Utilising Enterprise Education to Prepare Healthcare Professional Graduates for the Real-world

Objectives: Every year, HEIs around the world provide an increasing number of graduates with professional degrees in various areas of healthcare including for example medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and podiatry. In most cases, these graduates will get the opportunity to develop a range of generic transferable skills during their HE. Yet, many of these become self-employed or responsible for managing a business, but are not always exposed to curricula that develop their awareness of the concepts of enterprise and entrepreneurship and their role in developing economies and societies, and, thus, do not have the necessary range of enterprise skills that they will need in the real-world, whether employed or self-employed. This paper investigates the extent to which Enterprise Education (EE) is applied at professional schools at HEI to develop graduates’ ‘soft’ and ‘functional’ enterprise skills, and how effective the process of delivering this education is. Prior work: Previous literature mainly deals with the application of enterprise education through business and management schools, rather than professional ones. Yet, there is a call for researching enterprise education and skills with more focus on exploring the methods and objectives of specific disciplines. At the same time, research investigating learning in professional degrees focuses almost entirely on the development of technical skills related to the discipline, without a general perspective on developing a wider range of enterprise skills. Approach: The study draws on, but develops a PhD in the pharmacy education context. Personal interviews with pharmacy employers and academics were carried out, and thematic analysis was applied to identify themes and codes. Results: Despite that experiential and interactive learning approaches, which can support the development of graduates’ enterprise skills, are applied quite often at pharmacy schools, the application of these approaches is focused on discipline-related material and, therefore, can only support the development of graduates’ ‘soft’ enterprise skills. However, there appears to be resistance against developing graduates’ ‘functional’ enterprise skills in pharmacy disciplines, especially in light of the lack of awareness of the concept of enterprise education among academics. The study offers some possible opportunities/propositions that could facilitate the development of more enterprising healthcare graduates, while highlighting the importance of raising the awareness of academics in this regard and embedding enterprise education as part of schools’ philosophies. Implication: This study should help professional schools at HEIs decide more accurately on how to develop their graduates’ ‘soft’ and ‘functional’ enterprise skills, and address the needs of the real-world. Value: This study directs the attention of HEIs to support developing professional graduates who are ready for the real-world, and who can support the growth and success of any organisation whether employed or self-employed

Chiral selection in the formation of borates from racemic binaphthols and related diols

A series of racemic or stereochemically labile chiral borate anions based on the 2,2′-biphenol motif was investigated. All borates were homochiral in the solid state, although in some cases the heterochiral diastereomers were computed to be thermodynamically preferred (DFT). The crystallographic preference for the homochiral diastereomer was attributed to its lower bulk, higher molecular symmetry, and the therewith associated better packing ability

Suppressed Andreev Reflection at the Normal-Metal / Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn5_5 Interface

Dynamic conductance spectra are taken from Au/CeCoIn$_5$ point contacts in the Sharvin limit along the (001) and (110) directions. Our conductance spectra, reproducibly obtained over wide ranges of temperature, constitute the cleanest data sets ever reported for HFSs. A signature for the emerging heavy-fermion liquid is evidenced by the development of the asymmetry in the background in the normal state. Below $T_c$, an enhancement of the sub-gap conductance arising from Andreev reflection is observed, with the magnitude of $\sim$ 13.3 % and $\sim$ 11.8 % for the (001) and the (110) point contacts, respectively, an order of magnitude smaller than those observed in conventional superconductors but consistent with those in other HFSs. Our zero-bias conductance data for the (001) point contacts are best fit with the extended BTK model using the d-wave order parameter. The fit to the full conductance curve of the (001) point contact indicates the strong coupling nature ($2\Delta/k_{B}T_c = 4.64$). However, our observed suppression of both the Andreev reflection signal and the energy gap indicates the failure of existing models. We provide possible directions for theoretical formulations of the electronic transport across an N/HFS interface. Several qualitative features observed in the (110) point contacts provide the first clear spectroscopic evidence for the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ symmetry.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, LaTeX, paper invited and submitted to SPIE Conference on Strongly Correlated Electron Materials: Physics and Nanoengineering, in San Diego, California, July 31 - August 4, 200

The applicability of self-regulation theories in sport : goal adjustment capacities, stress appraisals, coping and well-being among athletes

Objectives: We examined a model, informed by self-regulation theories, which included goal adjustment capacities, appraisals of challenge and threat, coping, and well-being. Design: Prospective. Methods: Two hundred and twelve athletes from the United Kingdom (n = 147) or Australia (n = 65), who played team (n = 135) or individual sports (n = 77), and competed at international (n = 7), national (n = 11), county (n = 67), club (n = 84), or beginner (n = 43) levels participated in this study. Participants completed measures of goal adjustment capacities and stress appraisals two days before competing. Athletes also completed questions on coping and well-being within three hours of their competition ending. Results: The way an athlete responds to an unattainable goal is associated with his or her well-being in the period leading up to and including the competition. Goal reengagement positively predicted well-being, whereas goal disengagement negatively predicted well-being. Further, goal reengagement was positively associated with challenge appraisals, which in turn was linked to task-oriented coping, and task-oriented coping positively associated with well-being. Conclusion: When highly-valued goals become unattainable, consultants could encourage athletes to seek out alternative approaches to achieve the same goal or help them develop a completely new goal

Action learning: engaging the budding entrepreneur

Building on the discussion of what Action Learning is and who action learners are, this paper presents an analysis of learning on an undergraduate Enterprise Development Degree. Implicit in much of the literature is the expectation that action learners are practicing managers and so less attention has been given to exploring Action Learning in other learning communities. This paper discusses the interests and experiences of participants on a degree programme for developing entrepreneurs, which requires learning from action and for action. Cycles of Action Research are used to inform, what action learning might be in this context, who can engage and benefit from this approach, and the ongoing development of the programme

Environmental entrepreneurship: The sustainability challenge

Objectives: The past decade has seen an upsurge in academic, practitioner and policy interest in environmental entrepreneurship (e.g. Kirkwood and Walton, 2010a, b; Walley et al, 2010), as well as a focus on ‘sustainable entrepreneurship’ in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) (e.g. Cohen & Wynn, 2004; Dean and McMullen, 2007; Hall et al, 2010; Pacheco et al, 2009; Parrish, 2005, 2007a, b; Parrish and Foxon, 2009; Rodgers, 2009; Tilley and Parrish, 2006, 2009). Because this nascent topic – which straddles entrepreneurship, sustainability, innovation and technological change – remains under-theorised with clear gaps in the literature, this paper develops conceptual understanding of the link between environmental entrepreneurship, sustainability, and innovation. Approach: We review critically the literature on environmental entrepreneurship, highlighting (as above) a lack of conceptual development, and relate it to debates within other related fields, such as innovation and technological change (e.g. Drucker, 1985a, b; Rothwell, 1994; Preece and Laurila, 2003; Bolton & Thompson, 2004) and strategic entrepreneurship (e.g. Covin & Miles, 1999; Thompson, 1999; Hitt et al, 2001). Subsequently, we present two testable conceptual models, which, with ongoing research we are applying to a diverse range of case studies. Results: Therefore, building on prior work by Bolton & Thompson (2004) – which identified a ‘social facet’ which can affect a person’s temperament and which manifests itself as a hierarchy of four stages – the authors develop two new conceptual frameworks. Both feature a Business/Environment Sustainability Index (e.g. a double or maybe even a triple bottom line assessment or sustainable value (see Figge & Hahn, 2005; Hahn et al 2007)). One framework separates opportunity driven businesses from those constrained by regulation; and the second distinguishes economics as a predominant motive force from cause-driven behaviour. Implications: At a global level, we are concerned about things that are happening in the world, generally things many perceive as ‘negative’ in the context of (environmental) sustainability. At a national level, wealthy and successful regions attract more money and value creators, while relatively unsuccessful regions enter into a spiral of decline, resulting in blighted landscapes and no-go areas – whilst their renewal might be a local issue it has wider connotations – the funding and energy required could go elsewhere. Locally, it can be tempting to believe any development is better than no development. Value: This paper provides novel conceptual models for an emerging topic within the fields of entrepreneurship and sustainability and considers whether it needs organisations to be ‘on message’ for successful environmental outcomes to be achieved. It is a work-in-progress that the authors are continuing and it can also be an opportunity for other researchers with an interest in environmental entrepreneurship

A critical perspective on learning outcomes and the effectiveness of experiential approaches in entrepreneurship education: do we innovate or implement?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conduct a critical appraisal of how experiential approaches can more effectively enhance the achievement of desired learning outcomes in entrepreneurship education. In particular, the authors critique whether actual learning outcomes can be profitably used to measure effectiveness; and consider how student performance can be evaluated through the twin lenses of implementation or innovation. Design/methodology/approach – The authors undertook a review of both traditional and experiential approaches to entrepreneurship education. In addition to comparing these approaches, the authors critiqued a number of “taken for granted” assumptions regarding the effectiveness of experiential approaches to entrepreneurship education and made recommendations. Findings – Although there is a large body of research on experiential approaches towards entrepreneurship education, the authors know little about how these approaches contribute towards the effective achievement of desired learning outcomes. Whilst many authors claim that such approaches are effective, such assertions are not supported by sufficient robust evidence. Hence the authors need to establish more effective student performance evaluation metrics. In particular: first, whether actual learning outcomes are appropriate measures of effectiveness; and second, the authors should evaluate student performance through the lenses of the two “Is” – implementation or innovation. Practical implications – Whether actual learning outcomes are used as a measure of effectiveness at all needs to be critiqued further. Implementation involves doing things that are determined by others and matching against their expectations, whereas innovation comprises producing multiple and varied solutions that respond to change and often surprise. Originality/value – Through revisiting the discussions on the art and the science of entrepreneurship education, this paper represents an initial critical attempt – as part of an ongoing study – to fill a gap in entrepreneurship education research. The paper, therefore, has significant value for students, entrepreneurship educators and policy-makers