This question was posed recently at the All Party Parliamentary Group for Universities and NCEE had the opportunity to address a mix of MPs, Lords, Baronesses, Vice-Chancellors and senior higher education leaders. Here’s what I said …
To look forward it is useful to first look back. It’s nearly 20 years since the Lambert Report on university and business collaboration. Lambert acknowledged the good work underway but recognised that ‘there is more to be done’. The review put forward a number of recommendations and ways to increase knowledge transfer by universities and importantly how Government can support. Out of that review NCEE was formed, by the then Government to increase the enterprise and entrepreneurial activity of universities. Clearly the feeling was that not enough was being done and there needed to be investment …
And has more been done? For the last 10 years we have run an Enterprise Survey which looks at enterprise and entrepreneurship in universities across the UK. With over 100 measures we’ve been able to see how enterprise is led, managed and delivered in universities. And there has been a massive shift, with the sector taking great strides. 90% of universities embed enterprise or entrepreneurship in some degree programmes, nearly all universities offer extra-curricular support and investment continues with 90% reporting that activity has increased over the last three years.
Alongside the UK the world has also woken up to a future driven by enterprise and entrepreneurship. Our work has taken us all over and we’ve seen first-hand the emphasis from Government – from Oman who must engage with enterprise and entrepreneurship in order to prepare for their post-oil economy, to Tunisia who see it as a way to address high youth unemployment and to China where it is seen as a central plank for education and all universities are mandated to deliver at least 30 hours of enterprise education to every student.
It is clear we cannot stand still …
To be at the forefront we believe we need to
Engage all – offering real inclusion to the student and staff body
All students need to be exposed to enterprise and entrepreneurship as part of their degree programmes. At the moment this happens for most business and management students, but in the humanities, arts, healthcare and STEM subjects less than half have it as an embedded part. We believe it should be embedded into the curriculum for every student. It will enable them to understand the potential of their subject, to consider how it can be applied and how they can be innovative and creative in its use. But staff too, and staff throughout universities need to be entrepreneurial, face change and spot opportunities. Our Entrepreneurial Leadership programme which has run for over 10 years recognises that higher education leaders need to have entrepreneurial mindsets and behaviours. In a recent article by Ken Sloan (Vice-Chancellor of Harper Adams) he writes about the loss of potential ideas and contributions if we do not have a diverse student and staff body engaged in entrepreneurship.
Supercharge the value of universities to communities
The Government must support higher education’s engagement in its communities. This is under real threat as budgets are squeezed not only from cost of living and inflation but also from the cessation of European Funding. Over 40% of universities have relied on this funding stream for their enterprise and entrepreneurship work – and the Shared Prosperity Fund is not replacing it. We’ve seen a huge reduction in community engagement activities with a drop of 30% over the last 5 years. We believe UUK’s proposals to develop enterprise zones in every university and collaborative enterprise and opportunity hubs are a good way forward that Government should support.
Maintain a laser sharp focus on enterprise and entrepreneurship
Have we lost a focus on enterprise and entrepreneurship? Employability and graduate outcomes have possibly taken over the mantle. Let’s maintain our focus on enterprise and entrepreneurship. With a prediction that 85% of jobs in 2030 have not yet been invented (from the Institute for the Future and Dell) we are going to need to be enterprising and entrepreneurial to build a thriving and successful society and economy.