Marianne Bester
The current Entrepreneurship Education (EE) curricula should not be an isolated component purely with a business-management focus, but should be an enabling mechanism in the curriculum that brings together innovation, technology and entrepreneurship in a more dynamic way,” said Marianne Bester, head of Academic Planning and Institutional Research at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).
Bester presented the paper: “Educating entrepreneurial mind-sets: curriculum enablers and constraints of undergraduate curricula at a University of Technology” at the 8th SATN Conference held during October at the VUT Science and Technology Park, Sebokeng.
Academic rationale
“It is paramount that occupationally oriented programmes are included in the curricula of higher education institutions and that they are inter- and multi-disciplinary in nature,” said Bester.
She said emphasis needs to be placed on integrating theory and practice when devising a curriculum for higher education institutions like Universities of Technology (UOTs), and curricula should align to the needs of industry.
“Entrepreneurship academic practice should transform from an act of teachers who transmit business and management theoretical knowledge to an act of students who engage in a dynamic way with innovation, technology transfer and entrepreneurship to develop an innovative and entrepreneurial mind-set,” said Bester.
For Entrepreneurship Education to be effective, stakeholder engagement is needed at regional, national and international levels to enhance competitiveness. “Access to Technology Stations or Research Centres must be created in order for students and teachers to interact with industry and clients.”
As evidenced by the current unemployment rates, Bester acknowledged that the formal sector has limited capacity to accommodate new recruits, so emphasis must be placed on self-employment.
In her presentation she, like so many others, noted that developing an entrepreneurial mind-set is aided by acquiring knowledge of and skills related to small business development — and management is key.
“The teacher should not take centre stage in the development of an entrepreneurial mind-set but should be one of multiple sources, including exposure to young, successful entrepreneurs in the field of study,” she said.
Purpose of the programme
The EE programmes at UOTs, Bester explained, should equip students with the required knowledge, skills and capabilities to be employed in a range of sectors related to their fields of study.
“An important part of the overall purpose of the EE programme is to establish engagement with relevant stakeholders from a student as well as teacher perspective, and academic departments claim that exposure to business and management knowledge and skills equip student to become entrepreneurs,” said Bester.
Students higher education institutions should be exposed to relevant design and manufacturing processes using cutting edge technology, equipment and software programmes relevant to the field of study for entrepreneurship to thrive.
Workplace learning is often an integral part of the EE programmes, she said.
Programme design and outcomes
Research has found that the entrepreneurship module is often an isolated component in the third year of study which builds on a range of topics in business, management and finance acquired in the first and second years of study.
“There is however limited exposure to established entrepreneurs and other relevant stakeholders throughout the curriculum, which needs to be remedied.”
She also noted that limited evidence exists of integration of entrepreneurship and innovative practices, for example the development of new products, processes or enhancement of existing services.
Teaching, learning & assessment
Bester said that higher education teachers mainly used prescribed textbooks in their teaching and that staff had limited personal experience of being entrepreneurs themselves. “This is a concern, along with a limited variety in terms of teaching methods,” she said.
The majority of entrepreneurship education modules, according to Bester, are taught using formal lectures which only sometimes include small group discussions. She said that teaching practice is mostly aimed at the delivery of theoretical knowledge and not on the practical application of knowledge to solve real problems.
In one programme the nature of the work was more practical in nature and students were encouraged to think creatively about finding innovative business solutions for “real life” entrepreneurs and to present these to entrepreneurs for assessment
“Assessments are mainly written tests and assignments such as the development of a business plan, with no physical hands-on projects. It is only an academic exercise,” she said, noting that peer and group assessments are seldom done.
“Assessment should focus less on individualistic efforts on the part of a student and incorporate collective efforts as well.”
Curriculum enablers
According to Bester there are a number of enablers that must be considered when entrepreneurship modules are developed, including the adoption of a broader, alternative definition of entrepreneurship. “It should form an integral part of the curriculum.”
It would encourage a more entrepreneurial thinking process among students, she said, if a “learning by doing” approach was taken. “Recognising entrepreneurial achievements of academic staff will also go a long way in this regard,” she said.
Bester is also of the opinion that changing teaching and assessment practices should be considered to accommodate the tacit and procedural knowledge of “real” entrepreneurs.