As it is already summer term, May 2022, it finally feels, here in the UK, that we are ‘gathering’ – gathering pace and momentum, gathering insights, and ultimately planning to gather together!

Gathering Together

EEUK has already held its first in-person event and is currently releasing details of keynote speakers for our annual conference (IEEC) in Swansea (7-9^th Sept).  We are also gathering together for our in-person events but have listened to your feedback about keeping some activities online to bring members together.

Gathering momentum

In the most significant of all curriculum moves, the UK Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) has mainstreamed enterprise and entrepreneurship into 14 new subject benchmarks. This has been welcomed by enterprise educators working with academic subjects as the key to unlocking significant change.
Don’t forget the @ETCToolkit has subject-specific help, and we have recently launched the latest submissions from our EEUK fellows if you are looking for inspiration on pre-start up, innovation or creating a pitch club!

EEUK, having shared your views in the recent KEF consultation, continues its work on your behalf regarding the KEF Concordat which continues its work to December and beyond with a range of deep-dive webinars on: 1) Commercialisation, innovation and business 2) impact 3) Culture and Place 4) engagement 5) processes 6) funding and skills 7) capacity building and people 8) continuous improvement and 9) mission – as the KEF Concordat is an opportunity to engage UK-wide.

Gathering insights for action

OECD is sharing the work from its Entrepreneurship Education Collaboration and Engagement network (EECOLE) which highlights entrepreneurship as a mindset and recognises the importance of mainstreaming entrepreneurship education as a way to promote the Sustainable Development Goals bringing sustainability and inclusiveness dimensions into its work.  With a focus on “place-responsiveness” in higher education, as the capacity of HEIs to bend their research and teaching activities to reflect the needs of local actors, and improve sustainability and inclusion in their own communities, EEUK will keep sharing work to keep you up to date.

If you missed IPSE’s  The Self-Employment Landscape  (2021) this report charts the fall in self-employed work in the UK from 4.3 million to 4.1 million, noting that self-employed workers continue to contribute £303 billion to the UK economy.

Having heard, at the recent Handshake and Gradconsult conference, 2 key “call to action” facts from Dr Naeema Pash that:

• “There are no black CEOs, CFOs or Chairs of FTSE 100 companies”
• “Black women, over 45, within public sector are the group facing the most discrimination at work”

it is clear that Henley Business School’s report “the Equity Effect” is required reading, reminding us that “we thrive when we feel included”.

Alison Price
Head of Policy and Professional Development
EEUK