The Teaching and Practice of Entrepreneurship within Canadian Higher Education Institutions

Small Business Branch
Industry Canada
Chris Parsley, Manager
Manique Weerasinghe, Economist

December 2010

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Survey
  • 2.1 Dimensions/Sub-Dimensions
  • 2.2 Methodology
  • 2.3 Target Participants
  • 2.4 Response Rates
  • 2.5 Spider Diagrams
  • 2.6 Online Benchmarking Tool
• 3. Key Findings
• 4. Dimension 1: Strategy
  • 4.1 Findings
• 5. Dimension 2: Institutional Infrastructure
  • 5.1 Findings
• 6. Dimension 3: Resources
  • 6.1 Findings
• 7. Dimension 4: Teaching and Learning
  • 7.1 Findings
• 8. Dimension 5: Development
  • 8.1 Findings
• 9. Dimension 6: Outreach
  • 9.1 Findings
• 10. Barriers to Entrepreneurship Education
• 11. Conclusions
• Appendix A: Three Well-Ranked Institutions that Support Entrepreneurship Education, by Dimension
• Appendix B: Estimation of Survey Sample Representation
• Appendix C: List of Participants
  • Universities
  • Colleges
• Appendix D: Figures and Tables

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Anne Brazeau-Monnet from the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) and Timothy-Daniel Daus from the Canadian Federation of Business School Deans (CFBSD) for their support in helping coordinate the entrepreneurship education survey across universities and colleges in Canada. The authors would also like to recognize the contributions of Denis Martel, Louise Gravel and Riham Elbadri to the final report.

Abstract

In 2009, Industry Canada conducted a survey to identify the framework in which entrepreneurship education is delivered in Canada — an area where detailed aggregate information is largely absent — as well as how the option to be entrepreneurial is promoted and encouraged amongst students.

The survey was conducted online, and delivered to universities and colleges across Canada. Business school deans and directors of entrepreneurship centres were identified as the target participants. The overall response rate was 33 percent. A total of 36 universities and 32 colleges participated in the survey, representing more than 60 percent of the total undergraduate population in Canada between 2007 and 2008.

The survey involved questions related to six areas of entrepreneurship education: strategy, institutional infrastructure, resources, teaching and learning, development and outreach. Findings from the survey identified two areas of concern, presented below, regarding entrepreneurship education.