“RAISING THE BAR – JADE ALUMNI CAREER SURVEY”Johannes Weissmann, JADE <strong>European</strong> Confederation of Junior EnterprisesWhat is JADE?JADE is a student-run, pan-<strong>European</strong> network representing more than 20 000 young entrepreneurs in 225 local nonprofitorganisations, called Junior Enterprises.Together with the affiliated Junior Enterprise Network in Brazil and several contacts to student consulting groups innon-member countries, the JADE Network is the largest network of entrepreneurial students in the world.JADE Alumni Career SurveyThe <strong>European</strong> <strong>Commission</strong> recognises the Junior Enterprise concept (entirely student-run consulting companies) asone of the best practices in the field of entrepreneurial education and an aid to foster entrepreneurial mindsetsamong young people, and importantly as a basic facility for a more entrepreneurial society.The main purpose of the JADE Alumni Career Survey is to observe and analyze wether JADE Alumni are more entrepreneurialthan other graduates,; determine if they have used JADE contacts in order to create their companies andas a tool to monitor their professional career progress to date.JADE Alumni are significantly more entrepreneurial than the <strong>European</strong> average21% of the JADE Alumni are currently running their own company. This is the main fact we point out if we are goingto talk about entrepreneurial education. Directly after studies 9% of all JADE Alumni dedicate themselves to an entrepreneurialcareer. 21% of those interviewed gathered experience as employees before starting their own business.Compared with the <strong>European</strong> average of 7%, it proofs that the Junior Enterprise concept is an excellent way of teachingyoung people to be entrepreneurial.61Entrepreneurship Education in Europe: Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets through Education and Learning
WORKSHOP CONCLUSIONSRapporteur: Hamid Bouchiki, ESSEC Business School, FranceI. PreambleThe participants in this workshop fully acknowledge the crucial role of quality and impact assessment in the diffusionand development of entrepreneurship education. They are nevertheless, aware that mindless measurement systemsand practices can induce counter-productive consequences. A thoughtful approach to measurement ensures that thequestions of what to measure, why, for whom, when and how are adequately answered before setting up an impact andquality measurement system.II.The State of PlayThe design of quality and impact assessment systems is challenged by the high complexity of entrepreneurship educationin Europe.First, entrepreneurship education means different things to different people: enterprise culture, new business start-up,creation of new businesses in established firms or the entrepreneurial mindset.Second, impact and quality assessment and improvement are constrained by poor knowledge of cause-effect relationships.In particular, research has not yet provided satisfactory answers as to what makes people entrepreneurial and howcan formal education contribute to the process. Also, it is still difficult to know whether entrepreneurship programs“merely” attract entrepreneurial people or do indeed contribute to making recipients more entrepreneurial.Third, contrary to advances in other fields of public policy, entrepreneurship, in general, and entrepreneurship education,in particular, still lack an “evaluation culture” that is comparative, independent, multi-stakeholder and time phased.<strong>Final</strong>ly, and corollary to the observations above, entrepreneurship education lacks quality standards and certification.To address these issues, participants in the workshops have put forward twelve recommendations.III. Recommendations1. Take stock of what existsThe EU should undertake systematic data collection about entrepreneurship education in Europe: target groups, programs,resources (teachers, teaching materials, budgets), cost effectiveness, etc. This ground work shall enable<strong>European</strong> educators and policy makers to better map out the fields and identify good practices.2. Encourage networking and information sharingMember states should encourage the creation of networks of entrepreneurship education stakeholders. To this purpose,they should enable the implementation of common platforms to publicize best practices, services, and results.These platforms must enable information sharing about best practices, obstacles, solutions, evaluation and qualitystandards. Also, they should enable comparison, cooperation, and competition. The participants in the workshop insistthat these platforms are open to cooperation with business.The French Observatory of Pedagogical Practices in Entrepreneurship (OPPE) is a good example of what can be achievedin this area. The Jade network for Junior Enterprises illustrates a decentralized approach to the same objective.Involving small numbers of students on <strong>European</strong> campuses, the network enables the sharing of experiences betweenits members and sharpens their entrepreneurial mindset.62Entrepreneurship Education in Europe: Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets through Education and Learning
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