Often, people of the business world don’t quite understand what goes on at universities. Higher education is hard work, that’s for sure; but is it worth the effort? Some may well pose this question but the entrepreneurs who get stuck in and become part of the fabric of university life often have very different perspectives.
You may have heard of university entrepreneur programmes, but what are they in reality? In my experience, they come in various guises, but usually fall into the following categories:
Firstly, there’s the ‘rockstar entrepreneur’, an inspirational role model who is rolled out for the Vice-Chancellor and graduations, but who has never seen the inside of a classroom...
There is the paid model, where universities ‘employ’ businesspeople to operate as an ’Entrepreneur in Residence’
and lastly a pro bono, free gratis model; one that sees entrepreneurs volunteer to involve themselves as a way of giving something back to society and help the next generation of leaders.
I am sure each model can be employed well, but from my own experience at Lancaster, the pro bono model has been incredibly successful in helping our network expand across the world and foster mutually beneficial relationships between students and entrepreneurs.
In the 2022/23 academic year, Lancaster University worked with 90 of its EiRs who in turn provided support to more than 5,000 of our students (equating to more than 41,500 student hours).
This sounds like an awful lot, but entrepreneurs don’t have one single role at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS). The network has developed so much over the years that they’re now tightly woven into the fabric of our School. We’ve had EiRs sit on the Dean’s steering council since 2015, providing business and engagement support; they regularly consult on curriculum design - which, in an employment market that is rapidly and significantly changing, is invaluable – and in the last 12 months alone, EiRs have co-authored peer reviewed papers, published three book chapters and co-authored case studies. They also support the School’s research efforts.
When you look at all the individuals we work with in our EiR network, there's no doubt about it - our entrepreneurs have impact. They are regularly asked to consult at government level (with an occasional visit to No.10) and have even had a paper submitted at the 2021 G7 summit.
Our students benefit from having these real people with such rich experiences in their classrooms. Their real-life experiences from the front line of business bring their learning from textbooks and lectures to life. Students get to hear everything from the horses’ mouth – they have ‘case studies’ literally sitting next to them, who can impart wisdom from their own challenges and mistakes! Students also benefit from some of the incredibly nuanced knowledge of the cultural and business differences not included within the textbooks. This sort of learning is priceless. Mentoring also helps students with serious business ambitions grow their wings and take flight – even before they graduate.
There is such strength in a collective, but networks are limited by our personal contacts. Say, for example, you are looking to bring a female Colombian coffee farmer into the classroom – the chances are, you don’t know any. But this is where the EiR programme comes in to its own. When you approach the 90+ Lancaster EiRs with this request and ask if they can help connect you, all of a sudden, things start to happen.
While the impact of our EiR network has been phenomenal, we are aware that it has the power to do so much more. How incredible would it be if our entrepreneurs could also help students studying in Ghana to learn more about western markets, for example? Or, what if our individual students from Malaysia could have direct access to more entrepreneurs who have built up businesses in their home countries and markets? Not only would they get the benefit of learning from Lancaster’s world-leading academics who are experts in their own theoretical fields, they’d get this learning backed up by inspirational people they can personally identify with, and have the opportunity to ask meaningful questions about operating within home markets.
This thinking has led us to the recent launch of Lancaster’s new initiative – our ‘Global Entrepreneur in Residence Programme.’ This venture sees business schools come together to share their own respective contact lists to create a giant pool of entrepreneurial experts to help reach yet more students around the world. All while our entrepreneurial contacts get the benefit of increased international networking, as well as the opportunity to spot future talent.
Currently, we have several business schools involved, and are engaging with universities from England to Malaysia, and from Finland to Australia, with expectations for the membership to grow.
Brian Gregory is Senior Teaching Fellow at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) and Director of LUMS’ Entrepreneurs in Residence Network