The changing nature of enterprise: Addressing the challenge of Vesper and Gartner

Abstract

During the course of the past 30 years, a challenge made to entrepreneurship educators has gone unaddressed. While acknowledging that there has never been a more exciting time to be an enterprise educator, we suggest that there has also never been a more challenging time. On the one hand, the changing nature of employment landscapes globally is forcing a freelancer world on us all. In this new world, our students must increasingly be capable of developing an enterprising career, regardless of any additional start-up aspirations. Conversely, the legitimacy of our teaching practice remains challenged at a level slightly above the student–educator interface. These concerns tend to question our collective purpose and relevance. This article seeks to offer a holistic framework through which enterprise and entrepreneurship educators can act in greater unison. In doing so, it also aims to move us collectively on from the current focus of our scholarly writings to analyse more deeply how we promote and define our purpose and relevance as enterprise and entrepreneurship educators. Our observations inform us that the greater challenge lies not in finding a starting point for new ideas in enterprise education, but rather in engaging all key stakeholders and developing an inclusive scholarship of teaching. At a time when higher education stands accused of failing graduates, we offer leadership on addressing long-running challenges in our field of education.