Page 106 - guidance-supporting-europe-s-aspiring-entrepreneurs-policy-and-practice-to-harness-future-potential

Guidance supporting Europe’s aspiring entrepreneurs
Policy and practice to harness future potential

year around the UK universities to advertise the services on offer to graduates
who want to start their own business.
In Bulgaria, the ‘Rising stars’ youth business forum was held for the first time
in 2009. The forum is an opportunity for secondary school and university students
to meet business professionals and entrepreneurs. In France, the University of
Nantes organises an entrepreneurial marathon with multidisciplinary teams. The
aim of this event is twofold: to raise student awareness of entrepreneurship as a
career option and to encourage communication of students of different disciplines
(NIRAS Consultants et al., 2008). Every year the European SME week engages
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HE students from across Europe ( ): in 2009 a range of seminars were held for
Lithuanian HE students, which were facilitated by young entrepreneurs.

4.2. Embedding guidance in entrepreneurship

education

Aspiring entrepreneurs appreciate practical learning opportunities, since
mastering essential skills like networking, business planning, business idea
development and opportunity recognition, client relations, communication,
research, team work and leadership demands more than reading or learning
theory. Instead, group assignments, presentations, real-life case studies,
assignments for companies and mock scenarios help to build the necessary
practical skills.
Such approaches to teaching entrepreneurship have guidance embedded in
the learning process. The high level of interactivity and the focus on solving real-
life challenges faced by companies and entrepreneurs engage the student in
career exploration so that they become an active participant in the process itself.
HE students can see how their personality matches a career as an entrepreneur
as the practical assignments get them involved and can inspire them to think
about their personality, and demands and rewards associated with
entrepreneurship. Guidance associated with hands-on teaching methods is also
strengthened by the fact that they allow students to get a taste of a typical day of
an entrepreneur and get a feeling of the types of skills and attitudes they need to
develop before embarking on an entrepreneurial venture. Typically, practical
assignments also strengthen student capability to act on their own authority and

20
( ) European SME Week 2010. Available from Internet:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/entrepreneurship/sme-week/index_en.htm [cited
03.9.2010].

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