Re-Focusing - Building a Future for Entrepreneurial Education & Learning

The field of entrepreneurship has struggled with fundamental questions concerning the subject’s nature and purpose. To whom and to what means are educational and training agendas ultimately directed? Such questions have become of central importance to policy makers, practitioners and academics alike. There are suggestions that university business schools should engage more critically with the lived experiences of practising entrepreneurs through alternative pedagogical approaches and methods, seeking to account for and highlighting the social, political and moral aspects of entrepreneurial practice. In the UK, where funding in higher education has become increasingly dependent on student fees, there are renewed pressures to educate students for entrepreneurial practice as opposed to educating them about the nature and effects of entrepreneurship. Government and EU policies are calling on business schools to develop and enhance entrepreneurial growth and skill sets, to make their education and training programmes more proactive in providing innovative educational practices which help and facilitate life experiences and experiential learning. This paper makes the case for critical frameworks to be applied so that complex social processes become a source of learning for educators and entrepreneurs and so that innovative pedagogical approaches can be developed in terms both of context (curriculum design) and process (delivery methods)

The Impact of Entrepreneurship Education in Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

Using a teaching model framework, we systematically review empirical evidence on the impact of entrepreneurship education (EE) in higher education on a range of entrepreneurial outcomes, analyzing 159 published articles from 2004 to 2016. The teaching model framework allows us for the first time to start rigorously examining relationships between pedagogical methods and specific outcomes. Reconfirming past reviews and meta-analyses, we find that EE impact research still predominantly focuses on short-term and subjective outcome measures and tends to severely underdescribe the actual pedagogies being tested. Moreover, we use our review to provide an up-to-date and empirically rooted call for less obvious, yet greatly promising, new or underemphasized directions for future research on the impact of university-based entrepreneurship education. This includes, for example, the use of novel impact indicators related to emotion and mind-set, focus on the impact indicators related to the intention-to-behavior transition, and exploring the reasons for some contradictory findings in impact studies including person-, context-, and pedagogical model-specific moderator

Training in small businesses

The topic of training in small businesses has progressed a long way from its humble beginnings and currently it occupies a central position within the wider training debate. The main motive to train in small businesses relates to gaining and sustainable competitive advantage under constrained resource-allocation conditions. Much of the training provided in small firms is reactive rather than proactive and reflects the informal management style preferred by most small business owner/managers. It is suggested that training initiative should be aimed directly at the specific needs of small business owner/managers and their workforce. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Vocational education and training in SMEs: The role of Education+Training in promoting quality research

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a personal perspective, of a contributor and Guest Editor, on the impact of Education + Training on promoting quality research and dissemination in the area of vocational education and training (VET) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It has been written specifically to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Education + Training. Design/methodology/approach - The author adopts a reflective approach to evaluate critically the progression of this topic in terms of individual articles and Special Issues published since 1997, and reviews his close involvement with this journal. Findings - This journal is widely recognised as a leader in its field. In terms of VET in SMEs, Education + Training has made a significant impact upon academic research and dissemination and contributed to emergent policy making in the UK and elsewhere. Originality/value - This paper provides a succinct point of view on the impact and development of an academic journal. Its originality stems from the unique perspective offered by a contributor who, since 2000, also guest edited an annual double Special Issue on topics related to VET in SMEs. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Entrepreneurship education in the UK: A critical analysis of stakeholder involvement and expectations

Purpose: This paper aims to explore stakeholder involvement in, and expectation of, entrepreneurship education in UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach: Longitudinal telephone surveys were conducted annually over an eight-year period (2000 to 2007) to document and analyse 336 respondents' involvement in, and expectation of, entrepreneurship education in UK HEIs. Findings: The results indicate that stakeholder involvement in entrepreneurship education is explicit, widespread and linked to ongoing educational developments that have radically transformed management structures and accountability at all levels of the UK educational system. Stakeholders' expectations are equally complex and varied, reflecting a heterogeneous range of individual, group and community needs. Practical implications: The findings provide valuable insights into entrepreneurship education for students, university staff, policy makers and other stakeholders. Government could use the results of this research study to ensure that relevant policies and initiatives reach the targeted sector in a focused and cost-efficient manner. Originality/value: This study provides an original and empirically rigorous insight into stakeholder involvement in, and expectation of, entrepreneurship education in UK HEIs. It provides valuable longitudinal data for a wide range of stakeholders involved in entrepreneurship education in the UK. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

The paradox of training in the small business sector Owner/managers attitudes to, and actual provision of, training in the West Midlands region, 1993-1996

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