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

Example 23. The Enterprisers programme, Cambridge University, the UK

Enterprisers is a four-day residential programme held usually in conference locations near to
Cambridge. It is targeted primarily at PhD students from the UK and international universities,
although it was originally set up for undergraduates and is also generally open to the general public.

Content
The programme is seen as an ‘educational experience’ rather than as a traditional entrepreneurial
education programme. The goal is to develop entrepreneurial confidence in individuals so that they
can begin to apply their knowledge and skills in entrepreneurial ways to create new business
ventures or support existing ones through being more proactive and innovative. Content is
characterised by a highly participative approach that enables people to gain the motivation and
intent to make things happen.
Day one focuses on self-awareness activities. It looks at values, ethics and goals in setting up
a business. The day is also about defining and better understanding entrepreneurship. The second
day focuses on idea creation (‘ideation’) and project planning. Day three focuses on teamwork,
leadership and utilisation of resources to achieve desired outcomes. Learning how to lead others
effectively in different environments is a particularly important outcome for day three, as is
understanding the need for a strong network. The final day is about maintaining motivation and
commitment in self-employment.
Enterprisers is run by the programme coordinators with a support network of other speakers and
mentors. For each programme there are 3-4 panel speakers who are invited to share their
knowledge, insight and experience with the nascent entrepreneurs and students at the
programmes. The programme also employs 16 mentors who facilitate group sessions and act as a
point of contact and information for participants. The mentors come from different industries,
companies and government agencies.

Beneficiaries and results
Between 2002 and 2009, 22 programmes were organised and more than 1 200 students
participated in them. Participants come from a diversity of backgrounds but most come from arts
and social science (41%) and sciences, maths and engineering backgrounds (39%). Enterprisers
has been successful in developing skills and increasing the likelihood that participants will follow an
entrepreneurial career-path:
• more than 60 participants have subsequently started businesses (since 2003). This accounts for
around 5% of participants;
• studies show that the proportion of participants who feel they had a ‘good’ understanding of
what it takes to start a business rises from 24% at the beginning of the course to 73% at the end
(Vyakarnam and Hartman, 2010);
• the percentage believing they have the ability to start a business more than tripled from 20% at
the beginning of the course to 67% at the end (Vyakarnam and Hartman, 2010).
An earlier study has also shown that the programme has a strong and long-lasting impact on
the participants’ continuing sense of efficacy, particularly for skills related to leadership and
entrepreneurship.
Sources: Barakat and Hycla, 2009; Vyakarnam, 2005; Vyakarnam and Hartman, 2010.

4.3.3. Networks of student entrepreneurs and meetings with business
experts and entrepreneurs
Networks of student entrepreneurs are another non-formal guidance method
used by European HEIs. Such networks are usually for current student
entrepreneurs and other students who are contemplating the idea of launching a

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