Since the 1990s the education sector has been called upon to create more 'entrepreneurs' to find solutions to global problems (Acs and Audretsch, 2010) leading to entrepreneurship education (EE). EE is considered to be at an early stage of development, regarded by some as confusing or marginal, with work needed to make it more effective and available (Lackéus, 2015). Expectations of EE “may have spiralled beyond what is both realistic and possible” (Henry, 2013, p.836). The educator is key in this relationship, but research has largely neglected their experiences. This study directly addresses this gap. EE can be categorised into four learning approaches: (1) knowledge 'about' entrepreneurship; (2) human and social capital 'for' entrepreneurship; (3) entrepreneurial attributes 'through' EE; and (4) 'embedded', where EE is inculcated within wider learning outcomes. An interpretative phenomenological approach was employed to study UK based Higher Education EE educators. This study provides an original contribution to knowledge by proposing a conceptual model of the essence of EE educators' experiences identifying: shared values; multiple identities; and innovative practices. It finds something personal and inherently 'good' about EE, beyond knowledge of entrepreneurship, which attracts certain educators. These educators are entrepreneurial with a need for change, distinctiveness and action, which can lead to marginalisation from the traditional educational establishment. They are found to be highly efficacious when a HEI is developing EE, and it is argued, could act as significant enablers for wider HEI institutional change. Despite substantial EE policy, within HEIs the EE agenda can go 'in and out of fashion', causing frustrations and difficulties for educators. Policy implications are advocated to create enabling HEI environments and future research is recommended to develop a clearer understanding of what EE, and in particular EE educators, require to make a significant and measurable impact for students and wider society.

<p> Maier Acosta, Ana Margarita, Ph.D., Purdue University, May 2016. A Multiculturalist and Sociotransformative Approach to Entrepreneurship Education in Honduras. Major Professor: JoAnn Phillion. This research seeks to take advantage of the converging points among multicultural education, sociotransformative constructivism and entrepreneurship education to propose new ways of teaching entrepreneurship through a multicultural approach in Honduras, based on the potential that entrepreneurship education has to impact society. Action research, because of its potential to connect theory and practice was used as the methodology for this project. This study had the purpose of exploring the efficacy and effects of incorporating multicultural education into entrepreneurship education through a sociotransformative constructivist theoretical framework at the graduate school in the leading private university at Honduras, UNITEC. Entrepreneurship&acute;s contextual nature, its desire to foster individualism and its potential to impact society provided the perfect platform for multicultural education through the incorporation of sociotransformative constructivism in the curriculum to act as an awareness raising device for both students and the teacher. A review of multicultural literature and business education literature, specifically entrepreneurship education literature, reveals adisconnect between the two fields. Even though in some literature the integration of multicultural education is implicit; it is not explicitly stated. The field of Entrepreneurship in Honduras had never been studied before through the lens of such a theory and this as a starting point from which future research should be done.</p>

<p>Learning Ambidexterity in Organization As organizational exploitation drives out exploration, companies must reach beyond traditional organizational learning practices to become learning organizations, learning in action as they also perform. As traditional companies tip the balance between entropy and negative entropy, they ultimately begin to focus almost exclusively on evolutionary learning and refining more of what they already know. High-Tech Optics avoided this success trap of focusing on past performance by routinely assessing and perturbing its cultural and structural inertia and continually reaffirming that performance and learning should be integrally linked objectives. Exploitation was kept from crowding out exploration by several factors, namely the company CEO and the ambidextrous organizational culture. When learning was emphasized, it was in the context of ambidextrous learning, not simply a reference to incremental learning associated with the refinement of existing products and processes. Instead, this company?s learning fell across a spectrum, from learning within a specially created structurally ambidextrous space to research projects, customer problem solving, perturbing its own processes, and helping others. This qualitative single-case study, with its nine findings and four conclusions, strongly suggests not only that it is possible for organizations to learn ambidexterity, but that such learning most likely happens in all organizations. This study discovered that High-Tech Optics naturally converged on all three kinds of ambidexterity: contextual, structural, and temporal. What might not be possible, or natural, for most organizations, however, is the sustainment of ambidexterity, learning how to make an ambidextrous culture permanent. Remarkably, High-Tech Optics, a manufacturing company, emerged as an ambidextrous organization naturally over time, but then deliberately set mechanisms, structures, and processes in place to continue these behaviors indefinitely. The main implication for practitioners is to consider an ambidextrous plan for their own organizations. As exploitation tends to drive out exploration as organizations mature, favoring what is already known over what is new, organizations should not forget their early explorative learning behaviors.

<p> This quantitative research study was developed in response to challenges small-business owners face with high stress, corporate devastation, and burnout. The research examines burnout and self-care practices among small-business owners to foster psychological well-being. Many studies exist on professional burnout; however, to date, the researcher has not been able to uncover published research related to small business owners&rsquo; exhaustion and burn out. Theories in academic literature on self-care, managing transitions, and psychological well-being can be applied to small-business owners experiencing burnout, while leading through corporate life cycles. </p><p> This research study utilizes a quantitative, correlational, design approach to examine the levels of burnout in the domains of exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy. Purposive sampling was used for small-business owner selection. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS-4^th Edition) was conducted to assess burnout and demographic data was collected from 66 participants. Pearson Correlations determined the relationship between levels of burnout among small-business owners and whether relationships exist between the burnout domains and participant&rsquo;s demographic characteristics. </p><p> Results from this study indicated two significant findings. Correlations indicated higher levels of exhaustion for small-business owners who were younger. Secondly, correlation analysis indicated a significant negative correlation between respondent&rsquo;s length of time in business and their level of exhaustion. The results of this research study may provide direction to where further research may be needed. Recommendations include the development of long-term workable stratagem for small-business owners to manage corporate life cycles, and enhance professional performance. Findings from this quantitative research can be used to enhance the quality of life, and improve corporate success of small-business owners, in the United States.</p><p>

<p> The challenges of entrepreneurship make learning integral to the entrepreneurial process. However, many entrepreneurs work in relative isolation and lack opportunities to engage with peers in ways that promote meaningful reflection and learning. This study explores the experience of group coaching as a setting for meaningful learning and change in entrepreneurs. Scholars studying similar group settings have shown that social processes, including those related to peer learning and identity work, contribute to entrepreneurial learning (EL) and identity construction in important ways. Still, relatively little is known about how these social processes unfold or about the different types of social contexts in which EL occurs. This study advances the literature through a narrative exploration of eight entrepreneurs&rsquo; experiences navigating challenges related to entrepreneurial learning and identity in the social context of their coaching groups. </p><p> Data collection was accomplished via one-on-one, semi-structured narrative interviews with each participant. The data were interpreted using separate and sequential narrative/performative and thematic analytical methods to produce an in-depth, multi-dimensional understanding of the data. Participants&rsquo; stories depicted group coaching as a viable context for supporting entrepreneurial learning and change on multiple levels. In addition, the study findings contribute to an understanding of <i>where</i> or <i>under what conditions </i> EL unfolds within group coaching, and <i>how</i> or <i> in what ways</i> participant entrepreneurs experience learning in this context. Finally, the relational context of the interview itself was found to contribute to participants&rsquo; meaning making, directly influencing their constructions of past events and their meaning. The study presents practical implications for coaches, coaching educators, and entrepreneurs, as well as recommendations for future research.</p><p>

<p> The time has come for community colleges to realize the potential of alumni private funding gifts. While some community colleges have developed alumni associations with success as a source for private fundraising, there are many that have not been successful. Today leaders are still perplexed as to the strategies and factors that contribute to the success of alumni fundraising in the community college environment. Alumni associations can be a funding source and alumni can be advocates, volunteers, and recruiting ambassadors for the colleges. Many community colleges do not know how to engage former students as alumni or begin the process of grooming current students for their role as alumni. Community colleges must begin to realize how its alumni can be a source to address the needs of the college. </p><p> The purpose of this study is to analyze the literature to determine the most effective strategies to create successful alumni associations. Evidence based research was be used to analyze how community colleges can identify and engage former students as alumni, what the role of the community college president and chief development officer is in establishing successful community college alumni associations, and what factors are important in developing successful alumni programs to realize the potential of private fundraising gifts. Invest, communicate, engage, and then make the ask! This study will contribute to the community college literature and provide community college leadership with the strategies and factors for success in creating alumni associations to assist with the needs for additional funding sources and to utilize alumni as advocates, volunteers, and recruiting ambassadors for the colleges</p>

<p> This study provides a qualitative exploration of the ways in which the various degrees of entrepreneurialism and commercialization shape female graduate student training and socialization across science technology and engineering fields. This study explores institutional conditions at three selective and private U.S. research universities that cultivate innovation and entrepreneurship in graduate students to introduce patents, start companies, and/or work in leadership roles in start-ups and corporations. A focus of the study is on institutional factors important to women with doctorate degrees in the STEM fields &ndash; science, engineering, technology and mathematics. Critical factors in each institution&rsquo;s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem are explored, including the institution&rsquo;s role in building innovation and entrepreneurial pathways, their commitment and resources for innovation and entrepreneurship, their culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, and their commitment to diversity and inclusion for increasing participation of women in innovation.</p>

<p> Contemporary social issues, such as poverty, inequality, and climate change, exceed the capacity of a single sector to solve and require the collaboration of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. In this context, universities play a unique and increasingly comprehensive role in educating students, generating new knowledge, and advancing the social and economic conditions in their communities. </p><p> Over the past decade, explosive growth has occurred in social entrepreneurship and social innovation initiatives on university and college campuses. Whether offered through a center, initiative, or program, a groundswell of curricular, co-curricular, and convening activities has emerged that educates and engages students, faculty, and a range of stakeholders in the pursuit of solving pressing social issues in innovative ways. </p><p> Using qualitative research methodology and a grounded theory approach, the purpose of this study was to explore the broad phenomenon of and the proliferation of university-based social impact centers in the United States. Through the perspectives and lived experiences of 43 social impact leaders, from multiple higher education institutions, this study developed a grounded theory model which explains the forces driving the emergence and evolution of the university-based social impact centers. The phenomenon can be explained by these &ldquo;windows of opportunity&rdquo; where internal, external, and cultural forces intersect, interact, and overlap with one another, within institutional-specific contexts, to produce new centers. While each institution boasts a unique culture and contextual characteristics, the data demonstrated that mission-driven students, market pressures on higher education institutions, and donor support were the most significant forces driving the expansion of social innovation on college campuses. Akin to the double-bottom line, it was both mission and markets that catalyzed the university-based social impact phenomenon. </p><p> While the social impact phenomenon initially evolved out of elite graduate business schools, it has expanded cross-campus into public policy schools and central administrative units, and across all institutional types. Social impact education now expands across and down the curriculum and co-curriculum. Some universities now even have multiple social impact initiatives within their own institutions. Participants described the need to differentiate themselves and to compete for resources, students, and attention given the plethora of existing civic and socially-oriented programs on their campuses. </p><p> This study filled a distinct gap in the literature by studying university-based social impact centers, framed in the broader historical context of the evolutionary role of university engagement in their communities, coupled with the recognition of the realities of contemporary market pressures on higher education institutions. Social impact centers exhibit the intersectionality of a host of issues plaguing higher education, such as resource constraints, access, academic silos, specialization, and bureaucracy versus innovation. Finally, social impact centers are a microcosm of the tension that exists between the marketization of higher education and the pressure to hold true to public purposes&mdash;and ultimately, whether or not institutions can effectively mediate those two pressures.</p><p>

<p> With changing funding models and increased competition, academic institutions are increasingly looking for new ways to finance their missions. Business schools are turning to revenue diversification through new venturing to offset declining MBA enrollment, high business faculty salaries, and changes in accreditation standards that require more engagement with industry. Diversifying revenue streams is an important challenge for business schools in California, which has experienced significant cuts in public funding since 2000. With thousands of business students across 23 campuses representing the largest concentration of future business professionals in the country, the California State University (CSU) is on the frontlines of needing to innovate for new revenue and funding sources. Despite not having the expertise or infrastructure needed to successfully launch new ventures, CSU business schools recognize the need for revenue diversification strategies and are finding ways to implement these initiatives. The purpose of this study was to examine how business schools in the CSU system diversify revenue streams. Qualitative methods were used for this study in order to uncover the stories behind the success or failure of revenue diversification strategies intended to lead to new sources of revenue and increased investment for these institutions. The research questions addressed by this study included examining what CSU business schools have done to diversify revenue streams, who were the entrepreneurs in this context (i.e., who were the drivers and implementers of these initiatives), what organizational and financial structures were used for launching these ventures, how have these schools measured success, and what have they learned. The study findings are presented as descriptive case studies of four CSU business schools that represent new venturing lessons learned that ideally could be extended to other contexts and other institutions. These institutions are finding ways to be entrepreneurial despite the lack of resources, infrastructure, or support. They are launching new initiatives designed to generate revenue; throwing mud at the walls, and seeing what sticks!</p><p>

Orientador: Joyce Mary Adam / Resumo: Esta tese analisa a participação do empresariado na definição das políticas educacionais no Brasil e a relação com o discurso da qualidade. Mais especificamente, as reflexões e análises incidem sobre a mobilização dos Organismos Internacionais e do projeto de educação proposto pelo “Todos Pela Educação” (TPE) no domínio da educação e a respectiva relação com o discurso da qualidade educacional e a participação empresarial nesse contexto. Para compreender melhor a realidade que compõe o fenômeno educativo no âmbito das formulações e práticas de empresários, utilizou-se como opção metodológica a pesquisa bibliográfica e a análise documental para a sua consecução. Entre os principais resultados obtidos a partir das interpretações e reflexões dos documentos da UNESCO, OCDE, Banco Mundial e TPE, vale ressaltar que foi possível identificar a forte presença e influência da agenda empresarial nos rumos das políticas educacionais por meio do discurso da qualidade. Nessa dinâmica, nota-se que as práticas conservadoras vêm se apossando do campo educacional, demarcando um agravamento das tendências de mercantilização da educação, bem como o percurso robusto da agenda empresarial que, por vezes, é considerado como um processo necessário e como uma opção única para melhorar a qualidade da educação brasileira, entretanto, trata-se de propostas que refletem com maior ênfase as predileções e conveniências dos grupos empresariais. O estudo aponta uma ênfase em propostas que privilegiam um ensi... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This thesis analyzes the participat ion of entrepreneurs in the definition of educational policies in Brazil and the relationship with the discourse of quality. More specifically, the reflections and analyzes focus on the mobilization of International Organizations and the education project proposed by the "Todos pela Educação" ( ("All for Education") in the field of education and its relationship with the discourse of educational quality and business participation in this context. To better understand the reality that composes the educational phenomenon within the scope of the formulations and practices of entrepreneurs, the methodological option was the bibliographic research and the documentary analysis for its attainment. Among the main results obtained from the interpretations and reflectio ns of the documents of UNESCO, OECD, World Bank and “All for Education", it is worth mentioning that it was possible to identify the strong presence and influence of the business agenda in the directions of educational policies through the discourse of qua lity. In this dynamic, it is noted that conservative practices have been taking over the educational field, marking a worsening of the commodification trends of education, as well as the robust path of the business agenda, which is sometimes considered a n ecessary process and as an option the only way to improve the quality of Brazilian education, however, these are proposals that more strongly reflect the predilections and conveni... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor