Entrepreneurship education for the creative industries policy briefing
Published
May 2007
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Entrepreneurship education for the creative industries 170KB
Description
The UK has no problem starting creative businesses, but it struggles to grow them. Many lack the necessary skills and commercial awareness for sustained growth, and the ability to respond to increasing foreign competition.
Stronger entrepreneurship education for creative graduates is crucial and is a focus for policy, but current provision is not adequately preparing students for growing their own businesses beyond the start-up phase.
There is no agreed effective practice and provision varies widely between institutions. Often students aren't aware of facilities in their own institutions that are supposed to support entrepreneurship.
As a result students appear confused: 45 per cent of them expect to run their own business, but mainly as a means to peer recognition and ‘making a difference' rather than building a commercially successful enterprise.
Entrepreneurship education needs to be made explicit, effective and sustainable. Links between education and industry must be improved, funding and quality assurance systems need to be revised, and more appropriate models of creative entrepreneurship need to be developed.
Doing so will ensure that students leave university with the ability not just to set up a company, but with the skills and aptitudes to convert it from a start-up into a sustainable and successful business.