Bridging the Gap: Enhancing Extra-Curricular Enterprise Education through Collaboration

On January 14th, 2025, the University of Gloucestershire, UK hosted an ECSB-funded colloquium that brought together academics and practitioners from across the UK and beyond to explore new ways to strengthen the impact of extra-curricular enterprise education. The event, titled Bridging the Gap, provided an interactive platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange, and collaborative learning between academics and practitioners. The event’s main goal was to enhance the connection between academic research and practical applications in enterprise education. It invited participants at any stage of their research journey, as well as practitioners from diverse roles within universities, to discuss the co-creation of a curriculum that integrates academic theory with real-world enterprise practice.  Supported by Enterprise Educators UK (EEUK) and the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE), this colloquium demonstrated the power of co-creation in developing more impactful and research-informed enterprise education practices.

Panel Discussion: The Practitioner and the Academic

The colloquium kicked off with a thought-provoking panel discussion which explored the focus and concerns of the academic and practitioner identity in the context of extra-curricular enterprise and entrepreneurship education.  Dr Sarah Preedy (University of Plymouth, UK) represented the academic identity and Vikesh Mistry (University of Birmingham, UK) the practitioner identity.  Both individuals brought rich perspectives from their experience of working at the intersection of academic theory and real-world practice sharing their experiences of collaborating across the academic and practitioner divide, reflecting on how both roles can benefit from mutual understanding and shared goals. 

Co-Creation of Learning Experiences

The next session focused on the Co-Creation of a Research-Informed Extra-Curricular and Learning Experience. Led by Dr. Michael Breum Ramsgaard (VIA University College, DK), Dr. Birgitte Wraae (Copenhagen Business School, DK), and Dr. Catherine Brentnall (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK), the session explored the challenges and opportunities of balancing the theoretical with the practical in enterprise education by exploring their published cases on this topic.  This interactive case study session invited participants to reflect on the cases, considering how academics and practitioners can work together to design and implement activities that merge theoretical knowledge with practical experience.

Impact Assessment and Continuous Improvement

The afternoon workshop, focused on Impact Assessment and Continuous Improvement, delved into the creation of robust evaluation frameworks for assessing the impact of extra-curricular enterprise initiatives. Facilitators Dr Emily Beaumont (University of Gloucestershire, UK) and Dr Sarah Preedy led participants through the process of applying competency evaluation tools such as EntreComp that can be used to assess the impact on student competencies of extra-curricular enterprise and entrepreneurship activities. They then guided participants to consider the impact beyond student competencies which resulted in an exploration of impact through the lens of key stakeholders such as students, faculty, and the University.

A Day of Reflection and Action

Bridging the Gap was an invaluable event that demonstrated the power of collaboration in enhancing enterprise education. It highlighted the importance of blending research with practice to create more impactful outcomes not just for students, but for faculty and the wider stakeholder community.  The colloquium closed with a call to action for ongoing collaboration between academics and practitioners, ensuring that extra-curricular enterprise and entrepreneurship activities are designed with impact.

Author: Dr. Emily Beaumont, University of Gloucestershire