availability of a 24/7 hockey pitch are not on their radar.

Employability

The curriculum and the offered courses are sliding against the sledge hammer of change to accommodate the holy grail of employability and the consequential Destination of Leavers survey. Promoting and recruiting students which have less than a 50% chance of employability is an impossible task for the majority of universities.

So embedding the opportunities to engage with business, gain valued experience and create a dialogue with employers which seek your students has to start, as always at fresher week and progress to the milk round and end with the much valued but of of reach alumni.

Enterprise

Everyone who goes to university should work in an enterprise. It may be government, social, charity, self employment, startup, SME or even a FTSE 250. In every case our students should know where they provide the value, which pays them their wages. Around this concept we develop our students with enterprise awareness and skills.

I was listening to BIS minster who stated when Warwick University started their business school and student and staff tried to stop this, stating that universities and business should be separate.

  • Education and Business should always be aligned.
  • Research and Business should not always be aligned.

Enterprise in education should accommodate the student requirements to service their desire to fulfill their career ambitions.This may be to work in business, government, freelancing or starting a business. Every single one of them should be entrepreneurial in their outlook to ensure they seek the opportunities available to them and the country.