The Key ingredients of training coaching and monitoring for Youth Entrepreneurs

The key ingredients of training coaching and mentoring for youth entrepreneurs

OECD Capacity Building Seminar

Supporting youth in entrepreneurship

22nd-23rd September 2014

Professor Robert Blackburn

Small Business Research Centre

Kingston University

http://business.kingston.ac.uk/sbrc

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Objectives of presentation• Stimulate thinking regarding training, coaching and

mentoring of youth entrepreneurs

• Reflect on previous interventions• Help identify specific requirements for youth training• What should be delivered?• How can this be delivered effectively?• Open up discussion: experiences and wider lessons

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Contextualising youth enterprise• Importance of understanding heterogeneity of youth• Some are already doing it!– Long-term attractiveness– Enterprise spans all economic activities

• But most are not involved– In work; education; unemployed

• A gap between entrepreneurial intentions and action (eg. EuroFlashBarometer)– Suggests ideas not been realised?

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Eg. levels of entre -engagement by youth population (Univ students, GUESSS data 2014)

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The challenges

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• Plethora of youth enterprise initiatives– Local, national, international; 50+ years (eg. Young

Enterprise)

• But how successful have these been?– Little systematic of evidence on what works

• But evidence on need to segmentation of market • Implies targeted programmes and methods of

delivery– How does this relate to youth entrepreneurship?

Stereotyping capabilities for youth entrepreneurship

• Enthusiasm and motivation• Cultural context: socialisation, education• Social & human capital?• Financial capital?• Hence, difference between entrepreneurial

intentions and action• Demographics should influence content and

delivery methods

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Career intentions: 5 yrs and immediately after studies

• Rise in interest in business ownership with time

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Variations in career interest 5 yrs by gender

• Males more likely to be interested business ownership

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Heterogeneity of ‘Youth’: influences on intentions

• Gender +ve males• Age ~• Experiences: cultural differences +ve parental• Education levels +ve• NEETs vs Education vs Employment• Shown to influence intentions

= No ‘blueprint’ for content and delivery

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And attendance on entrepreneurship courses (multi response)

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Design of youth entrepreneurship programmes

• Content and curriculum• Focus on developing entrepreneurial mindsets– Recognising and acting on an opportunity• +ve association with levels of education

• Encourage attitudinal changes– Learn by doing– Experimentation– Be prepared to accept failure and learn from it– L(earning)=O(pportunity)+C(hallenge)+H(elp)+F(orgiveness)

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Enhancing skills and competencies• Enhance the means to practise entrepreneurship– Raise youth’s ability to mobilise resources– Fill gaps in youth’s social and financial capital

• Fit with specific contexts and demographics– What is needed? What are the specific challenges?

• Identify wider cultural and social networks– Importance of socio-economic-cultural contexts– eg. Females, minority groups, low-income, high income

localities

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Trends in learning in small firms: 1980s-2000s

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Behaviour – the personWhole person development – what should the entrepreneur know? (eg. traits) Is there a recipe to be taught? - 1980s

Competences – the tasksWhat the entrepreneur should be able to do? What can they do?

Output based functional analysis - 1990s

Manager in roleFocused within the organisation and their community. Tacit understandings, input of others; group learning Current

Manager in role – the situated learner

Focused on individuals in context and their ability to critically reflect- situated learning 2000s

Components of effective entrepreneurship

• Knowledge and professional practice:– eg. Competency development finance

• Skills and attitudes: behavioural– eg. leadership technical

• Meta-qualities: – ability to reflect on self-knowledge, collect new

knowledge

• We can i/d components but how delivered?

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Types of learning approaches• Traditional ways of information transfer– Classroom; distance learning; self-study

• Behavioural development- human capital– Role plays; problem solving

• Meta-qualities– Action learning sets; learning to learn; i/d self-

weaknesses

• Many learning theories: – But need to i/d relevant balance of above

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Typical programme content

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Tacit learning through engagement with peers & networks

• Partnership involvement: meet with financiers, banks, landlords, incubators, trade and professional organisations

• Mentoring with peers– Importance of meeting and learning from peers

• Face-to-face interaction effective• Delivery – context specific. egs.• Need to connect youth with knowledge networks

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Summary• Need to identify specific requirements of youth entrepreneurs• Tailor programmes according to

– Needs within a context (eg. current labour mkt position)– Outcomes of intervention

• Encourage use of real examples from peers– Curriculum content; method of delivery– But link with learning theories and prior experiences

• Monitoring and evaluation– Ongoing– Reflective

• Feed into new programmes to increase efficacy

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Thank you

Robert Blackburn

r.blackburn@kingston.ac.uk

http://business.kingston.ac.uk/robertblackburn

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