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

A growing number of IVET institutions embrace the concept that education
can help influence and develop young people’s entrepreneurial skills and
abilities. Entrepreneurship oriented guidance processes in IVET can also play a
key role in helping young people become more aware of their entrepreneurial
attributes and skills and see entrepreneurship as a career path. However, across
Europe there are differences in the extent to which individual schools and
colleges are taking entrepreneurship forward. In some countries, guidance-based
interventions are embedded in the curriculum; in others, they depend on the
enthusiasm, skills and connections of individual teachers. A lack of resources to
support entrepreneurship learning and guidance appears to be a significant
issue.
Guidance professionals in many countries are involved in producing material
on entrepreneurship, arranging work placements and visits, and are sometimes
involved in the development, or implementation, of entrepreneurship education
opportunities. Their involvement is typically ad-hoc, playing a supporting rather
than leading role. Some guidance professionals do not cover entrepreneurship in
their guidance offer. In some cases, there is a lack of policy on promoting
entrepreneurship in vocational education, whereas in others its absence is tied to
the lack of curricula-based career guidance for IVET students.
Although practically all countries agree that guidance as an integral element
in entrepreneurship education is vital for Europe to foster future entrepreneurial
activity, there is consensus among stakeholders that many guidance practitioners
working in IVET institutions do not have the necessary competences or
experience to support students who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs.
Few training programmes seek to develop the entrepreneurial skills of guidance
professionals, who could benefit from targeted training programmes. Also, the
labour market knowhow of guidance counsellors needs to be further
strengthened in relation to entrepreneurship.

Non-formal guidance
Non-formal guidance methods are more apparent in VET schools concerning
entrepreneurship than formal guidance services. Non-formal guidance providers
include entrepreneurs, experienced people from the business world, teachers,
peer students and even parents.
Involving entrepreneurs in the guidance process itself is one of the most
effective ways of helping students to understand what a career as an
entrepreneur means. However, while examples of successful practice have been
identified, too few placement and shadowing schemes target entrepreneurs
specifically; instead they focus on employers in general.

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