Educating for Entrepreneurship – the application of threshold concept theory

The UK government is not alone in recognising the growing demands of the labour market for graduates with enhanced teamworking skills who can think on their feet and be innovative in a global economic environment (QAA, 2012). As a result the growth of enterprise and entrepreneurship initiatives in Higher Education has seen a rapid rise, initially in the USA and subsequently across Europe and Asia (Katz, 2003). The assumption being that a primary value of Higher Education lies in the provision of a clear route to employment or self-employment for its graduates. Distinct measurement of the impact of Entrepreneurship initiatives to satisfy requirements for accountability can be problematic however, as impact on business start-up rates may lag graduation by some considerable period, entrepreneurial intent may be actually diminished, and enterprising skills may be conflated with employability. Using the theory of threshold concepts (Meyer & Land, 2003, 2005) as a tool for sense making, Lucy will outline her research into what is distinctive about entrepreneurship in order to inform effective curriculum design and subsequent assessment of and for learning. Using transactional curriculum inquiry, Lucy will share the initial stage of her research into the learning thresholds of entrepreneurship with Entrepreneurs.