Can Universities innovate?
There was an interesting debate hosted by Oxford that was on if universities can innovate and their role in entrepreneurship. Check it out here:
https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/faculty-research/skoll/events/oxford-union-debate-role-universities-creating-social-impact
When I first heard about it, instantly I responded "No", universities cannot innovate and push entrepreneurship. This is based out of my experience at Laurier. However, maybe if I was at UW things would be different, but maybe not. Since UW is known for innovation, we often forget that there is only a handful of people that are part of this glamourized ecosystem. Most of the people I know from UW are not innovators, most of them want to just work and get paid and that is it. Some of them do create their own startups and embody the startup mindset, but most don't. So how can we say UW is innovative in a system where they breed more followers than leaders? These university systems are great for breeding for the job market but not for innovation.
The debate itself quoted “This House believes that universities lack the necessary ‘proximity’ to be effective agents of social innovation in the 21st Century.” I completely agree with this, universities are missing the key link to drive entrepreneurship as these spaces provide limited resources and commitment to the goal. I understand that KW is seen as the startup powerhouse, because of emerging companies and programs that support that growth, but that culture has not spread to every part of the universities. Programs like Arts at UW or WLU, have limited exposure to the entrepreneurial spaces, as mainly the science/engineering kids get pushed in those fields.
With the example of Laurier's Social Entrepreneurship program (which I'm part of), it fails to encourage students to see the ideas they work on as real tangible business models. Most of us create businesses or ideas for the marks and do it for the professor's validation rather than ours. I think the goal of the program is great but lacks to support and help create an environment where students can try even if they fail (because that means they can really fail that course). The pressurized environment of universities has no space for innovation and entrepreneurship, especially with all the barriers.
What are your thoughts? Do you think universities can innovate and push entrepreneurship? Do you think the programs at Laurier are effective enough to drive entrepreneurship?
https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/faculty-research/skoll/events/oxford-union-debate-role-universities-creating-social-impact
When I first heard about it, instantly I responded "No", universities cannot innovate and push entrepreneurship. This is based out of my experience at Laurier. However, maybe if I was at UW things would be different, but maybe not. Since UW is known for innovation, we often forget that there is only a handful of people that are part of this glamourized ecosystem. Most of the people I know from UW are not innovators, most of them want to just work and get paid and that is it. Some of them do create their own startups and embody the startup mindset, but most don't. So how can we say UW is innovative in a system where they breed more followers than leaders? These university systems are great for breeding for the job market but not for innovation.
The debate itself quoted “This House believes that universities lack the necessary ‘proximity’ to be effective agents of social innovation in the 21st Century.” I completely agree with this, universities are missing the key link to drive entrepreneurship as these spaces provide limited resources and commitment to the goal. I understand that KW is seen as the startup powerhouse, because of emerging companies and programs that support that growth, but that culture has not spread to every part of the universities. Programs like Arts at UW or WLU, have limited exposure to the entrepreneurial spaces, as mainly the science/engineering kids get pushed in those fields.
With the example of Laurier's Social Entrepreneurship program (which I'm part of), it fails to encourage students to see the ideas they work on as real tangible business models. Most of us create businesses or ideas for the marks and do it for the professor's validation rather than ours. I think the goal of the program is great but lacks to support and help create an environment where students can try even if they fail (because that means they can really fail that course). The pressurized environment of universities has no space for innovation and entrepreneurship, especially with all the barriers.
What are your thoughts? Do you think universities can innovate and push entrepreneurship? Do you think the programs at Laurier are effective enough to drive entrepreneurship?
I thought this was a great blog post and allowed me to step back from my assumptions and beliefs towards the University of Waterloo. I was always told that UW was the best for innovation, especially in their Engineering program. I was told that they pushed their students the most to be their own bosses and innovate their own ideas, and because I was told this, I simply believed it. I am sure that they do produce many students who are capable of impressive feats of innovation, but I think other schools have room to do the same.
ReplyDeleteI took an entrepreneurial class in second year and it was the first class I took that spoke of innovation and working from a business model. The business students in the class were familiar with most of the material presented in the class, but the material specifically about innovation was new to us all. I would recommend this class to anyone looking for the entrepreneurial spirit or motivation they are looking for, and I think more classes like that one and this 4th year class should promote innovation in their curriculum to "compete" for a lack of a better term with other Universities like UW.