Extracurricular Enterprise Activities in H.E., Students’ Perceptions of their Entrepreneurial Behaviours, Competencies and Capability

Beaumont, Emily ORCID: 0000-0002-7318-2373, Preedy, Sarah, Stevenson, Sarah and Morrison, Jane (2016) Extracurricular Enterprise Activities in H.E., Students’ Perceptions of their Entrepreneurial Behaviours, Competencies and Capability. In: 39th Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference, 27-28 October 2016, Novotel Tour Eiffel, France. (Unpublished)

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9084 Beaumont, E,, Preedy, S., Stevenson, S. and Morrison, Jane (2016) Extracurricular-Enterprise-Activities-in-H.E.-Students’-Perceptions-of-their-Entrepreneurial-Behaviours-Competencies-and-Capability.pdf - Accepted Version
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Abstract

Questions: Which students participate in extra-curricular enterprise activities? Why do these students choose to participate in extra-curricular enterprise activities? What impact do they perceive it to have on their entrepreneurial competencies? Objectives: To evaluate the literature to understand the role extra-curricular enterprise activities have in enhancing entrepreneurial competencies. To collect empirical data on students’ perceptions pre and post extracurricular enterprise activity engagement. Approach: This study used an online survey method to conduct a pre and post evaluation of extra-curricular enterprise activities running at a post 1992 University in the 2015/16 academic year. Each survey contained both open and closed questions to provide quantitative and qualitative data. A control group of students that did not engage in extracurricular enterprise activities was also surveyed at the beginning and end of the academic year (2015/16) using a non-engagement survey providing a comparison. Results: The study found that students participating in extra-curricular enterprise activities were more likely to be female, studying a programme within the Faculty of Business and in the second or final stages of their programme. Students reported participating in extra-curricular enterprise activities for many reasons, the most popular being ‘interest’, followed by ‘enhancement of employability’. A comparison was made to a non-engagement ‘control’ group, and outcomes were comparable to those students engaging in extra-curricular enterprise activities. This raises questions of the importance of addressing these outcomes within enterprise-focussed education. With reference to specific competencies, students improved across all competencies bar ‘creativity’ in the enterprise engagement groups, with significant improvements in ‘resilience’ and ‘perseverance’. Yet in the non-engagement groups, most competencies decreased. This strongly suggests that extracurricular enterprise activities are useful for improving students’ personal competencies. Implications: Enterprise educators must consider how to attract and deliver enterprise education to students from a more diverse range of discipline areas. In relation to competencies, enterprise educators may also benefit from sign posting the competencies that can be developed within extra-curricular enterprise activities so students are aware of what they may be improving through their engagement.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Article Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Enterprise Education; Extra-curricular; Student; Value; Impact.
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5001 Business
L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education
Divisions: Schools and Research Institutes > School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences
Research Priority Areas: Applied Business & Technology
Depositing User: Kate Greenaway
Date Deposited: 15 Dec 2020 15:32
Last Modified: 05 Aug 2023 11:23
URI: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/9084

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