Closing the generational start-up gap

The promotion of youth entrepreneurship and self-employment has been identified as an important strand of policies to reduce youth unemployment. This report is designed to re-visit the rationale lying behind policies designed to increase youth entrepreneurship and to provide some recommendations for future action

Entrepreneurial intentions among students: towards a re-focused research agenda

Purpose – This paper aims to address the need for a re-focused research agenda in relation to graduate entrepreneurship. An important theme for some years has been the effort to monitor attitudes and intentions of students towards starting up their own businesses. It is timely, however, to raise some questions about both the impact of this research and likewise the general approach it has taken in understanding the phenomenon of graduate entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a large data set (over 8,000 students) from one UK region. Specifically, it presents data from the 2007/2008 Entrepreneurial Intentions (EI) survey within the Yorkshire and Humberside region and reflects back over previous iterations of this research. Findings – The paper identifies three key outcomes. First, it establishes that across all years of the survey a substantial minority of students consistently hold relatively strong start-up intentions. Second, the paper highlights that, despite considerable efforts to increase the numbers moving to start-up, little impact is discernible. Third, the paper suggests that, although the EI survey is useful as a stock-taking exercise, it fails to address critical questions around the impact of higher education on entrepreneurship and the transition from entrepreneurial intent to the act of venture creation. Originality/value – The paper provides an important positioning perspective on the relationship between higher education and graduate entrepreneurship. While highlighting the importance of the EI research, the paper establishes the need for a re-focused research agenda; one that is conceptually robust and with a focus on the student journey from higher education to graduate entrepreneur

VIE Project: Cultural values and socioeconomic factors as determinants of entrepreneurial intentions

This paper describes a research project currently being developed by the authors. It aims to analyse the role played by psychosocial, cultural and socioeconomic factors in shaping the entrepreneurial intention. Survey methods will be used on a population of potential entrepreneurs (having not yet performed actual entrepreneurial behaviours). In this sense, undergraduate students and individuals contacting business support centres will be considered as part of the sample. We expect to get a clearer understanding of the psychosocial elements, socioeconomic factors and cultural values affecting the venture-creation decision. The results would be important to policy makers (showing them what to encourage), to practitioners (what to do better), and to researchers (what to clarify)

Women in enterprise : a different perspective

According to this detailed study of UK women and entrepreneurship produced for RBS by Aston Business School, women do not have any individual or collective entrepreneurial deficit. Instead, this report finds that it is a combination of challenge and choice. Whilst there is clearly a cultural challenge, women also choose to use entrepreneurship differently

Entrepreneurial becoming: an educational pathway out of poverty

This paper reports a longitudinal analysis of 20 necessity driven micro-entrepreneurs operating in Beira, Central Mozambique, who received funding and training from the same NGO to establish or grow their business activities and reports the development of these entrepreneurs in terms of their acquired entrepreneurial potential for long-term success. The results indicate there is a process of entrepreneurial becoming that is not just about access to finance but especially learning and, when successful, this process supports the transformation of survival micro-enterprises into entrepreneurial micro-businesses. The concept of ‘becoming’ contains an implicit temporal dimension. Becoming suggests a transformation over time: a change from what one is already. In this study, we witness a significant change in understanding how a business needs to operate, in recognizing opportunities, thinking more creatively, and building self-confidence

Developing an enterprising spirit among engineering college students : what are the educational factors ?

The purpose of this chapter is to further what can be called the Entrepreneurial Spirit. Indeed these words, although widely used, have not yet been properly defined in the literature as to how it is created, and what precise aspects can be enhanced through teaching activities. It is a matter of suggesting hypotheses in order to build up a model of how an Entrepreneurial Spirit is engendered among newly trained engineers. Our chapter is divided into four section. The first deals with the question of the definition of the Entrepreneurial Spirit: How does it arise prior to the decision to set up a business? How can the components of an Entrepreneurial Spirit be defined? We suggest a dynamic model. The second section deals with the factors leading to an Entrepreneurial Spirit among young engineers: What is the relevance of the educational background ? What are the possible teaching method variables within engineering college training? The third section presents methodological features of our research. The fourth section presents early results about the projective dimensions of our model of engineering students in 2004. As a conclusion, we present theoretical and practical implications of our research.entreprising spirit, entrepreneurship education

Creating an entrepreneurial region: exploring the entrepreneurial capacity of the East Midlands

This paper explores the notion of the entrepreneurial region and, in particular, the relevance and appropriateness of this concept to the East Midlands. An outline framework is developed that depicts aspects and dimensions of an entrepreneurial region. This is then applied to the East MIdlands to gauge how entrepreneurial the region is

Shear resistance improvement of oil-contaminated ballast layer with rubber shred inclusions

Railway ballast, which form an integral part of rail tracks, is highly susceptible to subsistence due to both vibration transmitted by the passing trains, as well as the breakage of ballasts with repeated impact. The resulting subsistence necessitates regular monitoring and maintenance, involving cost- and time- consuming remedial actions, such as stone-blowing and ballast renewal. Measures to minimize the wear and tear effect are therefore desirable to prolong the lifespan of the ballast layer. It is even more critical when the ballast is contaminated with oil and grease from braking wheels and leakages. This paper describes the inclusion of rubber shreds (≤10 mm in length, 1.5 mm thick) derived from the inner tubes of motorcycle tyres in oil-contaminated ballast layer for shear resistance improvement. The tests are mainly carried out in a standard direct shear test setup, i.e. shear box measuring 60 mm x 60 mm. Granitic stones of suitable sizes were sieved and used as representative samples of typical ballast. The samples were soaked in lubricant oil for 14 days to simulate the contamination. The direct shear test results indicated rubber shreds inclusion could effectively improve the shear resistance of ballast and expedient in deformation control with increased ductility of the composites. This could potentially improve absorption of impact, hence reduction of breakages of the ballasts. Clearly both mechanisms contribute to the overall reduced subsistence, accompanied by an increase in the shear resistance. However, further investigations in a dynamic test setup are necessary for verifications prior to field implementation