How can we ignite and support the entrepreneurial spirit of students already during high school ?
Globalization and the rapid development of technology have changed the way we work. It is no longer enough to train students for a career. Students should be prepared to work in a dynamic, fast changing entrepreneurial and global environment.
Entrepreneurship education can help promote an entrepreneurial and innovative culture by changing mindsets and providing the necessary skills, such as creativity, teamwork, financial literacy or problem-solving skills. The earlier and more widespread the exposure to entrepreneurship and innovation, the more likely it is that students will use their intrapreneurial skills or consider entrepreneurial careers at some point in the future.
Business backs Education:
The SAP Next-Gen Team has been collaborating with Junior Achievement Austria, supporting its entrepreneurial program for upper secondary students. The program offers students aged 15-18 the opportunity to start their own real junior company during school and it provides teachers material and activities to support the students in their journey. The program lasts for 1 school year and at the end, the junior companies may participate in a 1-day competition where they pitch their products, show their selling skills and defend their business plan in front of the jury.
Having participated for years as a jury member, I was impressed by the talents, the passion and especially the learnings and insights that the teams have gained throughout their entrepreneurial year.
The SAP Next-Gen team started to support and enrich the program with a focus on innovation, human-centered solutions and sustainability.
We offered awareness sessions on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), discussing the economic, social and environmental impact companies have through their business decisions and processes.
The participating students learned
- how to improve their team building and organizational setup, discovering each other's strenghts and unknown talents
- how to define their target groups
- to create products or services focusing on their target group’s needs
- keep in mind viability, desirability and feasibility
- creating a prototype and test the product with
- agile mindset to act and adapt to changes
- monitoring the impact their business has towards reaching the SDGs
Here's a few impressions about the online workshops.
The virtual workshop in September with 134 pupils from 6 schools was also featured in the Austrian business magazine “Trend”. Read more with this Link.
I am looking forward to follow the newly-formed junior companies of this year, who will have shifted their business to online and will acquire new digital business competencies.
Wishing you all lots of success!
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