Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Education
Universities should support more student entrepreneurs
Excerpts from an article by Mark Dodgson, Professor of Innovation Studies, The University of Queensland, and David Gann, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Development and External Affairs, University of Oxford, published in weforum.org
Universities play a crucial role in underpinning innovation and entrepreneurial activities. They provide the conditions, facilities and talent that foster the emergence of breakthrough ideas. Many have systems in place to support the development of new ideas so that they have practical use.
Need to prepare graduates for careers they define for themselves
In the past, a university education typically prepared students for careers defined by others. More than ever in the unpredictable post-pandemic world, universities need to prepare them for careers they define themselves. Universities have to offer the curricula, facilities and incentives to create new generations of entrepreneurs, as well as the traditional pathways into the professions, established companies and into government.
This is part of the sea change that is needed to modernise universities and will play a crucial role as they help build the jobs and industries needed for economic recovery after COVID-19. When once it was a marginal activity, entrepreneurship has become a centrally important part of the university experience.
Why encourage entrepreneurship?
Student demand for entrepreneurship courses has accelerated in recent years, reflecting their disillusionment with a world created by others. Millennials want to shape their own future, and entrepreneurial skills are key to their working lives. Our experience of teaching the subject over several decades has shown a substantial increase in demand for courses on social entrepreneurship.
There are also strong pedagogical reasons for teaching entrepreneurship, as it engages students with pressing real-world problems, develops critical thinking, and broadens their life skills. Universities help fulfil their economic and social missions by promoting entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship courses are proliferating. It is estimated that there are at least 150 programmes available to students at Stanford University, offered by a range of providers. A study has shown that Australia’s 41 universities offer nearly 600 subjects related to entrepreneurship. The University of Queensland offers over 100 courses on entrepreneurial learning.
The core curricula include courses on the theory of entrepreneurship, new venture creation, venture finance, intellectual property and negotiation skills. More recent additions include design thinking, creativity management, and Lean Startup: teaching the skills to shorten business development cycles.
Career
Work from home era sees surge in ‘digital nomad’ jobs
The majority of this year’s digital nomads are in traditional jobs, writes Justin Fox in The Print. Key highlights:
Digital nomads are knowledge workers able to do their jobs from a rotating assortment of locales – simply put, people who use communication technologies to earn a living and don’t remain fixed in a place. These workers are known to work remotely from different countries/ cities, cafés, libraries, etc.
While digital nomads have for the most part been stuck in their own countries since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, there appear to be far more of them than ever before, this year.
A survey of 3,457 U.S. adults conducted this July and August estimated there were 10.9 million digital nomads in the U.S. this year versus 7.3 million in 2019, a 49% increase. The big boost this year has of course come from the mass shift to remote work occasioned by the pandemic.
In the past the ranks of digital nomads were dominated by entrepreneurial independent workers. But the majority of this year’s nomads are in traditional jobs. The ranks of digital nomads also skew younger this year than last, presumably because older workers are more concerned about catching COVID-19.
The pandemic has separated white-collar workers from their offices to an unprecedented extent. Even when many offices are all open and safe again, it seems highly unlikely that all former occupants will be willing to commute to office every day.
The survey also showed that digital nomads reported higher job satisfaction, more-advanced job skills and more commitment to continued training than their non-nomadic peers.
Experts now predict that with many companies following a hybrid office model, where remote work is becoming the norm, there will be a rise in the number of digital nomads.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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