Page 21 - guidance-supporting-europe-s-aspiring-entrepreneurs-policy-and-practice-to-harness-future-potential
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Guidance supporting Europe’s aspiring entrepreneurs
                                                                Policy and practice to harness future potential




                     The role of guidance in Higher Education


                     Until recently, entrepreneurship was not considered a ‘sufficiently’ academic topic
                     to  be  taught in Higher Education Institutions (HEI), nor were universities
                     considered the best source of support for individuals who want to start their own
                     business. However, the research findings demonstrate that HEIs  can  offer
                     support  to  students that enables them to pursue business ventures and also
                     become more entrepreneurial in their approach to life and work more generally.
                         The  past  decade  has seen an exponential rise in entrepreneurial learning
                     opportunities in European HEIs, though coverage remains somewhat patchy.
                     Particular issues that warrant attention include the following:
                     •  providing access to entrepreneurship learning for all students: more than half
                        of Europe’s students in higher education have no access to entrepreneurship
                        education, indicating that there is a massive gap to be filled;
                     •  taking entrepreneurship learning out of business schools, promoting inter-
                        disciplinary approaches and developing entrepreneurship skills  also  among
                        ‘hard science’, arts, social science and humanities students;
                     •  understanding  how  a holistic, institutional approach to entrepreneurship
                        learning can be established in HEIs as well as transferred to other HEIs.

                     Formal vs. non-formal guidance services
                     HEI career guidance services are more active concerning entrepreneurship than
                     their counterparts in compulsory education and IVET. However, most HEI career
                     centres  are  typically  more  focused on providing information to students about
                     employment  rather than self-employment. While some business support is
                     available, guidance professionals themselves  do not necessarily feel that they
                     are well-equipped to provide this form of assistance to students.
                         Guidance for entrepreneurship is more commonly present in Western rather
                     than Eastern European countries. Significant progress has occurred in the last
                     two years in many Eastern European HEIs, though financial shortcomings remain
                     a real problem, accentuated by the economic crisis. Some non-formal guidance
                     activities are available in most European countries, although the range  of
                     activities and quality of support varies significantly  both  between  and  within
                     countries. European funding has played an important part  in  enabling  many
                     European countries to invest more in enterprise support.
                         Integrating enterprise support provision with the career service offer is one
                     way of mainstreaming entrepreneurship as a career option. The approach means
                     that career services staff are exposed to expertise  in  entrepreneurship  and
                     students  are informed about available enterprise support and related training.








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