The Science Of Entrepreneurship

Dr Colette Henry, Head, Department of Business Studies, Dundalk Institute of Technology

Entrepreneurship is now recognised as a critical component of a student's education at all levels.

Established by Dr Colette Henry in 2001, the Centre for Entrepreneurship Research at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT) is based within the Institute's School of Business and Humanities and has developed a number of international research networks to enable the study of entrepreneurship education and training, female entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship in the creative industries sector. The centre coordinates much of the school's research activity and aims to feed this directly into the development of new progressive teaching methods for entrepreneurship.

Henry delineates how entrepreneurship is not just about teaching someone to set up and potentially run their own business. "Even if new venture creation is not an output, entrepreneurship instills creative and problem solving abilities in students."

Creative Approach

Recently cited by the European Union as a good practice example of the teaching of entrepreneurship, DKIT's entrepreneurship modules are taught at higher certificate, degree and postgraduate level in a range of programmes across the faculties of business, computing and science. Entrepreneurship will also be included in a number of new programmes currently being designed in science and creative multi-media.

The main courses and programmes at DKIT's Department of Business Studies include its MBA programme, the Higher Certificate in Business Studies, the Bachelor of Business Studies, the Higher Certificate in Business in Office Information Systems and the MBS (Entrepreneurship and Marketing).

Local businesses also play a crucial role in the development of new courses at DKIT. Explains Henry, "industry input is particularly valuable at postgraduate level to ensure our courses are meeting the demands of the local economy."

Looking Outwards

DKIT has a number international academic partner institutions in France, Germany and Finland. Such partner linkages are quickly expanding to Eastern block countries and more recently to China where three students from the Business Studies department are currently studying for their degree. DKIT's research network extends internationally and includes universities such as Babson College (USA), Twente (Netherlands), Lund (Sweden), Massey (New Zealand) and the University of Western Australia in addition to a range of Irish universities.

"Entrepreneurship modules provide managers with creative and problem solving techniques that they can use in everyday tasks. It teaches people to look beyond the obvious," concludes Henry.