Purpose -This paper seeks to provide insight into the state of enterprise education and skills training at postgraduate level at UK higher education institutions (HEIs).Design/Methodology/Approach -Case study Approach. A case-study research strategy was used to address the lack of existing research on enterprise training for PGRs. The initial task was to identify those UK universities which provide enterprise and entrepreneurship training for their PGRs. Based on this desk exercise, 5 universities were selected according to the nature and structure of their training programmes ands geographical spread such that one university was included from Wales, Scotland, South of England, Midlands and North of England. The next stage of the research focused on gaining in-depth understanding of the enterprise training available to PRGs at selected universities through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with key personnel responsible for the design and management of PGR enterprise education programmes. The data collected was analysed using the Rugby Team Impact Framework to explore the training and development provision and structure, internal and external profile raising and awareness, staff and skills required, research-based practices, the reaction of participants, behaviour and outcomes, stakeholder engagement, and ongoing strategy Results. The study highlights the current best practices in enterprise education for PGRs. It identified key factors contributing to the success of selected programmes including the development of objectives, the modes and pedagogy of delivery, and the involvement of stakeholders.Implications. The results of the research enable universities across the UK to drive the development of a suite of learning opportunities tailored to the needs of the PGR population in order to overcome barriers to engagement and best promote entrepreneurial activity -both within employment and as new venture creation -as appropriate career options.Originality/Value. This paper contributes to the limited literature concerning the state of enterprise training for PGRs which provides a detail analysis of current provisions useful for benchmarking and planning purposes and which can be useful to researchers and enterprise education providers.

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PurposeThis study evaluates the effectiveness of an enterprise education (social innovation and enterprise) learning programme on the enterprising characteristics among interdisciplinary undergraduate enterprise education students from a general (without considering gender) and gender-specific perspective at a higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates.Design/methodology/approachBased on a convenience sampling approach, pre- and post-surveys were distributed among 180 undergraduate students from January to April 2019. An independent-samples t-test was utilised to evaluate the impact of enterprise education on students' learning for three sample classifications, which were (1) general or gender-neutral (no gender consideration), (2) male and (3) female.FindingsThis study found significant improvements in the enterprising characteristics of students as a result of undertaking the learning programme in enterprise education. There was a greater improvement among female students in comparison to male students. However, contrasts in enterprising enhancement trends between female and male students were recognised. While the greatest improvement for male students were identified in their risk-taking characteristics, for female students, the risk-taking characteristic evidenced the least influence. The differences between the enterprising levels in risk-taking, and locus of control, between male and female students, were prominent post completion of the learning programme.Research limitations/implicationsConsidering that a quantitative method of inquiry was adopted to address the dearth of research evaluating the effectiveness of our learning programmes in enterprise education (i.e. social innovation) on students' psychological traits through a gendered lens, qualitative insights could enrich the depth of the research findings. As this study was conducted on a limited number of students at a single university, the results do not claim generalisation to other contexts.Practical implicationsThe outcomes of this research deliver valuable insights about the divergent influences of enterprise learning programmes on male and female students. The implications of the study suggest that policymakers and stakeholders should consider gender diversities when designing an effective and equitable entrepreneurship and enterprise learning programme that fosters and stimulates students' enterprising mindset and confidence for both male and female students. The implications are for academics, educational instructors and policymakers.Originality/valueThis study presents a literature review on the impact of entrepreneurship education by focusing on the key enterprising psychological characteristics and educational systems over the last two decades, and illustrates that most studies in the field of entrepreneurship are based on either general (gender-neutral) or gender-specified investigations. This work provides a comparison between these two perspectives in a relatively underexplored region of the UAE and demonstrates that relying solely on gender-neutral analyses hinders the opportunity to enhance and effectively harness females' entrepreneurial potential.

Purpose This paper presents a survey of postgraduate research students (PGRs) studying at the University of Huddersfield, concentrating on entrepreneurial attributes and the importance of enterprise-related skills future career intentions.Design/methodology/approach Electronic survey questions asked respondents to rate their confidence in a series of enterprise-related skills, and each skill's importance in their career development. Identification with attributes relating to independence, risk taking, self-efficacy, tolerance of ambiguity, and innovativeness were explored. Further questions probed the importance of enterprise skills development, research impact, and career aspirations including business start-up potential. FindingsRespondents identified with entrepreneurial attributes and were positive towards enterprise skills development. The majority felt that their research could have commercial impact, and over a third reported that starting a business appealed to them. Comparisons of importance and confidence ratings identified skills areas a) where confidence was relatively low and needed to be improved, b) where there is a large gap between confidence and importance and c) where a skill was rated as having lower importance than is optimal from an institutional perspective. Interestingly, different groups of students considered 'self-employment' compared with 'business start-up' as a career option. Research limitations/implicationsThese single-institution results suggest that PGRs are more entrepreneurial than might be expected. Is the Higher Education (HE) sector underestimating the entrepreneurial potential of our PGR population, their appetite for engaging in enterprise, and their enterprise and commercialisation training needs? Originality/ValueThe results have relevance for the HE community in terms of understanding PGR entrepreneurial attributes, and training needs for enterprise and commercialisation of research output.