Leadership and Enterprise

David Cameron’s speech to the Conservative party conference was big on hope and optimism. It reminded me of something Barack Obama said during his 2009 inauguration speech. “Starting today we need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America.” This time around it’s the UK economy which needs remaking.

In an attempt to raise his audience’s aspirations and fix their gaze on the economic challenges facing Britain and respond to claims that our economy is the sick man of Europe, the Prime Minister said “we came back and turned this country into a beacon of enterprise.” Noting; “it's not the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog.”

Overcoming the challenge, confounding the sceptics, reinventing ourselves and growing the economy as the Prime Minister wants us to do, requires more than words. We need to build on these intentions with practical and detailed actions, about how we can become a beacon of enterprise.

The aspects of his speech which chime with the Pearson Centre for Policy and Learning research on enterprise and entrepreneurship education are ideas of self-esteem, confidence, training and skills, hard-work, independence, creativity, adaptability, optimism and a can-do attitude. These are the sort of skills and behaviours which an initial literature review of enterprise and entrepreneurship education suggest an enterprising nation needs to develop in its people.

If we are to compete and stay ahead of the likes of China, India and Brazil, provide skilled staff which employers need, then cutting red tape which stifles entrepreneurial activity and providing government funding as the Prime Minister suggested are both steps in the right direction.

This week the Financial Times reported that the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs are still creating jobs on a large scale, despite rising unemployment, the government could be doing even more to support enterprise and entrepreneurial education in schools, colleges and universities.

Where's the UK Jobs Plan

The cacophony surrounding Sir John Vickers report commissioned by the Coalition government seems to be drowning out more important long term questions over how we grow our economy or how the recommendations of the report fits into wider narratives about job creation, high unemployment and the creation of a vibrant workforce capable of competing  in the global economy. Of course I understand that if we have banks with higher capital ratios in relation to what they lend and the separation of high street banking from investment banking operations banks are more likely to be on a much sounder footing.

As bankers, economists and our Chancellor now acknowledge the world economy, the UK included needs a get out of jail card to avert another crisis. The US President responded with a Jobs Plan in Congress setting out in clear detail a series of policy measures which he hopes the Republicans will pass. In view of such bold measures to revive and re-build the US economy the question we need to ask our politicians is where is the UK’s Jobs plan for growth?

Are enterprise zones the way out or is it a combination of quantitative easing, fiscal policy, and the building institutions which support entrepreneurialism the answer, as suggested by Will Hutton of the Work Foundation in Monday evenings Newsnight analysis of the Vickers report.

As researcher at the Pearson Centre for Policy and Learning currently reviewing existing literature on enterprise education and entrepreneurship it is clear that a fair amount has been written on the subject. In the absence of government support and leadership in this area the Centre through its research findings and recommendations will aim to inform current thinking on how enterprise education and entrepreneurship properly embedded within our education system could be harnessed to drive the UK economy at time when clarity is needed on a way forward. 

Can enterprise education help the UK economy?

Figures released this week by the Office for National Statistics point to a weaker than expected UK economic recovery, with a growth rate of just 0.2% in the second quarter of 2011. Many economists worry that the government’s rapid deficit reduction plan is having an adverse effect on economic performance. But, as we scrutinise the figures and scratch our heads over how best to grow the economy and compete globally, it’s also time to consider how we shape our education policy to meet future demands.

For years successive governments have placed education at the centre of their campaigns, to make the UK much more competitive. Under John Major’s leadership, education was highlighted as an area of focus in his Back to Basics campaign. Under Blair’s premiership this was reflected in the “education, education, education” mantra.

But as the former business secretary Lord Mandelson admitted in a BBC Newsnight interview this week, his and previous Governments got it wrong. Mandelson acknowledged that from “the 1980’s the entire government machine was geared to the belief that we in Britain can no-longer be an engineering, manufacturing, advance technology economy and when Labour came in 1997 they continued that policy too far, too much.”

Despite an expansion in the number of further and higher education places, it seems that very little has been done to change direction, reversing a policy bias against (STEM’s) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This might in part, help explain why our economic fortunes are now looking worrying.

To help shape future education policy and understand how best to grow our economy, the Pearson Centre for Policy and Learning is researching enterprise education. Through consultation with learners, businesses, education practitioners, stakeholders and government we aim to explore what it is, how can it be delivered and what might be the long-term benefits for people, the economy and society. This research will lead to a series of policy recommendations that will hopefully chart a better course for future economic growth. Only time and the quality of our research will reveal whether enterprise education can help the UK economy.