Although Australia is constantly found in the world’s top one percent for science and technology research papers, it is falling behind on entrepreneurs and innovation. This is happening due to the fact that universities do not encourage students to become entrepreneurs. This poses certain dangers to the Australian economy because entrepreneurship and innovation can increase the country’s gross domestic product and in fact behave as a driver for economic growth. This is specially true in the case for technology start-ups.
One reason why Australian universities do not encourage entrepreneurship and innovation is because the government gives rewards to universities for the amount of research they produce. This limits student’s ability to learn since teachers and people they meet in the university are also driven by this same goal. If the university does not provide students with the necessary resources for them to create their own start-ups or start their process of becoming an entrepreneur due to government incentives, then the country as a whole is losing out on possible significant contributions.
This article has made me appreciate the fact that Sauder School of Business does offer me the option to pursue an Entrepreneurship career. This demonstrates that UBC takes into great importance the social and economic impact that students can make in the future rather than the amount of research they can create. By teaching students how to “think outside the box” UBC essentially wants to empower students to create positive changes.
In my opinion, Australian universities should start implementing entrepreneurship and innovation programs. At least in Sauder, I have seen that this is a really popular program and many first year students are eager to take it in the future. Additionally, many Sauder graduates have created their own start ups and are successful entrepreneurs. As the article states, to determine the effectiveness of such programs, Australia should conduct national surveys.
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