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Opportunities and contradictions : The Policy Paradox of entrepreneurial education and

university business engagement since 1960

ByMary Rose, (Lancaster University) Sarah Robinson, (Open University) Sarah Jack (Lancaster University)

and Nigel Lockett, (University of Leeds)ESRC Symposium University of Loughborough, 30

September 2010

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Attitudes to the entrepreneur

• 'the Entrepreneur in the UK has become the god (or goddess) of current UK ideology and a leading actor in the theatre of the new economics.' (quoted Coffield 1991, p. 59)

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1970s-2000s Popular views of the entrepreneur

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Entrepreneurship Education and Outreach activity: Attitudes within

Universities?

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Our Approach

Historical Methodology Social Theory

University-Industry relationship

Attitudes behind government rhetoric

Attitudes to outreach and entrepreneurship education in universities

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The paper covers

Broad Historical Context

Institutional History

Personal Histories

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History Matters : for Policy, Institutions and Individuals

Knowledge and Skills

Theories linking : Past present and future

Path dependency and path creation

Communities of Practice

Forms of capital Attitudes

Networks

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History is about continuity

Legacies and lock in

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History is also about change: innovation and new combinations

Legacies and opportunities

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Case studies

• Manchester Metropolitan University

• University of Salford

• Lancaster University

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Universities from Wilson to Thatcher : The Wilson era

• University expansion and ‘White Heat of Technology’

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1960s HEI Expansion

• Colleges of Advanced Technology

• Plate-glass• Polytechnics

Student numbers

1961-2 113,143

1967-8 200,121

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The 1980s : The Thatcher Cuts

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The enterprise culture

• 1980s ideological response to ‘anti –industrial culture’

• Rising unemployment

• Entrepreneurship education

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Attitudes in HEI : Legacies and opportunities

• Growth of Entrepreneurship education

• 1999 38% British Universities offered courses

• Grants for enterprise education, 1987

•  'raise[d] fundamental questions about learning and teaching and the nature of the curriculum and about the culture and ethos of higher education' (Training Agency, 1989, quoted Tasker and Packman, 1994:152).

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Policy and Knowledge Economy : The triggers to outreach

• DTI’s Innovation Report (DTI 2003),

• the Lambert Review (Lambert 2003),

• HM Science and Technology Committee reports (House of Commons 2006)

• the Government Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004-2014 (HM Treasury 2004)

• HM Treasury Report The Race to the Top (Sainsbury 2007).

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Institutional Histories

• Origins of both Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Salford lay in 19th Century industrial needs

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Institutional Histories : Lancaster

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Policy in Action: InfoLab21

Activities

International

NationalRegional

Local

Funding

InternationalNationalRegional

Local

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Room with a view!

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People and social processes

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Lambert 2003

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Contradictions…they view universities as being full of long haired weirdos…whodon’t understand the real world

I think the interaction back to the academics is proving very valuable because they could have been accused of being somewhat insular it is important theydo recognise…the needs of the market and not just their research aspirations

suppose some people in universities don't want to interact with companies at all. There is a need for bridging the gap between academia and industry

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Opportunities

‘I think [Britain’s] manufacturing base is…almost gone and it is our knowledge base whichis our strength and I think we have got to view universities

A combination of knowledge transfer and knowledge creation actually in the space between the academic world and the business world or in collaboration perhaps in the overlap rather than the space between

‘it makes our students more employable because they have already produced a product thatis on the market and so that looks good

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Lancaster University Management School Home Page

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Conclusions

Role of history in shaping attitudes to outreach and entrepreneurship education

Deepening understanding of boundaries and barriers to engagement

Importance of engaging students in ‘engagement’

Period of change in role of UK universities