Student clubs: experiences in entrepreneurial learning

Abstract

Student-led clubs that seek to enhance entrepreneurial learning can be found in manyuniversities. Yet, like many areas of extra-curricular activity in entrepreneurship education, their role in supporting learning has not been researched widely. The paper introduces research that addresses this gap and investigates the nature of the learning process student's encounter when they take part in clubs. The study explores the literature on entrepreneurial learning, it examines the different concepts and considers their contribution to understanding student learning experiences. From the literature a conceptual framework is presented, highlighting the key aspects of entrepreneurial learning relevant for the field research. The methodology is introduced, including a series of qualitative studies and a survey of students. The study focuses on two types of student-led clubs 'entrepreneurship clubs' and 'Enactus clubs' and provides a comparative analysis. The findings reported show a range of student learning benefits that simulate important aspects of entrepreneurial learning, such as, learning by doing, learning through mistakes and learning from entrepreneurs. More nuanced findings are also presented showing differences in learning benefits between club forms and heighten benefits for students taking leadership roles. Ultimately the paper contributes to research in entrepreneurship by illustrating how student clubs support entrepreneurial learning.

Role and impact of the environment on entrepreneurial learning

“…Pittaway et al (2011Pittaway et al ( , 2015 look at the learning processes of students who belong to two types of clubs: 'entrepreneurship clubs' and 'Enactus clubs' . The writers show that participation in these clubs simulates important pedagogical aspects in entrepreneurship education, such as learning by doing, learning through mistakes or even learning from entrepreneurs.…”

An exploration of the Business Plan Competition as a methodology for effective nascent entrepreneurial learning

“…Minimal empirical attention has been focussed on the learning experience of nascent entrepreneurs during and post-university-based BPC participation. Problematically this threatens to compromise the relevance and authenticity upon which provision effectiveness is suggested to rely (Pittaway et al, 2015). To address this deficit, this paper aims to explore how participation in a university-based BPC affords entrepreneurial learning outcomes, through the development of competencies, amongst nascent entrepreneurs.…”

“…"individuals who alone or with others are trying to start an independent business" (Delmar and Davidsson, 2000, p. 1), entering venture ideas which are then judged by an industry and investment peer group on their commercial merits, with "the best" ideas being rewarded by way of a cash award, this often accompanied with opportunities for financial investment, PR exposure and networking (Gailly, 2006;McGowan and Cooper, 2008;Thomas et al, 2014). The promotion of university-based BPCs today can be observed a product of graduate entrepreneurship (Matlay, 2010;Nabi et al, 2010;Nabi and Holden, 2008), start-up support (Dee et al, 2015), entrepreneurship education (Pittaway et al, 2015), entrepreneurial university (Cunningham et al, 2017;Etzkowitz, 2003;Gibb, 2002Gibb, , 2005Gibb, , 2012Guerrero et al, 2015) and pro-business plan (Lange et al, 2007) agendas.…”

Clubes de estudantes: espaços pedagógicos de desenvolvimento de competências de vida e formação de empreendedores sociais

“…O objetivo expresso de um CE é o de facilitar, aos seus membros, a aquisição de competências, sejam elas a nível pessoal, social e ético, com o objetivo de serem ser transferidas para outros contextos de vida, que não apenas o académico (Pittawaya, Gazzardb, Shorec, & Williamsond, 2015), denominadas pela World Health Organization (1997) como competências de vida. Trata-se de competências que facilitam o desenvolvimento de outras capacidades psicológicas indispensáveis para lidar com os desafios da vida, sendo fundamentais para a promoção do desenvolvimento holístico saudável (Danish & Donohue, 1995;Papacharisis, Goudas, Danish, & Theodorakis, 2005).…”

“…Trata-se de competências que facilitam o desenvolvimento de outras capacidades psicológicas indispensáveis para lidar com os desafios da vida, sendo fundamentais para a promoção do desenvolvimento holístico saudável (Danish & Donohue, 1995;Papacharisis, Goudas, Danish, & Theodorakis, 2005). As competências de vida não surgem apenas do contacto com diferentes situações e desafios, mas da realização de um conjunto de iniciativas, desde palestras, debates, participação em competições, projetos de serviço comunitário, entre outras (Pittawaya et al, 2015;Wright, Li, Ding & Pickering, 2010), através da demonstração, modelagem e prática (Kolb, 1984;Kolb, & Kolb, 2006), conducentes à criação de competências e atitudes empreendedoras (Cope & Watts, 2000;Politis, 2008).…”