Role of Educational Institutes in Promoting Entrepreneurship

The Indian economy needs emergence of new, innovative and enthusiastic entrepreneurs and education is an important factor in developing entrepreneurial competencies in individuals. India is a young country with average of about 63 per cent population currently being in the working age group of 15 to 59 years. Studies have found that entrepreneurship prevalence rates are highest in the 25-34 age groups. But this advantage could become a barrier if the youth is not able to develop the appropriate skills including entrepreneurial skills. The educational institutes have a major role to play in this.

After 1991, when India opened its economy to the world a greater emphasis have been laid down upon the entrepreneurship, attempts at various levels have been made to promote entrepreneurship among individuals. Unfortunately, the education system prevailing in India prepares individuals to seek for traditional employment rather than instilling the confidence to do something that one likes. It is important to note that the curriculum in universities is designed such that it results in an individual as a job seeker and not job provider. Universities need to differentiate between their related business and entrepreneurial courses. Entrepreneurship is the need of hour and educational institutions play a vital role to fuel entrepreneurship in the youth.

Education is of paramount for an individual who wants to bring his idea successfully into the market. And educational institutes can help these individual in nurturing and developing necessary skills and competencies. These Institutions provide guidance, allow for routines to develop and ultimately reduce the uncertainty of social interaction. The B-Schools are the most appropriate nursery of shaping and developing management graduates for entrepreneurship who possess integrity and ethical standards, a deep sense of social responsibility, a commitment to the up-liftment of their communities, understand protection and sustainability of the environment, and the improvement of the people’s quality of life. The educational institutions plays important role in development of entrepreneurial competencies through various courses, training and development programs. These may be in the form of short term or long term programs, requiring graduation or no by an individual. Entrepreneurship is the activity driven by need for achievement of an individual and these institutions help the individuals with motivational training. Individuals are encouraged by the course structure and activity based programs by the institutions to identify, develop and sharpen their skills and competencies. Case studies of various successful entrepreneurs help them to identify the processes and potholes in their entrepreneurial journey so that they can learn and formulate their strategies based on them. Also case studies prepared by the institutions help the individuals to link themselves and encouraged by their role models, which provides a positive motivation.

Business degrees are popular options for students who are interested in climbing the corporate ladder. Entrepreneurship degrees appeal to students who are still interested in business, but would rather build their own ladder. But is entrepreneurship really something that can be taught in colleges and universities?
If you're interested in starting your own business from scratch, you might be thinking about a degree program for entrepreneurs. Both undergraduate and graduate degrees are available in this field. While a degree isn't formally necessary to have a career as an entrepreneur, the skills and knowledge acquired in one of these degree programs can help you succeed. Typically, entrepreneurship programs cover topics like accounting, economics, communications and management. These are all topics that are likely to come up in a business owner's career, and having a formal understanding of these subjects might be a real lifesaver at some point.

Depending on which classes you choose to take, a degree program in entrepreneurship can help you learn how to manage employees and set your organization up to run as smoothly as possible. Other class topics like business law can help you understand important rules and regulations that can stand in the way of success. These skills are all essential to running a successful business that can withstand hardship and make the most of its resources. It's possible to exit one of these entrepreneurship degree programs armed with information, abilities and connections that can help you get on track to start your business right away.

Even though there are some reasonable arguments in favor of entrepreneurship study, there are some compelling arguments against it. For one, it's not absolutely necessary to have a degree in order to start a business. If you're the boss, you get to set the parameters for what you think a qualified employee will be like. But one strong argument against entrepreneurship degrees is that the day-to-day functions of a successful business can't be taught in a classroom. Can you really learn how to start a successful business by listening to lectures and reading books?

The answer to that question isn't so cut-and-dried. There are aspects of running a business that are subtler than something that can be answered on a multiple choice test. Good customer service can be qualified objectively, but the ability to deliver that service is something that will come with practice. Plus, it's not likely that a customer will select your business based on whether or not you have a college degree. Still, gaining formal skills and knowledge in a degree program can help some people feel more ready to take on the challenge of starting a business. So is there a right path for future entrepreneurs to take?

The educational institutes should design the curriculum such that they have the scope of creativity and innovation. The traditional education system prevailing in India lacks the spirit of innovation and does not provide adequate scope for entrepreneurship. Therefore there is a need to revaluate and redesign the course curriculum of various educational institutes including primary schools so that motivation and awareness of entrepreneurship education should be provided at a very beginning stage of individual’s development and thus provide immense opportunities for creativity and innovation. A broad understanding of entrepreneurship should be the strategic objective of the university, and there should be top-down support for it. Objectives of entrepreneurship education include generating entrepreneurial attitudes, behavior and skills, as well as enhancing growth entrepreneurship (both high-tech and low-tech). There should be clear incentives and rewards for entrepreneurship educators, professors and researchers, who actively support graduate entrepreneurship (mentoring, sharing of research results, etc.) so that they can contribute their maximum towards it. Recruitment and career development of academic staff should take into account entrepreneurial attitudes, behavior and experience as well as entrepreneurship support activities.

Education and training should not be only limited to the specific institutions rather it should be provided by almost every educational institute. Need for achievement is the major driver of entrepreneurial activities therefore the courses should be designed to encourage the individuals accordingly.

An entrepreneurship dedicated structure like EDC (Entrepreneurship development cells) within the university should be formed, which closely collaborates, co-ordinates and integrates faculty-internal entrepreneurship support and ensures viable cross-faculty collaboration. Facilities for business incubation must be provided in the campus or in the form of assistance offered to gain access to external facilities.

Source: tmimtjournal (website journal)
Studydotcom(website)

The author of this article is Asst. Professor Pioneer Institute of Professional studies Indore