technopreneurship for everyone
DESCRIPTION
This presentation was presented during the UIIN Entrepreneurial Universities conference in October 2014. It explains the technopreneurship approach at Ghent University which is a model for teaching entrepreneurial skills to technical students.TRANSCRIPT
TECHNOPRENEURSHIP FOR EVERYONEUIIN Entrepreneurial universities – 30/9/2014
Jolien CoenraetsGhent University
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
About Ghent UniversityFounded in 1817
11 departments
41 000+ students
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
TECHNOPRENEURSHIP
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Technopreneurial course
Project course in which students create a product / service with
market value. The course combines prior knowledge with
entrepreneurial skills.
• Tackle real societal & economical problems
• Acquire entrepreneurial skills
• Enlighten entrepreneurial spark
• Develop early prototype
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Become an entrepreneur
Think about being an entrepreneur
Start the entrepreneurial fire
Technopreneurial courses
Elective courses
Status student-entrepreneur
Intensive coaching
Extracurricular activities
Coaching
Dissertation subject
Extracurricular activities
Business plan courses
Entrepreneurial ecosystem
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Technopreneurship in computer science
• Two separate courses
• Business side of software + technical side
• Theoretical approach
SoftEnterprise (9 years)
• Two separate courses
• Entrepreneurial mindset & skills
• Embedded in the course structure
Transfer to technopreneurial
course (1 year)• One mandatory
course• Embedded in the
course structure• Entrepreneurial
skills & mindset
Technopreneurial course
1st master year
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Technopreneurship in computer science
First semester
• From idea to technical design
• Idea generation & designing
• Changing groups
• 3 ECTS credits
Second semester
• From technical design to prototype
• Development & prototyping
• Fixed group
• 6 ECTS credits
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Out of the comfort zone teaching
• Failure
• Termination of projects
• Ambiguity
• Insecurity
• Explain complicated things in simple ways
• Work in team
• Execute a given role
• Being creative & innovative
• Take initiative
• Make your own choices
• …
Simulate real life experiences:
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
OUTCOMES & IMPACT
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Facts & figures for 1 course10 years 575 students220 completed questionnaire 38%
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Did this course make you think about a career as entrepreneur or intrapreneur?
No (47,73%)
Positive direct
(18,18%)
Positive indirect
(24,55%)
Negative direct (5,45%)
Negative indirect (4,09%)
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Yes (34,55
%)
No (65,45
%)
Did another course or person at the university inspired you?
In general With positive influence (42,73%)
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Which of the following tasks have you executed?
0 <1 1 2 to 3 4 to 5 6 to 7 8 to 9 > 100.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00% Start & run your own companyHigher managementWork for a startupResearchTeachingNew product developmentInnovation
Years of experience
% o
f peo
ple
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Job creation
+/- 150 jobs created
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
On project levelNew technopreneurial courses (2015 – 2016): geography & bio-informatics
Technopreneurial ‘light’ course in Medicine & health dep.
Seasoned entrepreneur teaching in Bio-engineering.
Entrepreneurship will be embedded in all curricula.
Ghent University is the university with the most student entrepreneurs in Belgium.
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
LESSONS LEARNED
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Success factors
Techno-preneurial course
Extra-curricular activitiesStudent-
entrepreneur status
Starters wallet
Elective courses
Coaching
Competitions
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Success factors
Traditional approach
Force STEM students into business course
Technopreneurship
Add entrepreneurial sauce to prototyping course
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Success factors
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Challenges
1. Teaching staff needs different skillset
2. Convince professors & board members
3. Creating new courses takes time
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Costs & funding
Ghent University
53k €
Flemish government
111k €
Site visits & best practice conferences
Teaching staff events
Two part-time employees
• Course design
• Best practices
• Student coaching
• Promoting elective courses
Two year budget
164k €
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
Sustainability & transferabilitySustainability
• Change management
• New courses are put in place
• Course manuals are written
Transferability
@ Higher education
Technopreneurship for everyone - Ghent University
CONTACT & QUESTIONSJolien Coenraets
@JolienCoenraets