Entrepreneurship in education
Mind the skills gap A
n absence of joined up thinking
between business and education is preventing us from nurturing the entrepreneurs of the future, says Sandra O’Neill, head of business development at Grant Thornton in Yorkshire
From the perspective of employers, this country’s skills gap is starting to look more like a gaping chasm, between the abilities businesses would like to see in potential employees and the qualifications and experience with which young people are leaving further and higher education. A shortage of skills in areas such as entrepreneurialism and business is creating far- reaching consequences that could be difficult to reverse in the short term. Our listless economy urgently needs to be galvanised by young people with the knowledge, awareness and aptitude for business that is vital to employers – and to creating the next generation of business leaders. On an individual level too, the restrictions of the curriculum, which produces young people armed with impressive academic qualifications that often have little meaning in the world of work, is depriving young people of their rightful working futures.
University of life?
As the first cohort of undergraduate students for whom a university education is costing around £9,000 a year reach the end of their first year of their degree courses, most of those set to complete their courses at an English university in 2015, will graduate with debts of £40,000 or more. Understandably, perhaps, under the new fees regime there has been a downturn in demand for places, with a particularly sharp drop in applications from students in England this year compared with 2010, according to UCAS. So as a vastly more expensive university education begins to take its toll on graduate numbers, more young people see no option but to try their luck in an unforgiving jobs market. It is
becoming crucial, then, that we address the shortcomings of an education system that fails to nurture and invest in innovation,
entrepreneurialism and employability. The quarter of a million 16-24-year-olds who have been unemployed for a year, along with the one in five young people currently unemployed, are a stark reminder that if we fail to address the situation we run the risk of creating a lost generation. Working at the coal face of the economy as business advisers and accountants, Grant Thornton understands better than most the importance of a bedrock of thriving businesses to an economy that still faces an uncertain future. Rather than leave it to chance, we have extended our skills and experience to education. Along with other businesses and third sector organisations, Grant Thornton is bringing together businesses and schools in attempt to help young people fulfil their potential and become the employees and entrepreneurs of the future.
Education for innovation The whole philosophy of our education programme, which we call Educate to Innovate, is that entrepreneurs are not born, they are made. As Lord Heseletine flags up in his review on economic growth, commissioned by the government in October 2012, young people who have experienced employer engagement activities such as work experience are five times less likely to end up outside education, training or employment. Educate to Innovate, like other private sector schemes of this kind, works by connecting business people directly with schools and colleges, inspiring students to think innovatively and helping them to nurture a sense of entrepreneurialism. We arrange for entrepreneurs to come into schools and colleges, to carry out workshops and other sessions. These are reinforced by mentoring programmes, in which students spend time in the workplace, with us or with other partner businesses. We’ve also included site visits to businesses and even, in Yorkshire, an annual business and enterprise competition for FE students who meet- and are enthused by - some of the region’s most inspiring entrepreneurs. I-
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www.education-today.co.uk
pads, a trophy and work placements are on offer for the winning teams.
Educate to Innovate has demonstrated the synergy and energy that can exist between enthusiastic young people and entrepreneurs, whose lifeblood is new ideas and innovation. The feedback we have had from the students who have taken part in our scheme, as well as from their teachers, has been powerful. Comments range from “totally awesome and inspiring” to “it gave me my first proper insight into what business is actually all about, and helped me to understand that it was something I could actually do.” But while Educate to Innovate, and other schemes like it, are a laudable attempt by the private sector to instigate change, the truth is that alone they can do little more than scratch the surface of an issue that is a mounting national problem. Few schools and colleges have the resources even to employ a business liaison officer, whose role is to nurture links between the school or college and businesses. Meanwhile the majority of those leaving education do so ill-equipped with the skills needed for work, let alone to consider becoming an entrepreneur who may one day aspire to employ others.
Our economy needs skilled workers and our young people are crying out for a practical education that enables them to be innovative, entrepreneurial and business minded. To achieve this end there needs to be a change in attitude from government to ensure that closer links are forged between education and business. If nothing is done we are condemning the workforce of the future and perhaps fatally handicapping our own economy in the process.
June 2013
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