Promoting student enterprise: Reflections on a university start-up programme

Citation

Mason C, Anderson M, Kessl T & Hruskova M (2020) Promoting student enterprise: Reflections on a university start-up programme. Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit, 35 (1), pp. 68-79. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269094219894907

Abstract
Universities now see the promotion of student and graduate start-ups as a key part of their role. This has two strands: (i) incorporating entrepreneurship education into the curriculum, and (ii) activities and infrastructure to support and accelerate the start-up process. There is now a substantial literature on the design, content, delivery and impact of entrepreneurship education. In contrast, little attention has been given to these issues in the context of student business start-up programmes. This paper describes and reflects on the outcomes of an ongoing small-scale start-up programme – the Santander Summer Company Programme at the University of Glasgow and offers a number of observations on the objectives, design and evaluation of such programmes. A key conclusion is that such programmes require to be part of a broader university entrepreneurial ecosystem and embedded within the wider local, regional and national entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Keywords
economic development; entrepreneurial ecosystems; start-up programmes; student enterprise; universities

Journal
Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit: Volume 35, Issue 1