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The purpose of this paper is to propose a practice‐based entrepreneurship education programme which enhances collaboration between educational institutions and the small business community as a means of producing a more employable, well rounded and skilled graduates.

A case description of the business consulting programme operated at the University of Limerick.

The findings highlight how a practice‐based learning module brings real business learning into the classroom and simultaneously attends to the needs of different internal and external stakeholders by producing a more flexible and employable professional graduate. Furthermore, it creates a more meaningful relationship between education institutions (knowledge producers) and industry (knowledge users).

Educators need to evaluate the benefits of practice‐based learning programmes from the external stakeholder perspective as a basis of identifying more innovative practice‐based learning options.

The paper draws attention to the need for, and suggestions on how educational institutions can be more outward focussed and responsive to the needs of industry when designing educational programmes.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the requirements for an industry sector approach to entrepreneurship education – the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. A modified Process Framework for Entrepreneurship Education is presented focusing specifically on ICT. The primary components of the Process Framework are described (inputs, process and content, assessment and outputs) to assist in the design of relevant and targeted entrepreneurship education courses to create an entrepreneurial mindset for graduates in this sector. This Framework can be modified to suit courses focusing on other industry sectors.

Based on experiential learning and industry sector knowledge, an existing Process Framework for Entrepreneurship Education is modified.

The Process Framework for Entrepreneurship Education can be modified for a specific sector. Inputs to the process include the personal profiles and personality characteristics of the students. The recognition that particular skills may be required within a sector should be catered for when developing the content focus of the process. Furthermore, the teaching focus should include action learning, problem based learning and discovery teaching. Consideration of all of these elements will help ensure that the entrepreneurship teaching process will develop entrepreneurial‐focused students within the sector. Entrepreneurship education is a flexible learning mode easily modified to accommodate changing workplace and employee needs. The use of the process framework provides for a set of useful and relevant guidelines on the key aspects which should be addressed and used as a checklist in attempting to modify and design suitable and relevant entrepreneurship education programmes for specific industry sectors.

This paper demonstrates that educators need to consider entrepreneurship for industry sectors, thus presenting the requirement for an inter‐disciplinary approach to entrepreneurship. It does so through the refinement of an existing Process Framework for Entrepreneurship Education, taking the specific example of Information and Communications Technology. While the framework can be modified for use in other sectors, this paper presents the integration of and highlights the synergy that exists in the linking of entrepreneurship with the technical disciplines.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of business growth as it applies to the social enterprise. It examines if social entrepreneurs have a growth agenda, how this is achieved and the challenges encountered in achieving firm growth.

This exploratory study involves the completion of a series of four case studies of established social enterprises.

Social entrepreneurs do have aspirations to grow their enterprise, where growth is perceived from multiple perspectives, primarily underpinned by the provision of a perceived social value. Firm growth is predominately measured from the external beneficiary perspective rather than internal financial metrics. Sourcing financing, staff retention adjusting to different roles in managing the enterprise and measuring the scale and impact of their business are the primary challenges encountered. The creation of social value and profit generation are not mutually exclusive in the social enterprise when social entrepreneurs confront the challenges of growth within a business context.

The findings from the research provide a more holistic understanding of growth in the social enterprise. This detail adds to an under researched topic in the Irish context, puts forward recommendations on what is required by policy to assist the social entrepreneur take their business to the next level and presents areas for further research to advance a topic that is still in its infancy.

The focus of this paper is to highlight the synergies and mutual benefits associated with a range of entrepreneurship education initiatives for a combination of internal and external stakeholders.

The paper provides a description of four entrepreneurship education initiatives in operation at the University of Limerick, Ireland. Detail on the objectives of the initiatives, the content, delivery, assessment and benefits of these initiatives is provided.

Entrepreneurship and enterprising activity are widely regarded as instrumental for economic growth, for balanced regional development and for the creation of jobs. Educational institutions need to ensure that graduates are capable of acting in an enterprising manner in the workplace either as an entrepreneur or as an intrapreneur in paid employment. This double objective can materialise through the provision of entrepreneurship education, within either a business or a technical course. Additionally, these same programmes can also be an effective mechanism for the provision of targeted training programmes for skills enhancement in the owner/manager and the creation and facilitation of linkages and working relationships with the small business community. Involvement in technology transfer and industry‐based research activities also provides benefits to the small firm.

The paper presents challenges for educators and educational institutions on how they perceive and address the needs of their stakeholders by extending the traditional paradigm of what constitutes the role of an educational institution. The need to engage with external stakeholders in programme design and delivery requires commitment by educational institutions and requires educators to change their knowledge and teaching perspective. The findings have implications on how entrepreneurship education initiatives are designed, delivered and assessed to meet the needs of different stakeholders.

This paper and its conclusions add to the debate on the importance of linking educational institutions and industry, especially the small firm sector, by suggesting a number of methods of collaboration which mutually benefit a number of stakeholders.

The aim of this paper is to examine the perceptions and attitudes towards enterprise education at secondary level[1] in Ireland from a multi‐stakeholder perspective. The key stakeholders involved in enterprise education are teachers, principals, pupils and parents. The examination encompassed profiling the Irish educational system and the evolution of enterprise education, appraising the role of the teacher in enterprise education and the identification and evaluation of the various programmes for enterprise at secondary level.

The research methodology adopted for this study was a subject‐specific questionnaire personally administered to 95 respondents comprising teachers, principals, pupils and parents.

The research findings suggest that tangible and intangible learning is obtained from such programmes, which create awareness of the possibilities for self‐employment, encourage more enterprising behaviour and result in important personal skills and competency development. It also indicates very positive feedback for the need and continued development of such programmes as an important intervention in creating a more entrepreneurial mindset in students.

The research findings add value to the empirical base of research at secondary schools by addressing a number of stakeholders. The findings highlight and provide the rationale for the need by policy makers to consider the mainstreaming of enterprise education at secondary level. Furthermore, commitment by the Irish government to the provision of increased resources, the development of programme material and teacher training are fundamental to the effectiveness of these programmes. To encourage greater participation by teachers and pupils, there is a need for formal recognition and accreditation of such programmes within the curriculum. Finally, greater awareness of the benefits of the programmes needs to be communicated to parents for them to encourage their children to participate in such programmes.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the creation of realistic, engaging entrepreneurial competencies in second-level students in the Republic of Ireland through the Student Enterprise Awards (SEA) programme. The focus of the paper will be on the interaction of teachers with the programme.

A mixed-methods approach was adopted, with an e-mail questionnaire fully completed by 101 of the population 300, resulting in a 34 per cent response rate, which was regarded as acceptable. The qualitative approach was 29 semi-structured interviews with teachers and nine principals/head teachers.

The findings suggest that there was strong endorsement by the teachers of the benefits accruing to students in all three areas of knowledge, skills and attitudes. This clearly reinforces the strength of the SEA programme which will become increasingly important for students who are facing uncertain career paths. The programme will help engender students with increased self-confidence, better communication and presentation skills. Better skilled students make them more employable. This programme was primarily delivered by teachers and completed by students who did it on a voluntary basis and have no official recognition of participation.

The research has identified a notable lack of enterprise-related teacher training in the current education system in the Republic of Ireland. Such training is necessary to ensure effective teaching of entrepreneurship and could bring consistency to the quality of enterprise education received by students in different schools. Students enjoy participating on the programme and see lifelong benefits from doing it, therefore it would be beneficial to incorporate it as a mandatory subject in the curriculum.

Integrating the theoretical principles underpinning entrepreneurship education, which were presented in the paper, with the empirical teacher findings leads to a number of recommendations that can be adopted by the teacher, principal/head teacher and school board.

Entrepreneurs or the move towards self‐employment is, and will continue to become, an increasingly important element of economic growth and development. It is now recognized that small firms in Ireland are “net creators of jobs while the large firm sector is a net shedder of jobs”. To ensure that a sustained increase in self‐employment continues, it is critical that the correct infrastructure is in place to facilitate this development. One critical aspect of this infrastructure is the creation of an enterprise culture which will encourage and entice individuals to take the risk of starting a business. Examines one of the core components of an enterprise culture, which is education, and how the various educational programmes can incorporate entrepreneurship as a subject area which will foster the interest in enterprise. Focuses on how a process model for enterprise education can be used to target various student groups in an interdisciplinary manner, and emphasizes the need to teach entrepreneurship to non‐business students, who in many instances are the originators of ideas, but unfortunately do not have the business knowledge to develop the idea further.