South West Regional Skills Enterprise and Employment Analysis 2007/2008

Final Report

5.3 Stimulating enterprise

5.3.3 Enterprise skills for young people

The Enterprise Report 2005: Making Things Happen (Enterprise Insight)(91) highlights the fact that research has revealed a gap between society’s growing recognition of the value of enterprise and the actual level of entrepreneurial activity across Britain. The broad cultural pattern in the UK is that over the last four years, people have generally become much more positive about entrepreneurship, and 71 percent think that starting a business is a high status activity, but this has not translated into proportionate action.

The report also points out that:

Young people may not have to be convinced that enterprise is a good thing, but they have to be convinced that it is a realisable goal. It is the combination of attitudinal and

practical barriers that needs to be addressed through integrated approaches. Amongst young entrepreneurs two thirds feel that they face more challenges than those older than themselves in getting a business off the ground and over half feel they are likely to be less successful. (p 8)

The report found that developing the enterprising person requires quite distinct forms of learning and experience. Traditional models of education are strong in providing academic and analytical skills but often poor at developing creative talent and practical know-how. A strategic shift towards enterprise also has implications for the kind of advice and guidance young people receive.

The SBS Evidence Base Report(92) found that there was a bias in the information available to members of the UK population in that:

• Individuals find it easier to access information about a career which would involve employment as opposed to a career in enterprise(93);
• There seems to be a greater focus on the perceived risks of enterprise than on its potential rewards(94).

The Davies Review found that the greatest influence on 15 to 18 year olds’ career choices are their parents/families, other role models, work experience and the media. Research has found that not knowing how to start a business or who to turn to for advice is a barrier to starting a business, but this decreases with age. A third of 16 to 24 year olds see it as an obstacle compared with fewer than a fifth of those aged over 55.

However, whilst many young people recognise the challenges and rewards involved in starting and running a business, they are unsure of their own ability to meet the challenges successfully. They lack the skills and confidence to turn positive attitudes into action during their future careers. Davies also found evidence that while teachers are generally supportive of links with business, they are uncertain of their own ability to promote enterprise, and need help doing so.

The Enterprise Report concludes that, if entrepreneurial activity is to be encouraged amongst young people, then there is a need to raise the educational importance attached by young people (and those who influence them) to enterprise experience and capabilities. To this end it may be important to build capacity within schools, colleges and voluntary sector bodies to provide teaching expertise, brokerage, volunteer entrepreneurs, enterprise placements etc. There may also be scope to develop universities as enterprise centres through better commercialisation of research, the provision of enterprise networks for graduating students and the use of incubator spaces as enterprise hubs.

A number of regional partners play a role in enterprise education. Young Enterprise, Connexions Services, schools, Business Education Partnerships, Business Links and others currently support a range of initiatives aimed at young people. Whilst there is undoubtedly a good deal of activity being undertaken across the region, provision across the region has yet to be effectively mapped.

Work-related learning at Key Stage 4 became statutory from September 2004. Schools must have regard to the guidance provided by the QCA which identifies enterprise learning as a key component and output of work-related learning.

In 2004, Ofsted was asked to evaluate enterprise learning in a sample of schools and identify examples of good practice to help inform future developments. It found that few schools had a coherent curriculum for enterprise learning, so that what most schools offer is often fragmentary and pupils’ experiences of enterprise are partial.

The report recommended that:

For these schools, and others that will take part in the national roll-out of enterprise learning in 2005, much remains to be done. Schools need to establish a clear definition of enterprise learning, identify the enterprise learning that is already taking place and seek ways of enhancing this to develop a coherent approach that progressively develops pupils’ knowledge and skills. Schools also need to establish systems for monitoring and evaluating the outcomes from enterprise learning.

The Enterprise Pathfinder projects, funded by the DfES, tested a variety of approaches to embedding enterprise education within the culture of schools. The aim was to push forward an understanding of different teaching and learning styles and activities that deliver enterprise education outcomes: enterprise capability, supported by financial capability and economic and business understanding.

A recent evaluation(95) found “clear indications that, despite some logistical problems in the early stages, enterprise education was generally perceived by participants in the Pathfinder projects as having a positive impact on the culture of schools, and teachers’ and students’ experiences”.

In the recent Chancellor's Pre-Budget Statement 2006, the Government re-stated that it is committed to building a stronger enterprise culture in the UK and the need to promote greater enterprise capability among young people in education. To support meaningful business engagement with teaching and learning, the Government, in partnership with the British Chambers of Commerce, is proposing to create a national network of 50 Young Chambers of Commerce. Young Chambers provide a framework that brings together local Chambers of Commerce, business, schools and pupils to develop and take forward enterprise initiatives within individual schools. The aim will be to facilitate active business leadership and participation from local SMEs in enterprise education for pupils aged 14 to 19.

Government is also examining the case for future investment in the UK enterprise summer school pathfinders that have now been delivered by Young Enterprise.

Conclusion

Whilst enterprise training is taking place, there is no strategic overview of this activity and little understanding of the nature, level and funding of provision. SLIM is in the process of commissioning a review to gain a greater understanding of enterprise training for young people. The outcome of the study should form the basis of a region-wide strategy aimed at improving the scale and impact of enterprise training in the region.

(91) The Enterprise Report 2005, Making things Happen, Enterprise Insight, 2005
(92) A government action plan for small business: Making the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, the evidence base, DTI, 2002
(93) Central Office of Information, A Review of Research into Career Decision Making Among Young People. London, Central Office of Information, 1999
(94) Flash Eurobarometer (2002) Attitudes to Entrepreneurship in Europe and the United States. Paris European Commission, Flash Eurobarometer 134
(95) National Evaluation of Enterprise Pathfinder Projects, March 2004 – December 2005, CEI, January 2006