Organizing an entrepreneurial learning programme: The role of people, process and place

Abstract

<jats:p> Research in entrepreneurship and learning has focused on education about, for and within enterprises. The purpose of this article is to analyse and discuss the importance of organizing for entrepreneurial learning. The research design included a case study of a newly established 1-year programme at a university in Sweden. Data were collected through participant observations and interviews with students, both in groups and individually. The study shows that organizing entrepreneurial learning involves a similar method to that used in entrepreneurial processes in companies with a focus on process, people and place. The contribution of the study is to confirm that Foley’s model with these three components is applicable in the context of entrepreneurial learning. The conclusion is that the process, the people and the place combined to create an environment for the students that was conducive to entrepreneurial learning. The people are the most important factor and should also be considered with regard to process and place. In order to establish a creative environment, organizers should consider the importance of students’ collaboration with stakeholders in the region, through which they can contribute to the development of the community. Students contribute to the local community through their interaction with it. </jats:p>

Towards a framework for integrating place-based approaches in entrepreneurship education

“…Given the recognised importance of connecting students to places as part of their entrepreneurship educational experience (Blenker et al, 2012; Garlick and Palmer, 2008), this paper builds on previous work in the domain of EE that points to the importance of contexts and places of education (Sörensson and Bogren, 2020; Thomassen et al, 2019) to offer a framework for place-based EE. Understanding that EE needs to be designed in accordance with the needs of regional and institutional contexts (Blenker et al, 2008; Maritz and Brown, 2013; Walter and Dohse, 2012), the paper uses data from a case study to explore how the framework might be adopted by educators to reveal opportunities and challenges in their own university contexts.…”

“…Similarly, Blenker et al (2012), a few years later, made a case for educators to engage students in understanding localities as meaningful 'places' which 'bring together material aspects such as the landscape, infrastructure or climate of the location, and social aspects such as community, local culture and heritage ' (p. 422). Despite acknowledgement of the importance of places for EE, there has been little progress in this area; an exception is the work of Sörensson and Bogren (2020) whose case study of an entrepreneurial learning programme highlighted the important role of place in the design of entrepreneurial learning.…”

“…The paper then turns to a case study to explore use of the framework and the challenges in integrating place-based approaches into the curriculum. In doing so, it addresses a broader call for pedagogical innovations that attend to context when teaching entrepreneurship (Thomassen et al, 2019) and the call for more place-based studies (Sörensson and Bogren, 2020).…”

“…Second, the choice of places of learning is also significant. In order to increase learning opportunities, it is believed that it is important to provide a diverse range of places for students to learn from (Sörensson and Bogren, 2020). Moreover, it is believed that educators should consider places that have greater economic, social or political challenges (McInerney et al, 2011).…”

The Music Den: A framework for entrepreneurship education in a university start-up incubator

“…Morris (2019) echoes these sentiments, identifying the development of an entrepreneurial mindset and competencies-opportunity alertness, learning from failure, adaptation and more-as the most important area of entrepreneurship education. Sörensson and Bogren (2020) studies the impact of people, place and process in entrepreneurial learning, and writes that the most effective programs are based in a different location than the traditional classroom. The location influences the brand of the program, and Sörensson advocates that students should be able to engage with, and critique, the community.…”