Page 67 - 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

excellence’ accessible by some, with no provision or support for others. Political
will is important in driving entrepreneurship learning: only around a third of
European countries have strategies to support its implementation, though such
strategies were under development in a further nine countries. Such strategies
are crucial in helping to stimulate new business formation, as well as drive the
inclusion of entrepreneurship learning in education and training curricula.
While acknowledging that business start-up is risky, surveys findings that
individuals’ perceptions need to change to support the development of
entrepreneurial skills and competences.
The numbers of new business start-ups in Europe has grown over the past
10 years. While people become entrepreneurs through choice or necessity, the
recent financial crisis has acted as a catalyst for people setting up businesses out
of necessity. Fear of failure acts as a barrier to business start-up as does a
perceived lack of opportunity: less than half of Europeans believe that they have
the skills to become an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs in Europe are a diverse group, though a ‘typical’ entrepreneur
is male and educated to upper secondary education level. Just over a quarter of
entrepreneurs have a basic level of education, while a growing proportion is
educated at degree level. On average, less than a third of entrepreneurs are
female (30%).
Entrepreneurship learning is important in IVET as self-employment is a
realistic aspiration for students: many VET students often establish their own
businesses. Entrepreneurship features in the national curricula for VET in most
European countries. Learning opportunities for VET students are delivered in
formal and non-formal settings that include simulations, competitions and mini-
enterprises. A key challenge for teachers and trainers is to ensure that they have
the skills to understand and teach entrepreneurship.
The past decade has seen an exponential rise in entrepreneurial learning
opportunities in European HEIs, though coverage remains patchy. Particular
issues that warrant attention include:
• 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
interdisciplinary approaches and developing entrepreneurship skills among
‘hard science’, arts, social science and humanities students;
• understanding how examples such as Queen’s University, Belfast, which
takes a holistic, institutional approach to entrepreneurship learning, can be
transferred to other HEIs.

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