Entrepreneurial Education in the Liberal Arts. Dublin: National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

The vision of the Entrepreneurial Education in the Liberal Arts project at MIC funded under the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (NF T&L) was to transform teaching & learning experiences of academic staff and in turn undergraduate students of the Liberal Arts in fostering a culture that fully embraces entrepreneurship & innovation. A suite of professional development opportunities in innovation and entrepreneurship for the Liberal Arts was designed and delivered during the academic terms 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. Staff and student voices were key to the success of this project. Therefore, in order to inform the design and development of a bespoke programme of professional development and online resources, the first phase of this project involved exploring the entrepreneurial values, needs and motivations of both staff and students within individual subject areas and across all subject disciplines in the Liberal Arts. This involved exploring the following: • Perceptions and experiences of Entrepreneurial Education; • Opinions on incorporating Entrepreneurial Education within individual subject areas and across all subject disciplines within a BA in Liberal Arts programme; • Challenges and opportunities on integrating Entrepreneurial Education and 21st Century workplace skills in the Liberal Arts; • Supporting the development of Entrepreneurial teaching and learning in the Liberal Arts. Quantitative and qualitative data was gathered via on-line questionnaires from both academic staff (N= 15) and students (N= 94) in the Faculty of Arts at Mary Immaculate College, on both the Limerick and Thurles campuses. Results from this report has highlighted the need for the introduction of Entrepreneurial Education and the development of entrepreneurial competencies and skills across a contemporary programme of the Liberal Arts in responding to the needs of our 21st century learners (Figure 1 & 2). This results also highlighted the need for the acquisition of entrepreneurial competences, skills and attributes and key lifelong transferrable skills for all students across the Liberal Arts and for preparing participants for challenges across all life-situations and career paths. Programme design teams and academics in the Liberal Arts have an obligation to meet students’ need and expectations. It is noted that many 21st century learners in the Liberal Arts possess entrepreneurial career aspirations. Programmes of the Liberal Arts need to support such students in unleashing their entrepreneurial spirit through both formal and informal Entrepreneurial Education modules and initiatives. Integrating Entrepreneurial Education into a programme that traditionally has not explicitly incorporated these competencies and skills needs leadership, support and a cultural shift across a faculty of the Liberal Arts. Key Recommendations arising from this Research Study are as follows:  Leadership and support are needed in resourcing entrepreneurship education across curricula within institutions.  Increase the offerings of Entrepreneurial Education across a programme of the Liberal Arts.  There is a need to transform teaching and learning experiences of academic staff and in turn undergraduate students of the Liberal Arts in fostering a culture that fully embraces entrepreneurship, innovation and digital learning by providing professional development opportunities in innovation and entrepreneurship.  Institutions should focus on building capacity in designing both formal and informal entrepreneurial curricula and projects in developing and initiating creative, leadership and entrepreneurial initiatives, projects and modules within a BA in Liberal Arts programme.  Develop a wide variety of networking opportunities for academics to develop and enhance good practices based on the experiences of others.  Providing structured models of collaborative professional development involving conversations with colleagues, experiential learning and sharing experiences and research, in order to increase academics confidence in incorporating the entrepreneurial mind-set into their teaching through dialogue.  Develop a culture of creativity, leadership and enterprise among academic staff in the Liberal Arts by providing information and knowledge exchange opportunities with alumni, enterprise, industry, the community and other academic institutions and innovation centres.