Creating Entrepreneurship
The ambition is to ensure that those entering the creative industries do so with the skills to sustain and grow their businesses
Author:
The Higher Education Academy Art Design Media Subject Centre and NESTA
Year published:
2007
Download:
Download report from ADM-HEA website
Description/aims
The creative industries account for more than seven per cent of the UK economy. But many are now struggling in the face of unprecedented overseas competition.
Stronger entrepreneurship education is needed to equip graduates with the skills to create commercial opportunities for themselves - and to contribute to the growth of larger, more sustainable businesses.
This, the first large-scale study of its kind within higher education for the creative industries for more than 70 years, has been conducted in partnership with the Higher Education Academy.
Recommendations
Little is known about what aspects of current practice actually work. As the report states, "Many institutions and departments make heady claims regarding the practical, industry-relevant education they provide, but very little evaluation data is available to test the validity of these claims."
With enterprise education a priority in the UK generally, it's timely to introduce a nationwide strategy which puts entrepreneurship at the heart of education for the creative industries.
Only then can the UK begin to challenge misconceptions among students - many of whom believe entrepreneurship means commercial gain at the expense of society and the environment - which leave them ill-equipped at the start of their careers.
Impact / Benefit
Published in May 2007, the report aims to influence policymakers, stimulating debate and accelerating efforts to establish a cohesive national framework for entrepreneurial education within the creative industries.
It comes as, for example, the contribution made by the UK design sector has halved since 2000, with the number of larger agencies falling by one third.
The ambition is to ensure that those entering the creative industries do so with the skills to sustain and grow their businesses - resulting in fewer business failures and more large businesses able to make a bigger contribution to the UK economy.