The College of Engineering, National University of Science & Technology, Oman held its first International Symposium on Graduate Entrepreneurship – The Way Forward’’ on Wednesday 17th April, 2024. The symposium was enriched by the eminent speakers and experts in entrepreneurship experts Professor Colin Jones, Director Learning Design Unit, Australian Pacific University, Queensland Australia. Professor Norris Krueger, Visiting professor Kyusho University, Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Expert, US ; Engineer Mohammad Al Rasbi, Founder and CEO – R&D Capital & Labs, Oman; and Professor Andrew Penaluna, Professor Emeritus Andy Penaluna is the former Director of the International Institute for Creative Entrepreneurial Development (IICED)
Governments around the world have been initiating ways to encourage young citizens to explore sustainable ways of self-employment. Researchers have highlighted the urgency to have more Job Providers than Job Seekers and if, more Graduates should be considering entrepreneurship as their first career choice. The Project Graduate Entrepreneurship – The Way Forward was aimed to discuss ways of promoting Graduate Entrepreneurship, said Professor Dr Ahmed Hassan Al Balushi, Dean- College of Engineering.
Discussions such as this, with global and local experts certainly opens opportunities for streamlining the ecosystem that caters to the Graduate Entrepreneurs’ needs, said Dr Ali Al Bimani, Vice- Chancellor, National University of Science and Technology. He emphasized that entrepreneurship mindset begins at home, and this must be further encouraged by equipping graduates with the skills needed to take it further.
Professor Colin Jones, Director Learning Design Unit, Australian Pacific University, Queensland Australia highlighted that we need to understand and appreciate the role of the brain in Entrepreneurship Education. This requires well-developed Entrepreneurship educators and scholars to ensure that the graduates are well-prepared for their future adventures. Professor Colin stressed scholarship in the domain of Entrepreneurship Education, and the development of signature pedagogies and pedagogical content knowledge.
Professor Norris Krueger, visiting Professor Kyushu University, and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem expert from the United States emphasized that every entrepreneurship learner deserves best pedagogy, best educator, best settings, best entrepreneurship education ecosystem, best research and the best assessment. ‘We talk about entrepreneurial ecosystems a great deal these days, usually without a strong conceptual framework (and often without even defining it.) Entrepreneurship education operates in a web of relationships both internal and external to its host institution yet we are rarely good at understanding our stakeholders and what the value proposition is that we might offer each stakeholder’, said Professor Krueger. He advised developing tools for local educators to map their ecosystem and to better connect with the broader ecosystem; Getting students and alumni involved, reach out to education and public policy players and have them take the lead in mapping and analyzing their stakeholders. Identify the value propositions we offer the stakeholders (not just what they can do for you; what can you do for them?)
Engineer Mohammad Al Rasbi, Founder and CEO – R&D Capital & Labs, and having previously held office at the Oman Technology Fund; having invested and fostered the growth of over 110 startups, and currently managing a portfolio of 90 startups in the pre-seed stage provided a valuable insight on how Oman has made significant progress in providing essential startup support. He touched upon the various startup facilities available and planned initiatives in the pipeline.
Professor Andrew Penaluna, Professor Emeritus Andy Penaluna, former Director, International Institute for Creative Entrepreneurial Development (IICED) and having led Quality Assurance Guidance for all UK based Universities, Supervising UN research on developing innovation through learning – as used by UNCTAD Enterprise Division / SDGs, and being on the expert team for the development of the European commission’s Joint Research Centre’s EntreComp Framework, informed that Thinking thematically can bring entrepreneurial education into all disciplines. This involved mapping progression through themes such as Innovation and Creativity, Context, business, finance and communication. Learners from Grade 9 onwards undertake Entrepreneurship each year until they graduate at Grade 12 , starting with just being entrepreneurial, entrepreneurial community experience, entrepreneurial business experience, entrepreneurial management experience and finally the entrepreneurial leadership experience. The EntreComp Framework can be adapted and contextualized further and embedded to achieve the desired goal.
Mr Ibrahim Issa Al Balushi, Lead- National university Incubator presented an overview of National university Incubator setup in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Oman. The National University of Science and Technology, Oman is committed to create, develop and support graduate entrepreneurship. This is reflected and embedded in the University’s strategic Plan. The College of Engineering first began delivering entrepreneurship learning in 2007 and has achieved recognition for its efforts by Riyada. In 2013, the College of Engineering received the highest National Award for its entrepreneurial education initiatives.
This symposium was a part of a project under National University Faculty Research Grant and was organized by Prekerthi Panikar, Head Professional Development and Humanities.