From Policy to Practice: Embedding Entrepreneurial Thinking Through an Institutional Entrepreneurial Toolkit
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56433/aabvhw11Keywords:
Entrepreneurial education, Curriculum transformation, Entrepreneurial mindset, Active learning pedagogy, Scottish Entrepreneurial Campus policyAbstract
In response to the Scottish Government’s Entrepreneurial Campus Blueprint (2023), this paper presents the development and piloting of an institutional Entrepreneurial Toolkit aimed at embedding entrepreneurial mindset and practice across the tertiary education landscape. Using a critical realist methodology, we examine how change occurs through generative mechanisms, practitioner agency, and collaborative processes.
The Entrepreneurial Toolkit is an institutional mechanism and strategic framework for embedding entrepreneurial mindsets and features two components. The Playbook is a digital guide combining theory and practice, which outlines principles, pedagogy, and case-based examples; and the Playboxes are physical, sensory, and multimodal learning resources designed to activate engagement and support inclusive, experiential learning across disciplines. Together, these components serve to operationalise entrepreneurial education at both strategic and delivery levels.
Developed through iterative cycles of practitioner engagement, reflective learning, active learning practice, and strategic alignment with frameworks such as EntreComp (European Commission, 2016) and Advance HE (2024) guidance, the Toolkit supports the formation of entrepreneurial mindsets in both staff and students. The paper discusses the importance of agency, trust, and emergence in facilitating change, as well as the role of prior collaboration and institutional context.
This paper identifies the importance of institutional culture, staff trust, and shared ownership in supporting adoption. Our findings suggest that open, flexible tools embedded within an enabling infrastructure can serve as catalysts for curriculum and cultural transformation. The Toolkit enables curricular enhancement and innovation and contributes to wider policy objectives around graduate pathways and entrepreneurial learning. We conclude with recommendations for practice and areas for future research, particularly highlighting the need to measure longitudinal impact.
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