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EEUK

Below you will find links to a wide range of reports that may be useful and of interest to Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Educators. They are listed in order of date of publication and for each there is a short summary and link to the full document.

OECD Framework for the Evaluation of SME and Entrepreneurship Policies and Programmes 2023

Evaluation is the foundation of evidence-based policy. Yet there is a dearth of reliable impact evaluation in the area of SME and entrepreneurship policy. This publication issues OECD guidance on how governments can promote reliable SME and entrepreneurship policy evaluation. It emphasises practices including using control groups, setting clear policy objectives and targets and accounting for business survival and non-survival. It shows that reliable evaluation of SME and entrepreneurship policy is increasingly accessible given improvements in data and techniques in recent years and illustrates this with examples of 50 reliable evaluations across many SME and entrepreneurship policy areas and 28 OECD countries. Overall, the publication issues a call for more systematic and reliable evaluation of SME and entrepreneurship policies following the guidance offered. The publication also examines the findings of reliable evaluations internationally, including meta evaluations. The evidence is mixed but generally more robust and consistent for policies to improve access to finance than in the provision of training and advisory services. Some policies have positive impacts on key measures whereas others do not. The reasons are explored, including variations in the targeting of policies and in policy delivery approaches. Citation: OECD (2023), Framework for the Evaluation of SME and Entrepreneurship Policies and Programmes 2023, OECD Studies on SMEs and Entrepreneurship, OECD Publishing, Paris

Download report here or read online here

UK BEIS framework here

Rose Review Progress Report on Female Entrepreneurship Progress Report 3: 2022 (Feb 2023)

This third report sets out the full extent of progress made since the inaugural report in 2019. It outlines the extra support needed for female led businesses to thrive, and the challenges that they have faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Rose Review originally highlighted that if women started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as men, up to £250bn of new value could be added to the UK economy. Today’s Progress Report outlines progress made against targets and initiatives but cautions that there is still more to do. In total, 134 institutions with an investing power of nearly £1 trillion have now signed up to the Investing in Women Code. The Investing in Women Code is a commitment by financial services firms to improving female entrepreneurs’ access to tools, resources and finance. The Code commits lenders and investors to collect and report data about their performance backing female-led firms and the number of signatories has leapt by a half over the past year. Research conducted for the Rose Review shows that the impact of Covid-19 risks holding back progress. It suggests that despite the rapid growth in female led start-ups, female entrepreneurs have spent twice as long on caring responsibilities during the pandemic as their male counterparts, and that their businesses have been less likely to recover.

Download report here and press release here.

 

Report: Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education: 2021-2023

Launched in 2006 and last revised in 2011, the Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education (PSF) has global recognition for raising the profile of teaching and learning in higher education. The PSF’s contribution to reward and recognition is unsurpassed, being used by individuals, institutions and national bodies. Its support for policy setting and strategic transformation is valued, as is its application to leadership, promotion, probation and professional development. As sector custodians of the PSF, Advance HE recognised that a review of the PSF was an imperative to ensure it retains currency and relevance to practice in an ever-evolving environment.  The review process was independent, strongly sector led and evidence based. Comprehensive and repeated consultation facilitated a co-creative environment from which the PSF 2023 emerged. This report details that review process, and explores some of the most prominent changes to the revised Framework.

Download and read more here.

 

APPG report: Supporting SMEs Successfully December 07, 2022

There is a renewed focus to grow the economy at a faster rate. Achieving this will require many changes to be made, but returning productivity growth to historic trends will be essential. Within this puzzle, attention will need to be paid to small businesses in particular – which evidence suggests have dragged on overall productivity in recent years. In Supporting SMEs Successfully, we assess some of the current government support programmes for SMEs to boost their productivity. Our central finding is that while existing interventions are well intentioned, and in many cases working well for the businesses using them, more could still be done to ensure they are as effective as possible.

Download the report from here.

 

APPG Briefing Paper: Science and Innovation –  Space Startups and Scaleups November 08, 2022

The space sector has changed enormously over the last few years, increasing in importance globally for economic growth, for security and for international partnership. As we look forward, ever more of the major challenges we face as a planet will have solutions, or parts of solutions, from space. The economic development of space to support the sustainable development of Earth is a critical opportunity for the UK.

Download the report from here.

 

APPG FINCONWAY Schools  Entrepreneurship Education Report June 2022

Youth entrepreneurship has an important role to play in innovation and economic growth across the United Kingdom. Globally, young people are more entrepreneurial than ever and on average are founding over double the number of companies than their older counterparts.1 Some 45,797 young people either registered as selfemployed or formed their own limited companies between 2018 and 2020. Entrepreneurship education in schools in England is, at present, largely provided by external, private organisations, and is not properly integrated into the curriculum. — The responses to our Call for Evidence highlight that there has been little Government leadership on this area in England, in stark contrast with the rest of the United Kingdom and Europe.

Download the report here.

 

OECD The Recommendation on SME and Entrepreneurship policy Report June 2022

The Recommendation on SME and Entrepreneurship policy was adopted by the OECD Council at Ministerial level on 10 June 2022 on the proposal of the Committee on SMEs and Entrepreneurship (CSMEE). As part of a broader OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Strategy, the Recommendation aims to provide an evidence-based and holistic framework to support Adherents in developing coherent, effective and efficient SME and entrepreneurship policies, to foster their contribution to inclusive and sustainable growth and for the benefit of all.

Download the report here.

 

What do graduates do? January 2022

The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) collaborated with JISC to produce this report using data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency’s Graduate Outcomes 2018/19 survey.

The report shows that the graduate labour market was in relatively good health at the time of survey. Amongst a range of findings, the report found that, of the 198,875 UK-domiciled first-degree graduates who responded to the survey, the majority of graduates were in employment 15 months after graduating. The average salary for graduates who went straight into full-time employment in the UK was £24,492.

Download the report here.

 

Education for Sustainable Development Guidance (Executive Summary) March 2021

The Education for Sustainable Development Guidance is intended to help UK higher education institutions incorporate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within their curricula. QAA and Advance HE, together with a group of experts representing academic, business and student communities, published a new version of the guidance for 2021, with the aim of supporting students from any discipline to acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary to develop values and take actions to transition society towards sustainable futures.

Click here to access the Executive Summary

 

The EntreComp reports 2016 – 2020

The European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (EntreComp) is a comprehensive, flexible and multi-purpose reference framework that is designed to help you explore what is meant by entrepreneurship as a competence. Created by the European Commission, EntreComp identifies the competences that make up what it means to be entrepreneurial as discovering and acting upon opportunities and ideas, and transforming them into financial, cultural, or social value for others. The original EntreComp Framework was published in 2016 and has inspired and informed a range of other documents including EntreComp into Action, the Entrepreneurial Employee, the EntreComp Playbook, EntreComp at Work and other related publications. EEUK has created a concise summary and link to all the reports so that everything can now be found in one place.

Click here for the EntreComp Reports 2016-2020

 

Graduates in self-employment and micro-businesses, Dr Charlie Ball, Graduate Prospects, September 2019

This report by Charlie Ball, Prospects’ head of higher education intelligence, presents data about self-employed and entrepreneurial graduates – including who they are they, what they do and where they do it. Dr Ball was a keynote at EEUK’s IEEC2019 conference in Oxford and this report was produced to coincide with his talk.

Download the report here.

 

Future Founders: Understanding the next generation of entrepreneurs, The Entrepreneurs Network and Octopus Group

This report provides an insightful overview (with some killer stats) for enterprise and entrepreneurship educators to use with colleagues and stakeholders.  It paints a clear picture, based on a poll of 1,549 young (14-25) people of the need for good enterprise education that builds on the raised awareness and aspiration to provide a balanced overview of the realities of starting a new business.  It also highlights the need to showcase the diversity of what it means to be an entrepreneur, and invites educators to create inspiration from more female and UK entrepreneurs as our classroom role models.

Download Future Founders here.

 

Made it Happen: Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education in Scottish Universities, Universities Scotland, November 2018

This report from Universities Scotland highlights the impact that a clear focus has had on entrepreneurship in Scottish universities.  The “Made it Happen” (2018) report includes the following findings: there has been a 53% increase in the number of start-up companies created by students and graduates over the last three years to 661 companies in 2018 (universities had aimed for 25% growth); 100% of Scottish universities organise work placements for students and 79% of institutions offer placements or internships with entrepreneurs and small businesses; Scotland’s universities have exceeded the goal of 14,000 and have seen at least 17,000 students and staff participating in enterprise and entrepreneurship workshops. The report creates a score card of activity since the first report in 2015 and revisits the 17 graduates to track their entrepreneurial journey, showcasing a strong theme of common good or social enterprise.

Download ‘Made it Happen’ here. 

 

Enterprise Education, All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship, November 2018

This report calls for clarity, consistency and support for enterprise education. It was published following a call for evidence to the EEUK membership and brings together the latest in UK thinking. It includes examples and evidence from EEUK Board, Fellows, membership and from across key activities in the UK, (such as EEUK’s annual conference IEEC), showcasing many case studies from EEUK member institutions. The report recognises the breadth of activity across UK universities, as well as the challenges in measuring the effectiveness of enterprise education, stating “there just isn’t enough funding to properly assess everything being done”. The report draws together this national evidence bank to make 8 recommendations.

Download the APPG report here.

 

Place, Learning and Entrepreneurialism: The impact of entrepreneurial education on regional economies, Localis, Feb 2018

Universities contribute to one in every hundred new business births in the UK . Across the country, there are pockets of excellence in supporting enterprise and entrepreneurship and there is an escalator of business support. But too many universities are doing too little. According to national research , 35% of universities did not contribute to the production of a single graduate start-up last year. Where there is good practice, too little is known of its true impact. In partnership with University College London (UCL) and the University of Huddersfield (UoH), Localis have explored what more can be done to encourage university entrepreneurial activity – and its role in emerging local industrial strategy.

Download the report here.

 

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education: Guidance for UK Higher Education Providers, QAA, January 2018

Described as a landmark document by the British Government’s Chief Entrepreneurial Adviser, and used to inform international initiatives such as the European Commission’s EntreComp Framework, QAA’s 2012 guidance on Enterprise and Entrepreneurship has been applied to shape and develop new educational initiatives worldwide. Five years on, we have seen its impact evidenced in new types of courses, new types of learning and new metrics for success. The purpose of this document is to capture this impact and to provide a future roadmap for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education. This new edition, which has been influenced by both EEUK members and IEEC delegates creates a highly accessible working document that will drive further change across the sector and is likely to become a keystone document across the sector.

Download the Guidance here.

 

Incubators and accelerators: An updated Directory for the UK, Nesta, April 2017

Accelerators and incubators continue to grow and develop. This report, commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and produced by Nesta with support from the UK Science Parks Association (UKSPA) and Synoptica, an artificial intelligence data provider, maps the landscape of incubators and accelerators in the UK, identifying where they are located and what sectors they cover. Also published is a new directory of incubators and accelerators in the UK. This directory is believed to be the most comprehensive of its kind for the UK but if you are involved with an accelerator or incubator and you would like to add or amend some information in the directory please contact NESTA before 12th June 2017 at accelerators@nesta.org.uk.

Download the report and directory here.

 

Putting the Uni in Unicorn: the role of universities in supporting high-growth graduate start-ups, Centre for Entrepreneurs, April 2017

By incubating graduate entrepreneurs, universities can drive economic growth and innovation, boost graduate retention, bolster student recruitment and, most importantly, help more young people to fulfil their aspirations. This report recognises that many universities already do a lot to support entrepreneurship. However, the report also suggests that more could be done to help ambitious graduates actually start companies, for example through tailored incubation programmes.

Download here.

 

“Enterprise in Evolution” The Oslo AGENDA: 10 Years on, Enterprise Evolution, October 2016

The last 10 years has seen a wide range of agencies from the public, business and education sectors across Europe engaging with the broad policy area of “promoting the entrepreneurial mind-set”. In 2006, a call was made across Europe to step up the progress promoting entrepreneurial mind-set in society and the key stakeholders identified areas for action, resulting in 49 points for advancement.   This policy statement has guided activity across member states, and guided the action of many. In celebration of the 10 years since the publication of the “Oslo Agenda” (26-27 October 2006) a policy-based online survey was released through Aug-Oct 2016 by ‘Enterprise Evolution’, in association with Enterprise Educators UK (EEUK). This paper presents the findings of the 100 respondents and identifies some clear areas of improvement within the diverse responses to the 49 key areas of the Oslo Agenda (A-F).

Download here.

 

Self-employment review: An independent report, BIS, February 2016

An independent review of self-employment commissioned by the UK Government and undertaken by entrepreneur Julie Deane OBE. With record numbers (currently 4.6m) representing 15% of the UK workforce, Deane was struck by the diversity of this group and was keen to engage with every part of this sector not just tech start-ups. The research was undertaken through online surveys of the self-employed as well as discussions with trade and professional organisations representing hundreds of thousands of members. Dean makes 10 recommendations, the first of which is that there is a need for education to better prepare our young people for the role which self-employment might play in their future.

Download here.

 

Supporting the entrepreneurial potential of higher education, European Commission, June 2015

This European Commission study is responding to the need to develop a stronger evidence base of the entrepreneurial potential of higher education and derive lessons for policy development. The study team focuses on activities which have a particular impact on the educating students, including both curricular and extracurricular offerings as well as the institutional dimension of entrepreneurship in higher education. The study helps in gaining a better understanding of universities’ opportunities to develop entrepreneurial activities and capabilities.

Download here.

 

Research to assess the nature and annual value of student start-ups, HEFCE, March 2015

This report summarises exploratory and experimental research to consider ways to provide evidence on the value of student enterprise, including student start-ups and the contribution of students to spin-outs from English higher education institutions (HEIs). The report was commissioned by HEFCE from PACEC (Public and Corporate Economic Consultants), in collaboration with the Centre for Business Research, Cambridge.

Download here.

 

The Report on Small Firms 2010-2015 by Lord Young, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Feb 2015

This report draws together the recommendations and outputs from Lord Young’s three papers on small firms and enterprise including ‘Enterprise for All’ (see below). There is a major section on Enterprise in Education that includes reference to embedding enterprise into education as well as proposed initiatives such as ‘Enterprise Advisers’, the ‘Enterprise Passport’ and the ‘Future Earnings and Employment Record’.

Download here.

 

Entrepreneurship Education: A road to success, European Commission, Feb 2015

A compilation of evidence on the impact of entrepreneurship education strategies and measures. In 2013 DG Enterprise and Industry commissioned ICF International to conduct a mapping exercise of examples of research on the impact of Entrepreneurial Education. This report presents the outcome of the mapping exercise: 91 studies from 23 countries were identified. Eighty four studies addressed initiatives and actions taken at national level, and seven examples researched the effects of transnational projects operating in several countries. The prevailing impression that emerged from the evidence collected is that entrepreneurship education works.

Download here.

 

Final Report: Commission into enterprise and young people, NYA, Jan 2015

This is the final report of the National Youth Agency’s (NYA) Commission into Enterprise and Young People which was established in February 2014 and using information from a variety of sources has explored the current state of youth enterprise in England: what it means to young people; what opportunities are available to them and how they find out about them; and how youth work can add value in encouraging more young people, particularly the most disadvantaged, to consider the options enterprise offers.

Download here.

 

The Future of Identifying Enterprising Students, RBS, July 2014

This report is based on three months of research into the enterprise and entrepreneurial landscape in UK universities, including a quantitative survey of students. It looks at the attitudes, activities and experiences of all students, but takes a deeper look at those involved in clubs and societies. It measures awareness of many of the organisations and programmes that help students develop their potential, including RBS Enterprising Student Society Accreditation (RBS ESSA), a national scheme which rewards and recognises societies and the student teams involved in them.

Download here.

 

Enterprise for All: The relevance of enterprise in education, BIS, June 2014

Lord Young, the Prime Minister’s Enterprise Advisor, undertook a review of enterprise education across all educational sectors. He was supported by an executive group that included two EEUK board members, Dave Jarman and Dr Sarah Underwood. The review covers the full breadth of education and is aimed at education leaders, teachers and all those involved in policy, administration and delivery of teaching and learning in our education system. This includes business champions such as business representative bodies and the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) that Lord Young suggests have a key role to play in creating closer links between education and the world of work and business. This review considers and makes recommendations related to creating a lifelong experience of enterprise in education and should be considered alongside the APPG report below.

Download here.

 

The Welsh Dragon: the success of enterprise education in Wales, Carnegie Trust, March 2014

This briefing showcases the Welsh Government’s approach to enterprise education driven by the Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy. Through a series of short case studies the briefing describes how by engaging young people with entrepreneurship, empowering them to take part in activities which develop their enterprise skills and equipping them with the tools for business start-up, the strategy is creating the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Download here.

 

Creating Entrepreneurial Campuses: A report for Scotland, QAA Scotland, February 2014

This report makes the case that current and future graduates need to be capable of enterprising and entrepreneurial behaviour to cope with increased uncertainty and complexity arising from fundamental changes in the labour market, as well as from the changing aspirations of the millennial generation. This requires universities to create entrepreneurial campuses – campuses which stimulates the entrepreneurial aspirations of students and provides them with the opportunity to develop relevant skills, knowledge and experience, and offers relevant support and resources to enable them to start their own business.

Download here.

 

An Education System Fit for an Entrepreneur, APPG for Micro Businesses, February 2014

This report, published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Micro Businesses, chaired by Anne Marie Morris MP, examines enterprise education at all levels and across a number of countries using a mix of previous research, case studies and direct input from those working with entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs themselves.

The report makes a number of recommendations, including that enterprise education should be mandatory in the curriculum for 4 to 18 year olds. It also highlights the importance of offering enterprise education across all courses and levels of tertiary education to improve the number and quality of business start-ups.

EEUK former Chairs, Professor Andy Penaluna and Dr Kelly Smith contribued as two of the four report authors.

Download here.

 

Encouraging a British invention revolution: Sir Andrew Witty’s review of universities and growth, BIS, October 2013

Sir Andrew Witty, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, Chancellor of the University of Nottingham and non-exec Director of BIS, was commission by the UK government to undertake an independent review of how universities can support growth locally and nationally. His report highlights the extraordinary potential that universities have to enhance economic growth but identifies the “thicket’ of complexity” that exists between central and local structures and the unnecessary hurdles that exist for those striving to translate ideas to job creating businesses. One of ten recommendations is to incentivise universities to identify and mobilise collaborative national clusters or “Arrow projects” in technologies where the UK has comparative international advantage. Other recommendations include an explicit long term commitment to HEIF in the context of strengthening universities’ engagement with SMEs, a single point of contact for SMEs and an increase in the impact weighting in the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) to 25%.

Download here.

Read EEUK’s response to the consultation here.

 

A Manifesto for youth enterprise, The RSA and the Royal Bank of Scotland, October 2013

This report, published by the RSA and the Royal Bank of Scotland, argues that there has rarely been a better time in recent years for young people to start up in business. Economic growth is picking up pace, unemployment levels are gradually falling, and society as a whole is becoming more confident about the future. Yet arguably more could be done to help young people realise their entrepreneurial potential. Too few young people have a firm intention to start a business, and even if they do many choose not to act upon their ambitions. This Manifesto for youth enterprise draws upon insights gathered through RBS Inspiring Enterprise to set out a number of practical actions for how we can overcome these challenges. The vision presented is for support organisations, business and wider society to be there for young people at every stage in their entrepreneurial journey – from exposing them to the very idea of enterprise through popular media, to building their entrepreneurial acumen at school, to helping them start and run their very own business. The Manifesto also calls for the enterprise support community to work more closely together to make this journey as seamless as possible.

Download here.

 

Entrepreneurship at a glance 2013, OECD, July 2013

Entrepreneurship at a Glance, a product of the OECD-Eurostat Entrepreneurship Indicators Programme, presents an original collection of indicators for measuring the state of entrepreneurship, along with key facts and explanations of the policy context. This third issue features a special chapter on the profile of the entrepreneur, as well as longer time series and breakdowns by sector for the main indicators.

Download here.

 

Enterprise education: impact in higher and further education, UK Department for Business Innovation and Skills, June 2013

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) commissioned ICF GHK to assess international literature on the impact of enterprise education initiatives. The research looks at increasing learners’ relevant knowledge, skills and ambitions to start a business, and how far this leads to higher business creation, business growth or employability. It also maps the extent and type of enterprise education delivered by higher and further education providers in England.

Download here.

Read EEUK’s response here.

 

Entrepreneurship education: a guide for educators, European Commission, June 2013

This publication aims to showcase examples of inspiring practice in training and supporting teachers in introducing entrepreneurial learning in the classroom.

The Guide is the result of bringing together teacher educators, teachers and experts in two practical workshops at European level, to exchange existing practice and to discuss best ways to move forward. EEUK Director, Professor Andy Penaluna, contributed to the workshops by advising on the outcomes and assessment elements of the entrepreneurship curriculum.

The ideas and examples collected during those workshops have been collated into this Guide to be shared more widely.

Download here.

 

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education England 2012 Survey, NCEE, March 2013

The 2012 survey data show an overall improvement in the provision of, and engagement in, enterprise and entrepreneurship across the HE sector in England. NCEE report that since their last survey in 2010 the student engagement rate has increased from 16% to 18% and that there has been a strong increase in the reported number of start-ups with the HE average having increased from 28 to 35 over the two year period. The report also highlights a trend that shows a reducing dominance of business and management schools’ responsibility for provision with this dropping from 60% to 50% over the same two year period.

Download here

 

Disrupt Inc.: How young people are challenging the conventions of entrepreneurship, RSA and RBS, March 2013
This report reveals that the way in which some young people now start and run businesses is radically different to widely held assumptions. While some young people will live up to the conscious, meticulous and lone stereotypes that are so synonymous with entrepreneurship, many others will not. Rather, they will stumble into a business ‘accidentally’, start up on a shoestring budget and with an imperfect product, and rely on a whole host of other people to get them to where they want to be.

The report concludes that young enterprise support may be geared too heavily towards supporting one ‘journey’ of entrepreneurship at the expense of less conventional, but increasingly popular, routes to start-up. The level of debate around the availability of finance, for example, overlooks the large numbers of young people who are keen to bootstrap their way through the initial stages of their business. Similarly, the effort spent in establishing formal mentorship schemes belie the preference that many young people have for more informal support from personal contacts.

Download here

 

Bridging the valley of death: improving the commercialisation of research, House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, March 2013

The report identifies that the future success of the UK economy has been linked to the success of translating a world class science base to generate new businesses with the consequent generation of UK jobs and wealth. It produces a range of conclusions and recommendations that cover investment in technology, physical infrastructure, R&D spend by small companies, taxation and regulation, intellectual property and technology, the UK innovation ecosystem, the role of UK universities and government procurement. With regard to the role of universities, the report recommends that the Government’s objective should be to create a commercial demand for university engagement to which they are already primed to respond. Within the body of the report comments are made by university representatives about the importance of entrepreneurship education, especially for PhD students.

Download here

 

Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan, European Commission, January 2013

This communication from the European Commission reflects on the impact of the worst recession in Europe for 50 years that has seen unemployment across Europe rise to 25 million and small and medium sized enterprises struggle to bounce back from downturn. To return to growth and higher levels of employment, the communication asserts that Europe needs more entrepreneurs.

The conclusions contain an action plan with several sections including one on entrepreneurial education and training to support growth and business creation. Amongst the actions are the development of a pan-European entrepreneurial learning initiative and dissemination of the entrepreneurial university guidance framework that is already in production.

Download here

 

Insight and Inspiration, NACUE Create, 2012

This guide is a simple, cut-to-the-chase tool for any educator or indeed any person hoping to create a valuable enterprise learning experience for a creative subject student. The guide is divided into two sections, offering firstly insight and secondly inspiration. It can be read cover-to-cover or dipped into for specific information of use when planning or creating activities to meet particular skills development needs.

Download here:

 Insight and Inspiration Guide PDF.pdf 6.3 MB 13/02/2015 01:19:27  

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Growing Value: Business –University collaboration for the 21st century, CIHE and UK~IRC, December 2012

The Council for Industry and Higher Education (now renamed the National Centre for Universities and Business) and the UK Innovation Research Centre set up a task force to review and research ways of enhancing the value of universities and the public research base, and to make key recommendations to support value creation. In this report, the partners draw on three previous research reports and extensive consultations with business and academic leaders. One of four recommendations within the report is to ‘Promote entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial corporate management in universities in order to enhance risk-taking and innovation in business.’

Download here

 

Crowding In: How the UK’s businesses, charities, government and financial system can make the most of crowd funding, NESTA, December 2012

Crowdfunding is hot news right now. Platforms like Kickstarter, Peoplefund.it, Buzzbnk, Zopa, Funding Circle and Crowdcube are allowing thousands of individuals to directly fund projects, businesses and causes.

In 2011, crowdfunders raised $1.5 billion, mostly in the US, to finance over a million projects, ranging from start-ups to community projects, and from new video games to scientific research. The UK crowdfunding market is small, but growing fast. But the real growth lies ahead. It is possible that within five years, crowdfunding could provide around £15 billion of finance per year in the UK. With the right frameworks and standards, this could grow even further, and a day could come where crowdfunding replaces a large proportion of the £115 billion financial services industry.

This report looks at how the UK’s businesses, charities, government, and financial system can make the most of crowdfunding.

Download here

 

Everyone’s Business, Demos, November 2012

This report asserts that the UK’s long-term economic recovery depends on the triumph of entrepreneurship – growth will come from mainly from start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Politicians are united across the political spectrum in arguing for an ‘industrial strategy’ to encourage this kind of business growth, and any strategy likely to succeed will start with the experiences, insights and attitudes of entrepreneurs themselves.

Everyone’s Business articulates those attitudes. Through a survey of almost 1,000 aspiring entrepreneurs it explores their motivations to start businesses, the nature of the businesses they have either started or intend to start, the personal attributes they believe are central to entrepreneurship and the barriers they perceive to their business succeeding.

Download here

 

Unlocking the potential of social entrepreneurship in Higher Education, UnLtd and HEFCE, November 2012

Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, UnLtd made awards to 200 staff and students in English Higher Education Institutions between 2009 and 2011. This final evaluation report explores how far the programme was able to help embed a culture of social entrepreneurship in universities and makes recommendations as to how this work could develop in future.

Download here

 

Postgraduate Education: An independent inquiry by the Higher Education Commission, October 2012

This report recognises a ‘perfect storm’ of increased fees for postgraduate education, a credit crisis that may deter graduates from incurring further debt and a changing immigration system that may limit future international demand for postgraduate study.

The report makes recommendations related to access and funding and, while there is no specific mention of enterprise and entrepreneurship education, Section 3 discusses the need for innovation and industry-relevant skills.

Download here

 

QAA Enterprise and entrepreneurship education: Guidance for UK higher education providers, QAA, September 2012 
EEUK’s Directors Professor Andy Penaluna and Dr Kelly Smith participated in the group that compiled this guidance with Andy being Chair. The group comprised representatives drawn from, and acting on behalf of, the enterprise education community, with support from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).

The guidance includes useful definitions around the terms enterprise and entrepreneurship education and is being used in the UK and beyond as a practical guide for those involved with developing and delivering enterprise and entrepreneurship education both within the curriculum and through extra-curricular provision.

Download here

 

Enterprising Minds: Enterprise, education and future workers in the UK, Carnegie UK Trust, Spring 2012 and update Autumn 2012

Enterprising Minds is a Carnegie UK Trust project researching the attitudes of UK Further Education students to entrepreneurship, flexible employment and the future economy. It focuses on how students view practical enterprise – starting a business or working self-employed – and the contribution education systems make to the understanding of these work types.

Download here

 

Pedagogy for employability, Higher Education Academy, 2012 update

This guide, produced by the HEA, constitutes a revised and updated version of the Pedagogy for Employability publication first published in 2006. A number of the case studies included in the report, several of which are from EEUK member institutions, demonstrate how enterprise learning is being delivered to support employability

Download here

 

UNCTAD Entrepreneurship policy framework and implementation guidance, United Nations, 2012

This policy document identifies policy objectives and options in the form of recommended actions; proposes checklists, case studies and good practices; provides an interactive online inventory of good practices; offers a user guide and methods for policy monitoring and evaluation and provides a set of indicators to measure progress. It is divided into 6 sections including one on ‘Enhancing entrepreneurship education and skills’ – EEUK Director Professor Andy Penaluna provided expert advice during compilation of this section.

Download here

 

Following up the Wilson review of business-university collaboration: next steps for universities, business and Government, Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), June 2012

After publication of the Wilson review, BIS worked with business, universities and other organisations to determine how collectively they can best respond to the recommendations Professor Wilson makes. This document considers the context for business-university collaboration, and sets out what the government will do to build on the UK’s acknowledged strengths to create the best conditions for universities and businesses to work together to create prosperity over the next decade.

Section 3 considers graduate employability and student experience and states that “We need to ensure that our graduates are equipped with the entrepreneurship skills to realise their ambitions for business ownership and to inspire them to consider business start-up as a career option at some point during their careers, not just to focus on corporate opportunities. Likewise, while many graduates aspire to work in the third sector, entrepreneurship skills will enable graduates to choose social enterprise options.”

BIS support for the NACUE and NCEE and the provision of Start-up loans are highlighted as measures designed to meet this need.

Download here

Download EEUK’s response here

 

Effects and impacts of entrepreneurship programmes in higher education, European Commission, March 2012

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of entrepreneurship education on four dimensions: 1) the acquisition of entrepreneurial competence; 2) intentions towards entrepreneurship; 3) employability; and 4) impact on the society and on the economy.

Results show that entrepreneurship education makes a difference. Those who went through entrepreneurial programmes and activities display more entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions, get a job earlier after finishing their studies, can innovate more even as employees in a firm, and start more companies.

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Wilson Review of Business-University Collaboration, February 2012

This report recognises that the UK has made huge progress in business–university collaboration during the last decade, stating that those who have been engaged in this field over that period have noted both the cultural change and the outcomes that have been achieved. But, as Sir Tim Wilson stresses, the challenge is to attain world leadership in this field, and further change is needed.

Included in the report are several recommendations of major significance to enterprise and entrepreneurship educators. These include reference to the importance of entrepreneurialism for students and the need for enterprise education for postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers as well as academics.

Download here

Download EEUK’s response here

 

Working towards your future, Confederation of British Industry and National Union of Students, 2011 
The CBI and the NUS joined forces to show what skills and attitudes employers are looking for in new recruits and provide practical tips to help students meet these requirements. The report contains no specific reference to enterprise and entrepreneurship education but the skills and attributes that employers look for are many of those that are acquired through enterprise and entrepreneurship programmes.

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Incubation for Growth: A review of the impact of business incubation on new ventures with high growth potential, Nesta, June 2011

The Government has put high-growth, innovative businesses at the heart of its economic agenda, and is focusing policy on how to back the big businesses of tomorrow.

The aim of this research was to provide a thorough and focused literature review on business incubation, the purpose of which was to identify models of incubation that have the greatest impact on the mission of building high-growth, innovative firms.

This report is a review of the impact of business incubation on new ventures with high growth potential.

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Students at the Heart of the System, The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), June 2011

This white paper followed Lord Browne’s recommendations that graduates should pay more for their education and contains proposals that cover four broad areas: reforming funding; delivering a better student experience; enabling universities to increase social mobility; and reducing regulation and removing barriers for new providers.

The paper announced that Professor Sir Tim Wilson was to be invited to undertake a review of business-university collaboration.

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Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy: An action plan for Wales 2010-15, Welsh Government, November 2010

The Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy (YES) draws together the different dimensions of the Welsh Government’s Economic Development and Education policies.

The Strategy aims to equip young people aged 5-25 with entrepreneurial skills and attitudes to help realise their potential, whether it’s setting up in business, working for someone else or being active in the community.

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Securing a sustainable future for Higher Education, Lord Browne on behalf of UK Government, October 2010

An independent review of Higher Education funding and student finance, launched by the Labour government in November 2009, was tasked with making recommendations to the government on the future of fees policy and financial support for full and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students. Lord Browne’s recommendations, published after the coalition came to power in May 2010, were almost all accepted and informed the policy recommendations contained within the BIS white paper ‘Students at the Heart of the System’.

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IEEC2010 Concordat, EEUK and NCGE, December 2010

A direct outcome of EEUK and NCGE’s 5th International Entrepreneurship Educators Conference (IEEC2010) held in Cardiff in September 2010 was the publication of 5 key calls for action. These covered integration and pathways ; improved support and leadership ; clarity of impact measures and associated funding priorities ; improved guidance on issues of quality and assessment ; and recognition and reward for those working in the field.

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Creating Prosperity, Universities UK, December 2010 
This report summarises the findings of research commissioned by Universities UK into the role and contribution of higher education in the UK’s creative economy. The research gathered evidence from existing data and research as well as case study analysis and contributions from industry, higher education and public sector partners.  The findings demonstrate not only the crucial role that higher education plays in the UK’s creative economy, but also why that contribution will become increasingly important to economic recovery.

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Enterprise Educators UK Manifesto to the New Government of the UK, July 2010

EEUK produced this ‘manifesto’ as a challenge to the UK coalition government after the general election in May 2010. The document identifies three areas for action: Educate the educators to build capacity; embed enterprise through the student experience; and enable enterprise by providing opportunity. The enterprise concept and the entrepreneurial concept are defined and the three areas for action explained. The content of this document was refined and evidenced in the IEEC2010 Concordat published later in 2010 and in the QAA guidelines published in 2012 (see above for links to these documents).

Download here.

 

Towards the Entrepreneurial University, NCGE, June 2010

This summary paper focuses upon key issues central to the development of effective policies for the promotion of entrepreneurship in the UK Higher Education (HE) sector.

Download here

 

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education, NCEE, ISBE, June 2010
The 2010 National Survey , with a response rate of 92%, showed substantial progress had been made on the journey to embedding enterprise and entrepreneurship opportunities for staff, students and graduates across all campuses. Student engagement had risen nearly 50% since the 2007 report and was at 16% nationally. More universities had developed the infrastructure to support enterprise learning and development.

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The Art of Innovation – How fine arts graduates contribute to innovation, NESTA, September 2008 
Intriguing insights into how fine arts graduates contribute to innovation in the creative industries and beyond, and what policymakers can do to support their contribution.

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Developing Entrepreneurial Graduates, NESTA, September 2008 
In an environment where high skills lead to high value added, graduates are key to national growth.

Governments across the globe are seeking to develop entrepreneurial economies where competitiveness and growth can thrive and innovation and creativity can drive new ways to improve the social and economic well-being of their people.
Inspired, self-confident, talented and enterprising graduates are more likely to found and lead dynamic new ventures and transform any organisation they join or manage.
Developing entrepreneurial graduates is therefore essential to our future success. Universities and other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are ideally placed to expose students to environments which foster entrepreneurial mindsets.

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Entrepreneurship in higher education, especially in non-business studies, European Commission, March 2008

This Expert Report explores key issues regarding the teaching of entrepreneurship in higher education, identifies existing obstacles and proposes a range of solutions, taking into account the different levels of responsibility (public policy, institutions, educators and relevant stakeholders). The Report focuses primarily on learning about entrepreneurship as part of non-business disciplines, in particular within technical and scientific faculties and universities.

Download here.

 

Creating Entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship education for the creative industries, The Higher Education Academy Art Design Media Subject Centre and NESTA 2007

This report starts by recognising that the entrepreneurial capacity of the creative industries workforce must be developed if the growth of the creative industries throughout the UK is to be maintained and enhanced. Higher education has a crucial role to play in developing this entrepreneurial capacity, especially given the large number of art, design and media students who hope to pursue their professional practice in their own commercial or social enterprises. The report goes on to explore what educational provision should be made available to help prepare students to grow their own creative businesses.

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Stronger Together: Businesses and universities in turbulent times, CBI Higher Education Task Force, October 2009

Closer working between business, and colleges and universities has many benefits: supporting internships and work placements, helping develop business-relevant course content and leading to greater collaboration on research. Accessing skills and expertise, knowledge and research infrastructure from the UK’s excellent university base can confer real competitive advantage for business. The CBI report Stronger Together sets out what business wants from higher education and how it can work with government and universities to improve outcomes.

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Developing Entrepreneurial Graduates: putting entrepreneurship at the centre of Higher Education, NESTA, CIHE and NCGE, September 2008

NESTA, NCGE and CIHE brought together a panel of international experts to share their insights and explore the challenge of developing entrepreneurial graduates.

This report offers a framework to help every HEI to create an enabling environment as part of a cross-campus approach. The report has three main conclusions: top-level leadership and ownership of this agenda is required; academic faculties and students need to find innovative ways to appropriate entrepreneurship in their subject discipline; and it is crucial to involve entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial organisations.

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Oslo Agenda for Entrepreneurship Education in Europe, European Commission, October 2006

The European Commission and the Norwegian Government jointly hosted an international Conference on “Entrepreneurship Education in Europe – Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets through Education and Learning”, which took place in Oslo in October 2006.

This report was the main outcome of the Oslo Conference. The ideas advanced in Oslo by a broad representation of stakeholders resulted in a detailed catalogue of initiatives. The Agenda is a menu of proposals, from which all responsible actors can pick actions at the appropriate level, and adapt them to the local situation.

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The Lambert review of business-university collaboration, HM Treasury, 2003

There were three overall purposes of this review. Firstly to illustrate the opportunities that were being created by changes both in the way that business was undertaking research and development (R&D), and in the way that universities were opening their doors to new forms of collaboration with business partners. Secondly, to celebrate the success of those businesses which are already collaborating successfully with university research departments, to their benefit and to the benefit of the economy more broadly. Thirdly, to offer a wide range of ideas to stimulate debate and recommendations to help shape policy.

The Review concluded that although there was much good collaborative work underway already, there was more to be done. Universities would have to get better at identifying their areas of competitive strength in research. Government would have to do more to support business-university collaboration. Business would have to learn how to exploit the innovative ideas that were being developed in the university sector.

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A review of Enterprise and the Economy in Education, Howard Davies on behalf of HM Treasury, 2002

This report focussed on the schools and further education sectors but is regarded, over decade later, as a seminal report by many in enterprise and entrepreneurship education in all sectors. The report starts with the following paragraph that is as relevant today as it was in 2002.

“The world of work is changing fast. Over the last two decades the number of people working in small firms or who are self-employed has grown sharply, while jobs in the public sector and large firms have been cut back. These trends, at least in the private sector, seem set to continue. Looking forward, therefore, young people seeking work in the future are likely to need to be more flexible and entrepreneurial in their attitudes. Even in larger firms and in the public and voluntary sectors entrepreneurial skills are more highly valued than they were in the past.”

The report also included a useful definition of enterprise capability: the capability to handle uncertainty and respond positively to change, to create and implement new ideas and new ways of doing things, to make reasonable risk/reward assessments and act upon them in one’s personal and working life.

Download here