Enterprise education: for all, or just some?

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provocatively enter four imagined worlds of enterprise education with the express aim of contemplating an emerging future. The authors do so not to expressly determine what positioning is most appropriate for enterprise/entrepreneurship education, but rather to consider the issues associated with each of the four imagined worlds.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors’ approach is built around a combination of cycles of reflective practice and the use of scenario development processes. The authors seek to suspend their collective judgement whilst entering the four imagined worlds, but ultimately do not claim to have hidden their personal biases.

Findings

It is concluded that enterprise/entrepreneurship education should be shared across the university and not owned by any school or faculty. While the authors find it difficult to dismiss the underlying purpose of each scenario, they sense an opportunity to unite their common focus on the development of a transformative student experience.

Practical implications

This process has provided unexpected insights into the potential of scenario planning as a tool that could conceivably be employed more often to tackle complex issues, such as the positioning of enterprise/entrepreneurship education in Higher Education.

Originality/value

This paper, despite its inherent biases, offers the reader an opportunity to gain a sense of the various roles forced upon enterprise/entrepreneurship education by its various key stakeholders. In doing so, the shortcomings of the current situation are highlighted.

Citation

Jones, C., Matlay, H. and Maritz, A. (2012), "Enterprise education: for all, or just some?", Education + Training, Vol. 54 No. 8/9, pp. 813-824. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400911211274909