Entrepreneurial learning: 21st century frameworks, competences, and futures

Call for Papers

Entrepreneurial learning: 21^st century frameworks, competences, and futures

 

Guest Editors 

Dr Track Dinning
Liverpool Business School, UK 

Dr Zeineb Djebali
University of Liverpool Management School, UK  

Dr Fiona Hurd
Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

Dr Suzette Dyer
Wakaito School of Management, New Zealand

Introduction

There have been calls in recent issues of the Journal of Work Applied Management to better understand the role of creativity in applied methods such as experiential and action learning. Yet, to date, these calls have not gone far enough to embrace the risk and practices associated with enterprise and entrepreneurial learning. Indeed, capabilities for enterprise and entrepreneurship are not just about new business venture creation and economic growth, but creating social value, and as such, can directly impact a variety of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to decent work, economic growth, innovation, and sustainable cities. This special issue calls for cutting edge contributions which combine enterprise and entrepreneurial learning with applied methods of learning such as experiential learning, work and problem-based learning in organisations (which might of course be described as intrapreneurship) and in/through new business venture creation more broadly.

Interestingly, universities have a long-standing tradition of supporting enterprise and entrepreneurship in these ways (see the QAA (2018) for an example of policy level guidance in the UK). They have grappled with the fact that entrepreneurship can be a complex term that includes elements of new business start-ups, but also much broader development of skills and competencies and entrepreneurial mindset (Fayolle and Gailly, 2008; Adedeji, et al., 2019; Falck, et al., 2016). Research by Pittway and Cope (2016) suggests three ways to approach teaching entrepreneurship: ‘about’, ‘for’ and ‘through’ (the latter being most closely connected to work-applied methods). More recently, Bridge (2017) suggested that as entrepreneurship has multifaceted interpretations, entrepreneurial learning should be split into ‘Enterprise for New Creation’ with a focus on start-ups and business formation and ‘Enterprise for Life’ which has a broader focus on students being more enterprising and developing their entrepreneurial mindset, and thus abandoning the term entrepreneurship. Again, enterprise seems much more aligned with the possibilities of work-applied methods.
 
In this way, Bacigalupo et al. (2016) found, that entrepreneurship can be defined as a set of 15 competencies (European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework, or EntreComp for short), around ‘ideas and opportunities’, ‘resources’, and ‘into action’ (see https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1317). The European Commission says

“We live in a rapidly changing society where it is essential that everyone has the capacity to act upon opportunities and ideas, to work with others, to manage dynamic careers and shape the future for the common good… To achieve these goals we need people, teams and organisations with an entrepreneurial mindset, in every aspect of life.”
 
The European framework provides universities with a framework from which to understand and develop their practice, and examples of how this framework has impacted on practice have been reported previously (e.g. Dinning 2019). Yet as the quote above reminds us, the world is changing and must recognise the need to continue to evolve the way we develop new capabilities. For universities, there is increasing pressure to enhance graduate outcomes and onward employability. For organisations, there is increasing pressure to onboard work-ready graduates (and staff of any kind) to make immediate entrepreneurial impact in and through the workplace. And for communities, there are many societal challenges which need to be addressed with entrepreneurial flair and drive at the local level. For each, entrepreneurial learning methods are key to driving change and impact. Flourishing in today’s highly uncertain world needs preparedness for coping with wicked problems, nonlinear careers, jobs that do not yet exist and use technologies that have not been invented (Wicktmasinghe and Perera, 2010; Neck and Greene, 2011).
 
This special issue calls for cutting edge contributions which combine enterprise and entrepreneurial learning with applied methods of learning such as experiential, work, and problem-based learning in organisations (which might of course be described as intrapreneurship) and in/through new venture creation more broadly.

Possible themes may include (but are not limited) to the following:

• What can we learn from an up to date ‘state of the art’ assessment of entrepreneurial learning in and outside of universities?
• To what extent are entrepreneurial learning frameworks of competencies fit for purpose?
• How is entrepreneurial learning developed through work-applied methods (experiential, work-based, problem-based learning methods)?
• How do the frameworks need to be revised to embrace current sustainability challenges?
• What is required of learners by organisations/employers in entrepreneurial learning frameworks?
• What role does experiential learning play in developing competencies (what other factors are important)?
• How are universities embedding entrepreneurial competencies into management learning curricula?
• How is experiential learning being designed as a safe space for learners to take risks?
• How is risk taking, ambiguity, and uncertainty being developed through applied entrepreneurial learning methods?

Submission Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/jwam

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/jwam#author-guidelines 

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to.”

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 08/11/2022

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 27/02/2023                            

Published: 2023

References

Adedeji, S.B., Rahman, M.M., Abdul, M.B., Ghani, M.F., Uddin, M.J., and Rahaman, M.S. (2019). Innovative Teaching Methods and Entrepreneurship Education: A synthesised Literature Review. Journal of Educational Administration Research and Review, 3(1), pp.1-8.

Bacigalupo, M., Kampylis, P., Punie, Y., and Van den Brande, G. (2016). EntreComp: the entrepreneurship competence framework. (Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union).

Bridge, S. (2017). Is Entrepreneurship” the problem in entrepreneurship education?. Training and Education, 59(7/8), pp.740-750.

Dinning, T (2019). Articulating entrepreneurial competencies in the undergraduate curricular. Training and Education, 61 (4), pp.432-444.

Falck, O., Gold, R., and Heblich, S. (2016). Lifting the iron curtain: school-age education and entrepreneurial intentions. J. Econ. Geogr,17, pp.1111–1148.

Fayolle, A., and Gailly, B. (2008). From craft to science: Teaching models and learning processes in entrepreneurship education. Journal of European Industrial Training, 32(7): 25

Neck, H.M., and Greene, P.G. (2011), Entrepreneurship education: known worlds and new frontiers, Journal of Small Business Management, 49 (1) pp. 55-70.

Pittaway, L., and Cope, J. (2016). Entrepreneurship education: a systematic review of the evidence. Soc. Sci. Electron. Publish. 25, pp.479–510.

The Quality Assurance Agency (2018). Enterprise and Entrepreneurship: Guidance for UK higher education providers [online], The Quality Assurance Agency. Available at https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaas/enhancement-and-development/enterprise-and-entrpreneurship-education-2018.pdf?sfvrsn=15f1f981_8 [Accessed 26th October 2022].

Wickramasinghe, V., and Perera, L. (2010). Graduate university lecturers and employers perception towards employability skills. Education and Training, 3 (3), pp. 226-244.