Universities ‘not enterprise-friendly’

If you see yourself as a budding Richard Branson or Stelios, what was it that inspired your entrepreneurial ambition? Parents? School? University? If you’ve answered the latter, you’re probably in the minority.

New research has shown that the UK universities are lacking in the way they teach and encourage enterprise among undergraduates. The National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) has found that only 11% of students in UK universities are involved in setting up businesses or studying entrepreneurship, compared with more than 50% in the US.

The survey, the largest ever conducted of entrepreneurship activity and provision in UK higher education, shows that universities could do much more to encourage an entrepreneurial career path among students.

US success stories throw doubt onto the view that entrepreneurialism demands experience. Start-ups such as Google and Facebook were founded by US college students, suggesting that US institutions do a lot more to encourage enterprise.

Ian Robertson, NCGE chief executive, said he hoped the survey can be a catalyst for change:

“We would like to see all universities displaying entrepreneurial characteristics and all students exposed to innovative enterprise and entrepreneurship learning opportunities. Current levels of engagement and provision are unacceptable and damaging to our economic and social prospects.

“The government has spent a lot of money on this over the past 10 years, but universities are still not enterprise-friendly, by and large.”